'Clock ticking' on Damien Hardwick as Richmond blame game beginsJon Pierik
The Age
July 3, 2016Former Richmond coach Danny Frawley has declared the "clock is ticking" on incumbent Damien Hardwick, as the Tigers now begin plotting a major rebuild of a failed playing list.
The Tigers' 38-point loss to Port Adelaide on Friday night leaves them three games outside the top eight, and Hardwick conceding his side was not good enough to be in September calculations.
A major review of the club's football operations department and recruiting has begun and is now expected to intensify, with assistant coaches among those to be scrutinised. Hardwick has more than two years to run on his contract, having had his position reviewed last summer ahead of a one-year contract extension.
The Tigers have more than 20 players off contract, including key forward Ty Vickery, whom AFL great Dermott Brereton described on Saturday as not being a "grand finalist's key forward".
The decision to have so many uncontracted players appears to have been a deliberate one, indicating the Tigers were unsure if this list was capable of winning a final, while also ensuring they would be in the market for top talent this year.
While Frawley stopped short of calling for Hardwick's sacking, he said an absence of a finals victory during Hardwick's tenure meant he was under the spotlight. The Tigers have been beaten in three-straight elimination finals.
"His coaching CV is not great - let's face it. He has coached for seven years now without winning a final," Frawley said on Saturday.
"The clock is ticking. I know he has a two-year deal ... but you are in finals to win 'em. They haven't won a final in his tenure. That doesn't look good on anyone's CV.
"If they have to start again, they may have to extend his contract again, because it's not going to happen in two years, I can tell you that. This rebuild is going to take a while."
The Tigers' decision to recruit top-up talent has been publicly scrutinised over the past two years. They have said they pursued this path as their rebuild under Hardwick coincided with the plethora of picks given to expansion clubs in the national draft.
Frawley said the recruiting strategy had not worked, and suggested Hardwick was to blame.
"They had a side around tenth or eleventh. They got (Troy) Chaplin, they got (Ivan) Maric, they got (Shaun) Grigg, they got (Bachar) Houli, they got Taylor Hunt - not all of those worked," he said on Triple M.
"You get those players to win finals because you are taking away draft picks. The list management of Richmond have recruited for the now over the last two or three years, thinking the top five players were good enough to get them there - let's bolster 'em with players from other clubs.
"If it doesn't work, the heat does come on the coach because a lot of the players that come from other clubs, they're coaches' picks, they are not recruiting picks."
Terry Wallace, another former Richmond coach, has urged the Tigers to target banned Essendon defender Michael Hurley in a bid to revitalise their list.
Wallace said he did not "trust" the Tigers' big men, listing Vickery, Ben Griffiths and Shaun Hampson.
The Tigers have privately denied suggestions they have offered Hurley, one of 17 current AFL players serving a year-long anti-doping ban, a five-year deal worth about $4.5 million. Hurley has yet to re-commit to the Bombers.
Wallace said the Tigers needed to pursue the versatile Hurley, rather than other players they have been linked to, including off-contract Gold Coast Suns' midfielder, Dion Prestia.
Veteran forward Brett Deledio has been seen as possible trade bait should the Tigers want another top pick in this year's draft. They are now likely to finish with at least a top-six pick.
Hardwick said the Tigers needed to "find players who can continue to take us forward and get us back to where we need to be".
"We've blooded a lot of young players this year, we'll continue to do so but we've also got to make sure they're ready to play AFL footy," he said.
"We're finding out about a few players at the moment, we're trying guys in different positions…but we do look forward to some guys getting an opportunity.
"We'll continue to try and win as many games as we can whilst trying to develop a playing list that can take us forward."
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