Richmond coach Damien Hardwick tries to contain Tiger hype Bruce Matthews
From: Herald Sun
March 28, 2012 11:56AMRichmond coach Damien Hardwick has tried to shield his players from the massive build-up and wild expectations for tomorrow night's clash against Carlton at the MCG.
Hardwick said today he specifically addressed the publicity issue with the playing group to focus on the opening round assignment.
"Hype's a wonderful thing isn't it? It's amazing the build-up that happens in the media at this time of the year,'' Hardwick said before his team's final training session this morning.
"We spoke to our players earlier last week and said, 'Listen, we've just got to worry about the perception that's in here. We know how hard we've trained, we know we can focus on our game plan and all the things we can control'.
"That's all we do. Ross Lyon had a great quote about his bubble, just worry about what you can control and all the other stuff is outside hype and we just do what we do.
"Our side overall is in better shape. It's the first time we've come in with relatively few injuries.
"And our pre-season form is very good, our talent has improved and we've been happy with our training regimen over the pre-season.''
Hardwick said it would be folly for anyone to dismiss Carlton on its winless NAB Cup form.
"Look, we go on confident, we've playing some good football, but Carlton are a formidable opposition, they're a top four to five side,'' he said.
"Although their NAB Cup record say they haven't won a game, they've been well and truly in every game. So we're under no illusions how good they can be.''
"I lot has been made of the Carlton back (line) injuries, but their midfield is their key, as is ours.
"We've lowered our colours to them a number of times over the last couple of years, so we're looking to reverse the trend.
"If we can get the ball inside 50, an area that is a strength of ours, an ability to score. So we'll try to win the midfield battle and go from there.
"Probably our (midfield) depth has improved. (Brett) Deledio will obviously go through there at stages tomorrow night, (Dustin) Martin gets another pre-season, (Trent) Cotchin gets another pre-season. So they're starting to mature.
"It's very similar to when (Chris) Judd came to the Blues. He adds the quality depth and our players are starting to get three to four pre-seasons under their belts, so they're maturing as a group which is exciting for us.
"The confidence of the playing group is important. We've trained reasonably well over the course of the pre-season and we just hope we take it into Round 1.
"Confidence is the thing. Look, it is a massive build-up to Round 1. But as I said, we just worry about what we can control in here. Same old, same old as much as we can.''
Hardwick agreed with Carlton coach Brett Ratten's observation of the Tigers placing more emphasis on defensive aspects.
"It's a fair assessment. Most sides in the modern game become more defence orientated and that's something we've had to take on board,'' he said.
"Probably what hasn't helped in the past was a number of injuries to our back six that has destabilised. But it's the system that we have to get better at and we've worked enormously hard over the course of the pre-season, like a number of sides have.''
Mature-age recruit Steven Morris, son of Tigers premiership player Kevin Morris, will be among Richmond's new boys.
"He's an older type head. He's a guy who's hard and tough and we're pleased with what he brings to our footy club. There will probably be between two and four new players debuting for the club," Hardwick said.
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