Richmond targets 2010 ghostsBy Adam Smith
The Mercury
October 26, 2012 RICHMOND coach Damian Hardwick will return to the scene of his nightmare debut when the Tigers meet Hawthorn in round three of the NAB Cup next year at Aurora Stadium.
The AFL yesterday released its pre-season fixture, with the Hawks to host the clash in Launceston on Saturday March 9.
In his first official match as coach in 2010, Hardwick watched on as the Hawks handed his side a 73-point hiding in front of 11,217 spectators.
Since then Richmond has improved dramatically led by the coming of age of stars Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio and local hero Jack Riewoldt although even this season the club was still plagued by inconsistency.
The Tigers have been pooled with Melbourne and North Melbourne in round one of the NAB Cup, before heading to Wangaratta in round two for a match against Essendon.
Hawthorn, who lost this year's grand final to Sydney, will start the 2013 pre-season competition as one of the favourites having been slotted alongside Brisbane and the Gold Coast in round one, followed by a meeting with the Western Bulldogs a week later.
Richmond chief executive and former Tasmanian Brendon Gale, who like Hardwick was also in his first season in his role on the fateful day back in 2010, yesterday told the Mercury he is looking forward to returning to the Apple Isle to erase some of the bitter memories.
"We have a great supporter base down in Tasmania, not just in Hobart but also in the North of the state so it will be great to come back down," Gale said.
"The last time we were down it was my first game as Chief Executive and Damian's first official match as coach and we got absolutely smashed, it was pretty embarrassing really.
"The guys were learning a new game plan and things just didn't go as we would have liked.
"But a lot has changed since then and I'm sure we will put up a better showing than we did that day."
Aurora Stadium officials will also be pleased with the fixture after disappointing turnouts to the past two Hawks pre-season contests.
This year 5100 people turned up to watch Greater Western Sydney in action, while in 2011 just 4010 were on hand when Melbourne played on a Friday night. The ground record of 20,971 was a Hawthorn-Richmond match in 2007.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/10/25/364582_sport-news.html
