VIDEO: Dimma faces the media and talks Brisbane, possible returns and an NBA-style draft lottery system ...
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/roar%20vision%20archive/tabid/11454/contentid/475284/default.aspxHardwick calls for draft lottoBy Luke Holmesby
Thu 02 Aug, 2012RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has entered the tanking debate, calling for an NBA-style draft lottery system to deter clubs from deliberately losing games.
Tanking has dominated the football landscape this week after former Melbourne midfielder Brock McLean admitted he left the Demons because he was unhappy with perceived tanking in 2009.
The AFL has said it will interview McLean about the allegations but Hardwick said a simple solution was to introduce a lottery system to determine the early draft picks.
"Just fix it. Just bring in a lottery. At the end of the day if your incentive [is] losing, you're going to lose," Hardwick said on Thursday.
"If we just bring in a lottery system like the NBA it's job done. Let's not worry about delving into the past, let's just move forward."
The Tigers take on the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night after last week's heart-breaking loss to Carlton.
It was Richmond's third loss by less than a goal in three weeks but Hardwick said a priority was not to let it take an emotional toll.
"The first couple of days were pretty tough but the one thing we try to take out of it is the emotion as much as possible - we go through a process as well as we can and figure out the reasons we did things well and did things poorly," he said.
"We did that on Monday and Tuesday and we move on pretty quickly on Tuesday afternoon which is what AFL footy does to you."
Finals are unlikely for Richmond now but Hardwick said there was plenty that could be gained from the rest of the season.
"We've had that time in our development and now it's about playing for the jumper and there will certainly be some players we'll be looking at but they've got to earn their game as well," he said.
"We've got some players who are coming back into selection. (Ben) Griffiths will be available to play, (Brad) Helbig's had two or three games at VFL level and he'll be available also. We're starting to get some players back which is a real good sign for us."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/143327/default.aspx
