Hardwick's press conference - Thurs July 26

[one-eyed]

VIDEO: Dimma's media conference ...

http://www.afl.com.au/video/tabid/76/contentid/472934/hardwick+press+conference/default.aspx


'Big fish' a risk: Hardwick
By Paul Daffey
12:21 PM Thu 26 Jul, 2012

RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has responded to criticism that the Tigers don't seek to land big-name players from other clubs by backing the club's recent recruiting record with lower-profile players.
 
"We target players who we think are going to take the club forward," Hardwick said on Thursday.
 
"The addition of Ivan Maric, the addition of Shaun Grigg, Bachar Houli, Steve Morris … I think we've got a pretty good strike rate in that regard."
 
Richmond great Kevin Bartlett said on his program on SEN radio that the Tigers should put themselves in the market for high-profile stars such as Collingwood forward Travis Cloke.
 
Bartlett played for Richmond from 1965-83, an era in which the Tigers were renowned for their ruthless raids on opposition clubs.
 
Hardwick said Richmond would like to recruit Cloke, as would every club, but there were dangers in putting all a club's energy and resources into signing a big name.
 
"The free agency market is one that can spiral out of control," Hardwick said.
 
"You can get one big fish, but the fact is there's two or three who can float out the other way."
 
Of the Tigers' list, Hardwick said 30-year-old midfielder Shane Tuck had put himself in a strong position to earn another contract.
 
"He's been outstanding. It's been his best year for a hell of a long time.
 
"He's like his old man; he's getting better with age.
 
"His form warrants another contract, but we'll work through that in due course."
 
Richmond goes into Saturday night's match against Carlton at the MCG as the favoured team despite losing to the Blues by 44 points in round one, the Tigers' biggest loss this season.
 
Their eight losses since have been by 21 points or less, and in the past two rounds, the Tigers have lost to Gold Coast by two points and North Melbourne by four points.
 
The Blues have won the past seven games between the clubs, but Hardwick said the past was not a consideration.
 
"It's a new game," Hardwick said.
 
"The sides have changed enormously over the past 16 or 17 weeks.
 
"We're playing better footy. There are certain stages of the game we dominate. We're just not getting the scoreboard result."

A loss for either side on Saturday night at the MCG would deal a significant blow to their finals chances.

But Hardwick suggested that even if Richmond were to lose to Carlton, their season would still be alive even though they would most probably have to win their remaining five matches to figure in September action.

"The remaining five games are elimination finals also," Hardwick said before training on Thursday.

"Look it's an important game, there's no doubt about it, both us and Carlton are vying for that seventh (or) eighth position ... but there's still a lot of football to be played."

Hardwick said Jake King, Jake Batchelor and Ben Griffiths were all in contention for senior recalls for the big clash.
 
Hardwick said the Tigers must improve their discipline; he wants no back-chatting of umpires as happened when Brett Deledio, a member of the leadership group,  gave away a free kick and 50m penalty against North Melbourne last Sunday.

The Tigers coach said the issue was raised during the week and it needed to be ironed out of their game.

"The things that we can control, we've got to get a little better at," Hardwick said.

"The umpires are going to make certain calls, whether right or wrong they're going to make those judgments on the day.

"We've just got to be better at reacting to those and not let our emotions override the decision that has been made."

Richmond's loss to North Melbourne on Sunday was their fifth by 12 points or less for the year and Hardwick admitted suffering so many close defeats was a 'bitter pill to swallow'.

"I just feel disappointed for our supporters, our players, we've worked extremely hard, we've improved in an enormous amount of areas, we're just not quite getting the result we're after," Hardwick said.

But Hardwick said his talented midfield were relishing the opportunity to lock horns with Carlton's on-ball division minus talismanic skipper Chris Judd.
 
He also wants an improvement in kicking for goal - the Tigers have had more scoring shots than their rivals in most games.
 
"We've just to make sure that when we get the opportunity to hit the scoreboard we do so," Hardwick said.

http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=142698
http://www.sportal.com.au/afl-news-display/hardwick-loss-wont-end-season-189315

[one-eyed]

Richmond's narrow losses a bitter pill for coach Damien Hardwick

    Al Paton
    From: Herald Sun
    July 26, 2012 5:19PM

CUTTING the umpire back-chat and kicking straight in front of goal are the last pieces of the Richmond puzzle, according to Damien Hardwick.

Hardwick today lamented the two controllable factors which have cost the Tigers several matches they could have won - and left them two games outside the top eight.

Last Sunday North Melbourne kicked five goals from free kicks before defeating the Tigers by four points.

Richmond has lost five games by under two goals and all eight losses since the Tigers' last meeting against Carlton in Round 1 have been by 21 points of fewer.

"If you look at our stats we've had more scoring shots than our opposition in most games - I think there's only three games where we have had fewer scoring shots - we just have to make sure when we get the opportunity to hit the scoreboard, we do so," Hardwick said.

"We've lost five games by under 12 points which is a bitter pill to swallow but we've just got to get better at taking those opportunities when they present.

"We're playing better footy (than when Richmond lost to Carlton by 44 points in Round 1) ... there's certain stages of games we dominate we're just not getting the scoreboard result that will help us win games.

"We've worked extremely hard, we've improved in an enormous amount of areas."

Hardwick said he felt disappointed for the players and supporters to repeatedly come close but not get over the line.

He said improving conduct around umpires was one area that could make an immediate difference.

Last Sunday Brett Deledio paid the price when he complained to an umpire after missing out on a free kick for a high tackle. His remonstrations turned a ball-up at half-back into a gift goal to Drew Petrie.

"There's no doubt we spoke about because the things we can control we've got to get better at," Hardwick said.

"The umpires are going to make certain calls, whether right or wrong they're going to make those judgements on the day, we've just got to be better at reacting to those on the day and not let our emotions override the decision that has been made.

"We'll learn from it, we'll get better and we'll try to take it out of our game."

Hardwick said Richmond was one of "17 clubs that would be interested" in out-of-contract Magpie Travis Cloke, but he backed the Tigers' recruiting strategy of picking up fringe players such as Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg from other clubs without targetting a "big fish".

"I think one thing we can take credit for is we target players who will help our footy side. I think you look at the addition of Ivan Maric, Shaun Grigg, Bachar Houli, Steve Morris - I think we've got a pretty good strike rate.

"The free agency market is one that can spiral out of control.

"You can get one big fish, but the fact is there's two or three who can float out the other way."

Hardwick said small forward Jake King was a chance to play against the Blues on Saturday night after missing just three matches with a serious knee injury.

"He's a guy that does everything right, he's a resilient character and he's strong in the mind and he's strong in the body so whenever the doc says four weeks you can probably put it down as two with Kingy."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/richmonds-narrow-losses-a-bitter-pill-for-coach-damien-hardwick/story-e6frf9jf-1226436057044

[RedanTiger]

"The umpires are going to make certain calls, whether right or wrong they're going to make those judgements on the day,