Dimma's post-match presser:
VIDEO:
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/2016-04-09/round-3-hardwick-postmatch-----------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has made the surprising admission the Tigers must go back to go forwards as their season threatens to spiral out of control.
Richmond was brutally swept aside by Adelaide at Etihad Stadium, slipping to 1-2 ahead of a daunting assignment against West Coast in Perth on Friday night.
The club then gagged its players — banning them from speaking to the media after the game.
Hardwick, in his seventh year as Tigers coach and desperate to guide the club to its first finals win since 2001, said Richmond needed to take “a half step back”.
“Look, this side isn’t the same as last year. We are trialling some blokes in some different positions,” Hardwick said.
“We might have to take a little half step back to go two steps forward, but I’m very confident we will take the two steps forward.
“(Kamdyn) McIntosh down back, I think we’ve found a player. We probably hoped to get more out of a couple of other guys tonight.
“The general core is there, we’re just adding some general pieces around that puzzle at the moment, which we feel will take us forward. It hasn’t worked out at the moment, but we’re very confident we’ll get the desired result.
“We’ve been found short the last three years so we’ve got to find the next tier that we think will take us to the next level. It might be ... a speed bump here and there, but the aim is to go forward.”
Richmond was scorched by the Crows’ transition power. Hardwick watched as his side gathered 41 more possessions, 12 more contested marks, won contested ball and tackles, but was made to pay severely for its glut of turnovers.
Hardwick said Richmond’s skills were not up to standard and “hurting us at the moment”.
A loss to the Eagles would sink the Tigers to 1-3 and force them to play catch-up for the third consecutive year in a bid to play finals.
Hardwick acknowledged basic mistakes by hand and foot had been a recurring early-season trend.
“Stock standard for us isn’t it? Starting like this? It’s disappointing,” he said.
“Our offence is killing our defence at the moment. We’ve gone through it at various stages and we’ll undoubtedly go through it again at some stage, but for us we think that while it’s frustrating it’s an easy fix.
“The skill execution ... we just need to work on and get better. We’ve got players who are good users at the ball not using it like they should.
“We’ve been here before”.
Hardwick described next week’s trip to Perth to play West Coast off a six-day break as the best situation he could hope for.
“Funnily enough, it’s a bit of a Godsend really. Our players get to go away as a unit, I couldn’t ask for anything better to be perfectly honest,” he said.
“We travel well as a side, we play well at Subiaco and we give ourselves every chance versus the Eagles over there.”
Ivan Maric (back) will play 80 minutes in the VFL on Sunday. Hardwick said Brett Deledio (quad) was still only a “slim” chance to return after kicking for the first time on Saturday.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/winning-and-losing-coaches-have-their-say-after-saturdays-round-3-games/news-story/0974928f839b4800beeeda33c372eb6dhttp://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-09/tigers-found-short-again-hardwick
