No video nasty for TigersBy Jennifer Witham
12:27 PM Fri 08 Jul, 2011AS HE predicted immediately after his side was mauled by Carlton, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick didn't instigate a full review of the 103-point massacre this week.
The coaches watched the game a few times to find out exactly what went wrong, and to adjust training this week to address those deficiencies.
But the players avoided watching the footage of the ugly defeat, and were instead shown their round-nine 16-point triumph over this week's opponents Essendon as motivation.
"From a coaching perspective, we didn't think there was a great deal we could actually gain from showing the players such a poor performance [against Carlton]," Hardwick said on Friday.
"We played some good football [against the Bombers] that night. It was a good, tough game of footy and that's something we're looking forward to this weekend.
"It's something we probably fell away from last week. We showed the vision of that game and it was very much a finals-type game.
"The body clashes were high and hard, and that's something we look to get back this weekend."
Hardwick said his players' attitude this week had been impressive in the wake of the heavy defeat, and they had responded well to an increase in tough training.
"The one thing I'll say about our group is they're very vibrant. You wouldn't know that we've come off a resounding loss, and that's something we try to pride ourselves on," he said.
"We try to take away the emotion of the ups and downs of the season, which our guys tend to do very, very well.
"In saying that, we've worked on a couple of areas that require a great deal of physicality in our training, and that's something the players have enjoyed this week and will come out versus the Bombers."
Hardwick said this Saturday night's clash at the MCG wasn't primarily about winning back respect, as he believed the club was still in a better place than it was at the start of 2010.
"You've got to remember we're 18 months into a process that we always said was going to take some time," he said.
"You look at where we've come from in the situation at the start of last year where we were a 0-9 start to where we are now - we're a much better side.
"We understand where we're at, but we certainly know where we're going and we've got a hell of a long way to go.
"There's going to be bumps along the way. Last week was one of those bumps, and there's going to more bumps in the future."
Hardwick said the Tigers took heart from the fact the Bombers were able to rebound from a 65-point loss to Hawthorn in round 14 - their fifth in a row - to beat ladder-leaders Geelong by four points last Saturday night.
The Tigers have lost big man Andrew Browne to a hip injury, which leaves them light on for ruckmen against Essendon's dangerous pair of David Hille and Paddy Ryder.
Hardwick didn't rule out bringing in emergency Angus Graham - who hasn't played seniors since round eight - as a late inclusion.
"We’ve got Jayden Post, Ben Griffiths … both are close to 200cm as well as Tyrone Vickery, who can ruck at stages also," he said.
"We'll throw up a few curve balls there and see how it pans out.
"[Graham] is a possibility but we'll see how it turns out."
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