Damien Hardwick the next Tommy Hafey - Richmond Jon Ralph
From: Herald Sun
March 28, 2012 RICHMOND says re-signed coach Damien Hardwick can be at the club for more than a decade and develop a similar aura to premiership coach Tommy Hafey.
The Tigers, who recently extended Hardwick's contract by two seasons, are confident his vision of delivering the club's next premiership is on track.
The timeline for Hardwick's extension was delayed by several months, but president Gary March said it was never about questioning if he was the right man.
"We would sincerely hope Damien is a Tommy Hafey-type who coaches for 10-plus years and coaches us to premierships," March said.
"He was totally aware of what we were doing. I caught up with him twice. He understood that, and he believes in where we are going and we believed in him.
''It was total belief, but we wanted to make sure the decision before the season started was the right decision, so we went through a review."
The review totally favoured an extension for Hardwick based on his two seasons at Punt Rd.
"Craig Cameron and (Brendon Gale) were 100 per cent convinced Damien was the right way to go," March said. "So if we had deferred that decision, despite their recommendation, we were saying we weren't 100 per cent convinced about them.
"To defer it would have been a vote of no-confidence in our people."
Richmond plans to be debt-free by 2014, but says it is not yet in a position to pre-pay players to help lessen future salary-cap stress.
March said yesterday the club would have wiped $2 million of debt by the end of this year, and had a big enough football-department budget to be competitive.
The club will also start work on its new MCG-sized Punt Rd Oval redevelopment in August, with completion expected by January.
"Part of the goal was always to look at the ability to pre-pay," March said.
"You can only do that when your finances are strong enough cash flow-wise, and we are slowly but surely getting into that position."
He said this year would be historic for the club.
"We resurface Punt Rd Oval, and 10 years ago when I came on to the board I got told it would never happen," March said."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/damien-hardwick-the-next-tommy-hafey-richmond/story-e6frf9jf-1226311777196
