Hardwick's post-game presser / 'The ball's in our court': Dimma

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A snippet from Dimma' post-game presser:

* Jack is a quality player. Really nice to see him kick 6 in his 300. Pleased the guys played a solid game for him.

* Dusty was hit in the stomach. Just need him to go to hospital to make sure he can fly. Feels sore but Dusty said he's fine for next week. Club wants to make sure he is okay

* Nank is so important for us. A bit of a barometer. Rusty early but when the whips got cracking he stood up in the 2nd half supported by Mabs.

* "Dangerous tackles" calls - Dimma is fine with it as long as the umps are consistent across the whole round so it's fair.

* Dimma told one of the journos - "you can stand in front of Nank and tell him not to go in hard" lol.

* Mabs played injured against one of the best ruckman in Grundy last week. Important for Chol to bounce back not only for his own confidence but for that of the Club. What Dimma likes about Mabs is he has improved each of every year. This year has been his most consistent.

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‘Dusty’ sent for scans, Tigers fine with playing in Geelong

Damien Ractliffe
The Age
July 17, 2021

Champion midfielder Dustin Martin has been sent to hospital for scans after being kicked in the stomach in Friday night’s win by Richmond over Brisbane.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said the Brownlow medallist felt sore after colliding with Mitch Robinson, but said he would be fine to play next week.

But precautionary scans will determine whether Martin is fit enough to fly back to Victoria.

“He got a kick into the stomach,” Hardwick said.

“We sent him to hospital for precautionary reasons, obviously we’re flying home so we wanted to make sure he was available to fly; it would be a tough drive for Dusty otherwise.

“He feels sore, obviously that’s why he didn’t come back on the ground. But he assured us straight away he would be fine for next week. Once again we’ll wait to see what the doctor says, what the scans show.”

Kamdyn McIntosh suffered a hamstring strain but Hardwick said he did not yet know the significance of the injury which will sideline the wingman for next week’s game against Geelong, however David Astbury avoided an ankle injury.

The Cats have proposed to move their home game from the MCG to GMHBA Stadium due to the restrictions on crowds and Hardwick said he had no issues with that.

“Completely understandable. Obviously it’s their home game and with limited crowds, I can understand that,” he said.

“Once again, we’re happy to play anywhere, any time. We’ve travelled a fair bit this year so it’s not going to hold any fears for us, we’re really looking forward to it, the challenge of beating them on their home deck.

“They’re in cracking form at the moment so we’ll go in certainly underdogs, but we’ll give it our very best shot. We’re starting to play some footy we know and love so we’re really excited to go down there and give it a crack.”

Veteran forward Jack Riewoldt, who kicked six goals in his 300th match on Friday night, joked post-match about eating McDonalds before his team’s flight to Queensland, as well as staying up until 1am eating meatball and watching the Tour de France.

But Hardwick stopped short of declaring that the ideal preparation.

“I must admit, we got the call up late and there wasn’t a lot of food at the airport to be fair, so whatever the players could get into them for the long flight [so be it],” he said.

’We didn’t have dinner until about 10pm [Thursday] night. In fairness, the AFL did a great job getting us up here and getting the game going.

“We’ve got to be flexible and agile, that’s a term that’s become apparent in our terminology or vocab to be fair, so it was a great job all round.”

Hardwick said Shane Edwards was likely to come into the side to face the Cats, and with his side temporarily back in the top eight, Hardwick was optimistic his side still had a role to play this season.

“I think we’ve always had the confidence [we could play finals], we probably haven’t played to the level we would have liked,” he said.

“Our players coming in and out of the side and so our connection and consistency wasn’t there.

“We’re going to get the vast majority back we think so we’re really excited about what it does look like for us moving forward. Hopefully we make the finals but I reckon if we get there we’re going to cause some grief, so we’ll back ourselves in and see how we go.”

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/dusty-sent-for-scans-tigers-fine-with-playing-in-geelong-20210716-p58aic.html

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More from Dimma:

The victory puts the Tigers back into the top eight as they search for a club-first three-peat of premierships and Hardwick said his team can do some damage in September if it makes the finals.

"We've always had the confidence, we probably just haven't played to the level we'd like," he said.

"Our players coming in and out of the side [meant] our connection and consistency wasn't there. We're going to get the vast majority back now we think so we're really excited about what it does look like for us," he said.

"The story's ours to write. The ball's in our court. We just need to play as well as we can and hopefully we make the finals. I reckon if we get there we're going to cause some grief. We'll back ourselves in and see how we go."

https://www.afl.com.au/news/648527/-sore-dusty-taken-to-hospital-as-tigers-count-cost-of-stirring-win