Hardwick proud of Tigers' AFL cultureShayne Hope
AAP
23 October 2020 3:30pmRichmond coach Damien Hardwick never doubted his club's culture during a rocky campaign that has left them one win away from a third AFL premiership in four seasons.
The Tigers, who meet Geelong in Saturday night's grand final at the Gabba, endured one of the biggest scandals of the 2020 season when young players Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones were banished from Queensland in disgrace last month for breaking return-to-play protocols.
Further hurdles included the Mabior Chol groping affair, staging controversies involving Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin, who were both cleared, and heat on Tom Lynch for a series of incidents that brought about match review officer scrutiny.
But the Tigers have held up on-field and find themselves narrow favourites to beat Geelong in the two sides' first grand final meeting in more than half a century.
Both teams are almost at full-strength despite the tough season schedule and are likely to go in unchanged after winning their last two matches on the rebound from qualifying final defeats.
"The one thing we pride ourselves on is our culture and how we cope as an organisation," Hardwick said.
"The reality is up here there was always going to be bumps along the way.
"The one thing you can always say is your organisation is really defined by those bumps.
"It's easy when the road is smooth and you can just sit there above the water, but you learn a lot about yourself and a lot about your people when times are tough.
"We went to work, we were disappointed, we accepted responsibility, but we learnt from it along the way."
https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/6982282/hardwick-proud-of-tigers-afl-culture/
