Hardwick won't give up on finalsBy Kim Hagdorn
SportsNewsFirst
6 August 2012 10:53AM ESTDESPITE confronting a forlorn hope a confident talking Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has refused to rule out playing a part in finals next month.
The Tigers revived slender finals prospects with a fighting eight-goal win over Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night after three consecutive gut-wrenching losses by a combined tally of 10 points.
Hardwick’s Tigers sit a precarious 12th on the league ladder with eight wins, but front the real possibility of winning their last four engagements with a late rush to potentially finish in eighth spot with 12 wins.
A non-negotiable component of that slim equation proving successful is to win all four remaining outings, including toppling other late-season top eight contenders Fremantle and Essendon in consecutive weeks of Round 21 and 22.
The Tigers should continue their late thrust toward a last week entry to the final eight with a Sunday afternoon engagement with struggling Western Bulldogs this week.
“Our destiny is in our own hands,” Hardwick said immediately after running out comfortable winners over the Lions.
“We just keep putting our best foot forward and who knows.”
Hardwick’s ambitious finals plan relies heavily on the Dockers, St Kilda, the Bombers and Carlton all stumbling heavily over the next month to fall from the finals race as the tigers scramble toward the bottom rung of the top eight.
The Tigers had to scramble to snuff out a brave late surge from Brisbane who clawed back to within 14 points early into the final term.
Much of the Lions spirited fight-back was triggered from champion play-maker Simon Black who had astonishingly started as the substitute and gathered 15 possessions after being introduced midway through the third term.
Hardwick confessed some reservation as the Lions threatened to inflict a fourth straight late loss onto the Tigers.
“Yeh, it was a funny one, because I thought surely this can’t happen again,” he said.
“We probably just went a little bit stagnant and we didn’t have any motion.
“But we started to that back up and running and the boys started to come into their own.
“We got the ball and got some momentum back and got some goals on the board.’
Hardwick conceded that an imbalance in his on-ball make-up allowed Brisbane to seize initiative around congestion at times when he had top play-makers Dustin Martin and Shane Tuck sitting up forward at the same time.
“At times we had Tuck and Martin in the forward line at the same time , which wasn’t meant to happen,” said the Tigers boss.
“So we lost a good clearance player around the scrimmages.
“So we rectified that and started to get the ball moving our way.”
http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2012/08/06/hardwick-won-t-give-up-on-finals/
