Hardwick: We lost our headsHerald-Sun
April 2, 2016RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick accused his side of losing its head after a litany of errors gifted Collingwood a dramatic last-gasp win.
The Tigers led by 17 points with 11 minutes to play, but a catalogue of mistakes opened the door for a late Pies rally that culminated in Brodie Grundy’s game-winning goal with four seconds left.
“I thought we played some really unintelligent footy towards the end,” Hardwick said.
“The players know better. We just didn’t make the right decisions at the right time. Shaun Grigg with a minute and a half to go has a long shot outside 50m and we play on ... we never do that.”
In a nightmare finish, Ty Vickery gave up a set shot to make a pass that was turned over, Nick Vlastuin was penalised for deliberate out of bounds when he could have kicked clear and Jack Riewoldt missed a spoil that Grundy crumbed for the winner.
“I’m happy with that rule (deliberate) as long as they’re consistent,” Hardwick said.
“I would have thought we would have spoiled the ball through but credit where it’s due, it was a smart kick from (Darcy) Moore, we probably thought it was going to be that type of kick, they just got the better of the contest.
The Magpies celebrate their win over Richmond. Picture: Getty
“We wanted to either get that ball either through for a point or a long spoil, but we got neither.”
It came after the Tigers had wasted countless opportunities in front of goal, going in at half time 3.8 and three-quarter time 7.12 before finishing with 12.14.
“It’s easy to individualise, but we shouldn’t have been in that situation. We missed gettable shots at goal and you leave the door open and good sides bounce back and take the four points from you,” Hardwick said.
“It’s a tough game, but Collingwood had some blokes out, we had some blokes out. I still thought we had enough players to win the game, but that’s the nature of the game. At some stage a majority of sides will go through it. Ours is now so we’ve got to battle and hang tough and get four points back on.”
Richmond’s injury list has been extended too, with versatile defender Dylan Grimes set for a stint on the sidelines with what appears to be a hamstring tendon injury.
“We’re not sure of the severity of it at this stage. He had something similar last year ... it might be one or two weeks, but we’ll get scans to verify that,” Hardwick said.
Shane Edwards is likely to return next week, but Brett Deledio is still “unlikely” as he battles to shake off a quad injury sustained at training before Round 1.
“He’s running flat out, but it’s kicking that’s the issue,” he said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/damien-hardwick-rues-richmonds-missed-opportunities-against-collingwood/news-story/391d7edb5d141c9a6fb365fab865d662