Hardwick's Tigers reality check: hard work starts now by: Courtney Walsh
From: The Australian
August 17, 2013 DESPITE his club securing a spot in the finals for the first time in more than a decade, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is determined to ensure it is not a one-off for the Tigers.
Today's match against Carlton at the MCG will expose Richmond to a finals-like atmosphere, if not necessarily opponent, though Hardwick said yesterday the Blues were performing better than the ladder indicated.
While indicating his preference for Richmond to be a contender and not just a number in its first finals appearance since 2001, Hardwick said "we don't want to put a ceiling on where we will finish".
The Tigers coach emphasised this September was only an initial step to where he wants to take the club.
"We don't want (securing a finals spot) to be a celebration. We feel it is more an expectation now," he said. "We feel we have worked incredibly hard to get it but we will take a moment to reflect on it -- it is an achievement to get back there after 11 or 12 years, or whatever it has been -- but we feel, for our footy club, that it is the expectation we have to set on a yearly basis."
Hardwick's reign at Richmond has been methodical. Improvements have been incremental.
The Tigers went winless in his first nine games in charge in 2010 yet finished with six victories for the season. The following season it notched another win. Three more wins had it on the verge of the eight last year before this season's surge.
Crucial to the improvement has been a heady mixture of securing elite talent with its draft picks and valuable mature-aged recruits from afar to fill perceived holes in the list.
Its first draft picks in the national draft dating back to Jack Riewoldt in 2006 will play against Carlton today and have also played the majority of the season.
The full-forward has played every game this year, while 2007 selection Trent Cotchin has missed only one match in his first season as captain and Ty Vickery has played 17 of 19 since being selected the following year.
Dustin Martin (2009) has also featured in every game despite rumours of a troubled pre-season and Reece Conca is establishing himself as a top midfielder while Brandon Ellis and Nick Vlastuin, Richmond's first-round selections in the past two drafts, have played 17 and 14 matches respectively.
Critical, too, have been the mature-aged recruits. Shaun Grigg has missed only one game since being lured from Carlton three seasons ago and Bachar Houli only two when he arrived from Essendon in the same trade period.
Ivan Maric, who has played all but four games in his two seasons after coming from Adelaide, has assisted Vickery's development.
Steven Morris, who has conceded only 14 goals this season to direct opponents, has missed just two games since being recruited from the SANFL for the 2012 season, while former Port Adelaide defender Troy Chaplin has proven a valuable addition to Richmond's defence this year.
Hardwick said credit must go to Francis Jackson, whose first-round picks have all performed, and Blair Hartley, whose job it is to pick through opposition players that may serve a role at Richmond.
Hardwick, whose office walls are understood to carry an analysis of every player in the competition, is again scouring lists in the lead-up to his year's trade period.
"Our recruiting department, under Francis Jackson and Blair Hartley, has done a tremendous job in not only getting talented players through the draft but also players from other clubs who have come in and contributed," Hardwick told SEN Radio this week.
"There is a couple of ways you can build your side. That is certainly one of the areas that we identified pretty early, when I came to the club, that from a drafting area it was one area we had to improve but also a list-management point of view, bringing players to our football club.
"It is an area of strength of ours and we certainly look forward to bringing more players to our club who can help us win.
"There is no doubt there are players out there that we think are undervalued in certain sides and we will be trying to bring them across to the Tigers."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/hardwicks-tigers-reality-check-hard-work-starts-now/story-fnca0u4y-1226698745692
