Hardwick's post-game presser / Dimma lauds Richmond's 'hard & tough' brand

[one-eyed]

Dimma's post-game presser:

* Pretty solid win. St Kilda was outstanding in patches, in particular at the back end of the second quarter and during the third but they didn't take all their chances.

* We were scratchy. Gave the ball back too often at times.

* Impressed with our last quarter. Won all the KPIs - contested footy, tackles, pressure ranking. Played Richmond footy.

* Didn't see Lynch's 50 (the incident with Howard). Just saw the initial free and then saw it was 50.

* Anything worry with Lynch's goalkicking?
   Nup. Craig McRae will work with Tom this week on his goalkicking. Thought Lynch was immense tonight. Like society, people see the negative and not the positives. 

*  It's a big boys game. We play a hard tough brand of footy. We know the rules and push the envelope. Take that away and you take our soul away.

* Focus on playing unsociable footy tonight?
   Nup. We're the same win, lose or draw. Have fun and then focus on the game.

* Edwards - he is clean and has the ability to put others into open space. He and Dion Prestia were polished across the arcs and with our connection with our forward line.

* Excited about Mabior Chol. He is learning from Lynch. Tonight showed the experience Lynch has. Mabior is learning from Lynch you don't have to always mark it but can't be outmarked. Mabs is in consideration for next week given he is genuine 2nd ruck. So we'll look at him.

* Astbury as a ruckman?
  Astbury, Balta and Broad gave us flexibility in there but because they aren't just 2nd rucks. Marshall was incredible for them.

* St Kilda scored from the front half but that was a different way of scoring for them.  Pleased with how that went (preventing their usual scoring from D50).

* Quarter time goal to St Kilda - was it before the siren?
   Line ball. Not an issue to Dimma.

* Port Prelim?
   We saw their strengths last time: contested footy and big key forwards like Charlie Dixon. That loss will be a good learning tool. Thought while it was a good game of footy, the scoreboard flattered us. It's a massive challenge in front of a big hostile crowd on their deck. However, once the ball is bounced the crowd can't get a kick. We're looking forward to it.

* Heading to Adelaide then night before (Thursday).

[one-eyed]

Vision of Dimma's presser: https://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/824654/sf-hardwick-post-match?videoId=824654&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1602248647001

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Tom Lynch knee a ‘minuscule’ issue Damien Hardwick lauds Richmond’s ‘hard and tough’ brand

Tom Morris
October 10, 2020
FOX SPORTS

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick believes star forward Tom Lynch has no case to answer for a kneeing incident involving St Kilda’s Dougal Howard.

Lynch’s knee made contact with Howard’s jaw during the Tigers’ 31-point victory. The action will be reviewed by Michael Christian on Saturday.

A grading of intentional, high contact and low impact would equate to a one-week ban. A misconduct charge would lead to a financial sanction, or Christian may clear him altogether.

Hardwick has fiercely defended Lynch throughout a bizarre 2020 in which he has been fined twice and sent to the tribunal once for incidents that most would consider are reckless and a touch silly, rather than downright dirty.

Hardwick described the latest episode in the Lynch files as “minuscule” and stood firmly behind the ex-Gold Coast skipper, who booted two goals and five behinds on Friday evening.

“I wouldn’t have thought (Lynch would be in trouble),” a nonplussed Hardwick told reporters.

“Was the 50 (metre penalty) there? I’m not too sure. The umpire pays it, I’m not too sure. I didn’t see it. The guy takes a mark and then next thing you know it’s a 50 down the field.”

Taking a philosophical view of the coverage Lynch has received in 2020, the two-time premiership coach preferred to make note of the “80 per cent” good work rather than the “20 per cent” bad.

“I don’t want him to give away free kicks,” Hardwick said of Lynch.

“Don’t get me wrong. I want him playing within the rules. There are times he’s an aggressive sort of player. The way he jumps into packs is incredible.

“What probably tends to happen is we focus on the 20 per cent and not the 80 per cent. We don’t look at him smashing two blokes and getting the ball to ground for Shai Bolton to kick two or three goals.

“We look at the incident that is minuscule. This is what we do as a society. We concentrate on the negatives and not the positives.”

Hardwick has no plans to temper his team’s aggressive attitude ahead of a mouth-watering clash with Port Adelaide next Friday.

Fox Footy’s Dermott Brereton coined the “unsociable Tigers” term during the game coverage, and the Richmond coach was happy to embrace the tag.

“Listen, great teams always play on the edge,” Hardwick said.

“The fact of the matter is it’s a big boys game. Things happen. You play hard and tough and there is a reason we are into our third or fourth prelim in a row. We play a hard and tough brand of footy.

“There is no way I’d discourage it from our players. That’s for sure. If you take that away from them they aren’t the competitive beasts we know they are.

He added: “Our guys know the rules, they understand the rules and they will push the envelope. There is no doubt about that. Our boys play the game pretty tough.”

Hardwick ended the press conference by comparing the Richmond rooms pre-game to a Seinfeld episode. When quizzed one which character he would be, he smiled and said “I have a bit of George in me.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-finals-2020-tom-lynch-knee-richmond-defeats-st-kilda-damien-hardwick-press-conference/news-story/c3db6f90650817a0c104d6f78c17ed25