Finals on our mind: HardwickBy Murray Belkin
8:59 PM Sun 24 Apr, 2011Video of media conference: http://www.richmondfc.com.au/roar%20vision%20archive/tabid/11454/contentid/348128/default.aspx RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has revealed that finals are still on his team's agenda after the Tigers' thrilling nine-point victory over North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Richmond has the chance to make it back-to-back wins when it hosts the winless Brisbane Lions next Saturday night at the MCG, with Hardwick refusing to rule out the Tigers pushing for a position in the top eight this season.
"Every club wants to make the eight and we're no different," he said.
"We have a long way to go, we're excited about where we are at but for us to be competitive against the top four sides, we are a hell of a long way off it at this stage."
After a tough start to the season in which the Tigers have come up against three sides that currently occupy positions in the top four, Hardwick said the win was especially important for his young charges.
Fifteen points down midway through the final quarter, the Tigers rallied with a seven-goal final quarter to overrun the Roos and record their first win of season 2011, much to the delight of the second-year coach.
"It was a tight old game. I thought the Kangas really took it up to us in that last quarter," he said.
"I thought our spread from stoppages was very good in the last and resulted in the seven goals which is a pretty good result considering our last quarters have probably been one of our worst over the first four weeks of the competition."
"Every win we get is vitally important. For a young playing group it's great to get a result," he said.
"We have probably struggled over the past two to three seasons but… to see four or five boys singing the theme song for the first time is a really great effort and a good result for us."
Hardwick was especially pleased with the brilliant performance of 19-year old Dustin Martin, who finished the match with a career-best 33 disposals and four goals in a best-on-ground performance.
"He was very good tonight. He led from the front and some of those goals that he managed to create but also kick were terrific for us in the end. "
And after much criticism in recent weeks, Jack Riewoldt again showed his true class in front of goal, finishing the match with five and at least three scoring assists.
"It's something he's worked on and it's starting to pay dividends," said the Richmond coach, praising the unselfishness of the key forward.
"You want to reward your teammates [and] a goal assist is as good as a goal as far as we are concerned. It shows that his head is in the right spot - team first footy."
Despite the victory, the Richmond coach was quick to point out the Tigers still have plenty of work ahead of them if they are to mount a challenge to teams vying for a spot in the top half of the table.
"They kicked far too many easy goals - something that has probably killed us over the course of the first four weeks," he said.
"That's what we are striving to iron out."
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