The full presser:
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/901001/round-4-hardwick-post-match--------------------------------------------------------------------
An upbeat Damien Hardwick praised the recent record of thrillers between the two teams, and the Richmond coach was pleased with his team despite the narrow loss.
"I thought Port were terrific. They had their chances to bury us in the second quarter, but I thought our boys fought back really valiantly and had some chances to win, but just couldn't nail the ones when we needed to," Hardwick said.
"There were a couple of things. I thought there were a few undisciplined free kicks we gave away down the field, just a couple of poor turnovers we don't normally make when we're humming, but overall, I couldn't question our boys' intent and effort.
"It was a terrific game of footy, I thought. Both sides played a pretty hard, tough brand after disappointing results last week."
Damien Hardwick believes his players gave away too many 'undisciplined free kicks' and missed their chances, but was proud of their response in a 'terrific game of footy'
https://www.afl.com.au/news/579953/port-sweats-on-scans-for-injured-young-guns-dimma-s-fan-exchange--------------------------------------------
More from Dimma:* There were a few things offensively that we need to work on. There were times when I thought we could have moved the ball on more rapidly. We were a little bit slow. After last week's game, we're trying to catch up on a couple of things we didn't do well. So we'll look at those and go through them during the week. Once again it's hard off a six day break with training. So it'll be a lot mental reps ... repetition through that to see us get a better result against the Saints.
* Jack (Riewoldt) was good. Both key forward competed well I thought. Hard game for the majority of those guys with bodies crashing on you. Didn't get outmarked that often and got the ball to the ground.
* I don't think the game has changed. It always looks different at the start of the year to what it looks compared to the middle compared to the back end. Whether the gamestyle is sustainable for the sides playing that kick mark sort of game. It challenged us last week no doubt. The Swans were outstanding. I loved the way the game was played tonight. I thought it was a great contest, the ball was moving quickly, we were prepared to kick to 1-on-1s deep, I thought it was a great game of footy. People and our fans at home would walk away thinking good effort but didn't quite get the chocolates tonight.
* We and also Port having gone deep into finals last year are a bit behind other teams in their preparation. We're bridging the gap but there are things we need to tidy up. Overall I thought our intent and endeavour was very good.
* Houli - thought he was good. His first back since the GF. Hasn't trained a lot so he'll get better as he progresses through the rounds upcoming. The way the game is played at the moment suits guys like Bachar.
* Hugo Ralphsmith would've debuted this week but he got reported. Patrick Naish is another who we think the game now suits. So we've got players who we think will help us in that area of the game. We just to work out how we get them in the side.
* A fair initiation for our debutants tonight in a great game. They showed enough for us. They'll be better for the run. The game is breakneck speed out there. They are coming from a development level that is a long way off the speed of AFL. So it takes a little bit of time. The guys were a little upset but it's a tough game. It was a tough game to play your first game in tonight. They'll learn a lot from it and get better and we're excited about what they will bring going forward.
* Q. You've been 2-2 and 1-2 to start past seasons so do you feel you can always right the ship?
Yeah. You always want to win but I think the way we played tonight was a step forward for us. Really disappointed with last week's performance as our fans, coaches and organisation was. Would we have loved to have won? Yes surely but we play the Saints next week off another 6 day break so we've got some work to do. They've been up and down the past couple of weeks as well so we'll see how they play tomorrow. It does get tight and the competition is relatively even from our point of view. So you've got to win those early game as best you can.
