Richmond coach Damien Hardwick's hardline stance Glenn McFarlane
From: Sunday Herald Sun
April 29, 2012 RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick was almost 14,000km from Punt Rd when he declared a seismic shift in the Tigers' philosophy for this year.
In a private briefing to his players on the club's pre-season training camp to Phoenix, Arizona, last December, Hardwick declared that all bets were off in terms of what had happened in the previous two seasons.
Being competitive wasn't simply going to wash with anyone any more; winning matches was to be the only measuring stick.
And the coach stressed that selection would be based solely on merit and that the young players given valuable game time in 2010-11 would have to do a lot more to keep their spots.
Richmond general manager of football Craig Cameron acknowledged that the third year of Hardwick's tenure - the coach signed a new two-year extension just before the start of this season - would always be a critical one.
In a sense, it would mark the time when the present became every bit as important as the future at Punt Rd.
"We had a term for 2010 and 2011, which was 'transformation', but we select on merit from here on in because we have got to start winning footy games," Cameron said.
"We didn't exactly give games away to players, but in our last two years it was important to put a lot of games into young players because we needed to fast-track them. We had some horrible hidings in doing that, but we had to learn a few things about where our list and where our players were at.
"It's been OK for us to take the long-term view, but the supporters and members just want to see us win more games."
Almost five months on from Hardwick's pre-season speech, and off the back of a horror early season draw, Richmond sits at one win with three losses, with yet another clash with a top-four side from last year, West Coast, on the agenda today.
The Tigers have been competitive in all three losses - to Carlton, Collingwood and Geelong - but the only tick in the wins column sits beside lowly Melbourne.
One of the most debated questions is whether Richmond is improving rapidly enough to go from perennial also-ran for the better part of three decades to a team being a regular finalist and, ultimately, the premier.
The Tigers have improved in the two-and-a-bit years under the impressive Hardwick.
Richmond great Matthew Richardson and one-time Tigers coach Danny Frawley are confident the rebuild is on track.
Leading football analyst David King likes the progression, but King's former North Melbourne teammate and media commentator Wayne Carey reckons the jury is still out on where the Tigers are at. Carey says today's game against the Eagles could provide strong evidence either way.
"I am just not too sure where they are at," he said. "I was disappointed with them against Carlton in Round 1, because they were competitive, but got blown away at the end.
"They were poor in the second quarter last week (against Geelong) when their efficiency was terrible. The Tigers of old might have allowed that trend to continue, but they didn't. Their performance in the second half showed a fair bit of maturity."
Cameron acknowledges that as competitive as the Tigers have been so far this season, they know they have to transform that into wins.
"We have seen improvement with some of our defensive capabilities and our ability to hang in games against the top-four sides," Cameron said.
"Having said that, we are one-three, and that's not where we want to be. I know our supporters and members have been waiting a long time to win some more games, so that's clearly our aim."
Richardson says the club's on and off-field structures are more secure than he can recall dating back to when he joined the club in late 1992.
"I don't think I have ever felt better about the footy club as a whole," the 282-game, 800-goal former forward said. "I think the (foundations) of the whole club in general are the strongest they have been, and I can comment on (the past) 20 years.
"They have been in every game so far. Five minutes cost them against Collingwood; 15 minutes cost them against Carlton; and they were in the Geelong game all day.
"If they could pinch this week's game, they would be two-three, and I can't imagine any expert would have predicted that given the draw they were confronted with."
King believes the Tigers can still make the finals this year.
"I think they have been a bit better than people have given them credit for," he said. "They have played the big sides and they haven't been blown away.
"The problems they have got now are the opposite to the problems they had last year. Last year, they looked like kicking a winning score and not saving one; and this year, they look like saving one, but not kicking one."
The Tigers' defence, ranked 15th in Hardwick's first two seasons, is running at 11th in the AFL. But the more pertinent fact is that, despite playing Collingwood, Carlton and Geelong in the first month, the average score conceded is 89.8 - almost 20 points better per game than last season.
But the figures at the other end are less palatable.
Jack Riewoldt has kicked only six goals this season and has been well below his best; while Ty Vickery has kicked only three goals.
Hard work is the only way out of Richmond's forward issues, according to King and Carey, but both are confident it will happen soon.
King said: "He (Riewoldt) is playing a bit like a little boy for me - not chasing, not harassing, not tackling, not giving a supreme effort every time, and, unfortunately, Vickery is not in the form that can cover that.
"It is not a matter of where they are playing him; it is a matter of how he is playing. He will turn it around because he is a very good player, but in the meantime the Tigers are losing by small margins because they have their best key position player going at about three out of 10."
Carey said: "Jack just has to get back to working hard. If things aren't going well for him, he has just got to put that forward pressure on. He has to get to as many contests as he can and he will turn it around."
Richardson says it has probably never been harder to play a key role in attack, given the space restrictions, but backs Riewoldt to bounce back.
"You have a look across the competition and there haven't been too many big bags kicked, other than Josh Kennedy in the opening round," he said. "I found that when you were down on confidence, you tended to not move as much and you wanted to engage in wrestles.
"When you are in good form, you don't worry about that. It can all turn around in a quarter of footy. You might get a few goals and you are away again."
Cameron said the work of overall defensive co-ordinator and assistant coach Ross Smith and defensive coach Justin Leppitsch was having a strong impact on the backline.
"We recognised that (defence) was an area that we needed to tighten up in, and we have," Cameron said.
King said: "I really like (Jake) Batchelor; I think (Alex) Rance is good at winning the ball at the back, but then he has to know his capabilities after that. I think (Dylan) Grimes is going to be a really good defender."
Richardson agrees: "Five of them are 50-games-and-under players. I think Grimes, Rance, (Brandon) Ellis, Batchelor and (Steven) Morris have done a good job, and you also have Newy (Chris Newman) in there."
Frawley said: "I went into the season thinking they were going to be vulnerable back there, but it's not looking like that at the moment.
"The falldown has been the forward line and the fact Riewoldt and Vickery haven't performed as well as had been expected."
For Hawthorn legend Shane Crawford, the Tigers still need urgent work on their kicking efficiency.
"I know Damien hates it (kicking inefficiency)," he said. "He wants players in the side who can kick, but at the moment he still has a lot that struggle in that area. I reckon he would be putting it on them at the moment and telling them it isn't good enough."
Cameron says West Coast looms as another big opportunity today.
"They are a good challenge for us," he said. "We've had a few challenges of late and we have stood up OK, but we haven't snatched one."
If the Tigers can upset the Eagles, they might finally be turning promise into elite performance.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/richmond-coach-damien-hardwicks-hardline-stance/story-e6frf9jf-1226341618248
