Dimma's aftermatch media conference / Tigers no longer reliant on star power

[one-eyed]

VIDEO: Dimma's post-match press conference ...

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/2013-06-23/round-13-hardwick-post-match

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Tigers no longer reliant on star power: Hardwick
By Ben Guthrie
afl.com.au
Sunday, June 23, 2013

NOT LONG ago, subdued games from Brett Deledio and Trent Cotchin spelled near-certain doom for Richmond.

But on Saturday night, coach Damien Hardwick was happy to declare that's no longer the case.

The Tigers blew the Western Bulldogs away in the second half at Etihad Stadium, recording a rock-solid 60-point win on Saturday night.

Deledio fought hard to shake the tag of his shadow in Liam Picken to grab 25 touches, while Trent Cotchin ground his way to 17 disposals.

Neither was a dominant figure in the Tigers' victory.

But it was the even spread of disposals - Bachar Houli (25), Daniel Jackson (23), Dustin Martin (23), Reece Conca (21) and Shaun Grigg (21) all contributed - that Hardwick nominated as the most satisfying factor in the win.

"That's what we've sort of enjoyed at the moment," he said.

"People often say that Trent Cotchin's disposals and Deledio's disposals have gone down, but that's what good sides do.

"We're not reliant on those guys any more."

Hardwick believes there is plenty of improvement awaiting his side, grading his team's efforts over the last few weeks at a 7/10.

The Tigers sit 8-4 with some very winnable games against St Kilda, North Melbourne and Gold Coast to come in the next few weeks.

However, they may need to carry on their sparkling form without key defender Troy Chaplin who twisted his left knee in the final term against the Bulldogs.

Hardwick said the club would await the results of scans during the week, but first thoughts were that he had escaped serious injury.

It is the same knee that had given Chaplin grief during the pre-season.

"Structurally, we think he's fine. We've just got to work our way through, whether he twisted his knee or not we're not too sure."

"He seems to think he'll be fine, but we'll need to get some tests during the week."

Jake Batchelor, Ben Griffiths and Todd Elton are those waiting in reserve if Chaplin is sidelined.

Hardwick said Chaplin's impact since arriving as a free-agent from Port Adelaide in the off-season could not be underestimated.

"He's been one of those guys you can't measure. His leadership, his ability to get body on players is phenomenal.

"He's got some of the best body work I've seen. He makes our back six better. He makes players around him better."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-06-23/stars-no-longer-the-key-to-tigers-success

[one-eyed]

    Glenn McFarlane
    From: Herald Sun
    June 23, 2013

After a wasteful first term, Richmond cranked into gear when it mattered most to record their third successive win of the season ahead of another winnable game against St Kilda next Sunday.

It was the Tigers’ eighth win of the season and Hardwick insisted there was significant improvement left in the team for the rest of the season.

“We’re probably only going at about seven out of ten (at the moment),” Hardwick said last night.

“We’ve had one really bad game – the Essendon game was as bad as we had played in two years.

“Otherwise we have been very competitive.”

Hardwick admitted that he had not been happy with his team’s first half, but was pleased with the overall result.

“I thought the second half was a lot better than the first,” he said. “By the end of the game, it was a good result.

“If you had said that we would come out of the game with a 10-goal win, you would have taken that.”

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-defender-troy-chaplin-suffered-a-knee-injury-against-the-western-bulldogs/story-fndv8t7m-1226668144068#mm-breached