Coach Damien Hardwick says Richmond's best is good enough to beat anyone Matt Windley
Herald Sun
August 08, 2013 2:37PMTHE ride has been good so far, but Richmond coach Damien Hardwick doesn't want it to stop any time soon.
Fresh from a 41-point demolition of ladder-leader Hawthorn, Hardwick says his side's best is good enough to compete with any team in the AFL.
And with a first finals spot since 2001 all but wrapped up, Tigers fans will be hoping to see that faith come to fruition in September.
"Our best is good enough, we know that,'' Hardwick said before training at Punt Rd today.
"The thing we've got to challenge our playing group and our coaching group with is to play at that standard for the remainder of the season.
"It's been a long journey thus far, and it's been an enjoyable journey, but there's no ceiling on where we want to finish and that's the challenge to our guys.''
The Tigers have also defeated Fremantle, another top-four side, in the past month.
So Hardwick insisted that the upset win over the Hawks hasn't all of a sudden given his players a belief that wasn't already there.
"I think our guys have always had that belief, we probably just haven't delivered as well as we would have liked,'' he said.
"We always thought we were capable of playing that style of footy.
"The challenge for our group is consistency and whether we can do that over the course of the next four weeks and onwards.
"We spoke about that gap (between them and the top four), Sydney obviously exploited that gap, we managed to close it against Hawthorn, but the challenge is to prove, week in week out, that there isn't one.''
Richmond hosts a Brisbane Lions side playing without captain Jonathan Brown at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
Ruck/forward Tyron Vickery is due to return from concussion, but defender Dylan Grimes (foot) and small forward Jake King (hamstring) are at least a week away.
"Dylan Grimes will probably need another week or two in the reserves, he's obviously missed a large amount of footy, but he's certainly a player who we think can make a contribution towards the end of the year,'' Hardwick said.
"But Ty's available to play which is good news for us. He'll play.
"(King) is still a little bit sore with his hamstring, so we won't rush him, we'll just make sure he's ready to go when he comes back.''
The Tigers' injury list is dwindling fast, an ideal scenario heading in to September, but Hardwick is taking nothing for granted.
"It goes up and down. Last week we had relatively few injuries and then it comes up to seven or eight again - we had a couple of concussions in our seconds, a couple of soft tissues as well.
"So it can quickly turn. We're in a management phase now, we've got some players who are a little bit sore, so we'll be nursing our way with those guys.''
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/coach-damien-hardwick-says-richmonds-best-is-good-enough-to-beat-anyone/story-fni5f9jc-1226693573517
