Dimma's press conference 7-7-16 / Hardwick backs kids to turn Tigers around

[one-eyed]

Hardwick backs kids to turn Tigers around

Sam Landsberger
Herald Sun
July 8, 2016

DAMIEN Hardwick says Richmond has struck gold with its past two draft hauls and the pain of a failed 2016 season will be short-lived.

Hardwick will use the last eight weeks as a “springboard” into 2017 and declared on Thursday the Tigers would swiftly bounce up the ladder.

Scrutiny has intensified that Richmond is on the cusp of a lengthy rebuild after failing to win a final in 2013-15 and bombing out this season.

About half the Tigers’ playing list and most of Hardwick’s assistant coaches are coming out of contract, but Hardwick laughed off suggestions the club would trade playmaker Brett Deledio.

He said the Tigers would become a force if they surround their current batch of superstars with more players “above the line”.

And Hardwick reaffirmed his claims the 2016 list is the best he’s had in seven years, pointing to the depth in the VFL.

“The big thing for us is people only see the top of the iceberg, they only see the 22 players we put out there on a weekly basis,” Hardwick said.

“They don’t see what’s under the water and we’re really excited about the prospect of some of these young kids coming through.”

Asked which kids could light up the dreary run home, Hardwick named Nathan Drummond, Liam McBean, Ben Lennon, Jason Castagna and Oleg Markov.

Hardwick praised Daniel Rioli’s speed, agility and inside work but said he wanted the first-round pick to improve his uncontested game.

Rioli laid 13 tackles in the VFL last week while the Tigers rank last for tackles this season and won the ‘soft’ stats against Port Adelaide last week.

“I think it’ll (bouncing back) be quick,” Hardwick said.

“We’ve got some incredible talent — Deledio, (Trent) Cotchin, (Dustin) Martin, (Alex) Rance, (Jack) Riewoldt.

“We’re after more players (who can play) what we call ‘above the line’.

“Guys like Nick Vlastuin, Brandon Ellis have shown that consistently they can play that and we’re after more players to jump up.
Chis Yarran trains at Punt Rd with Corey Ellis.

“Our last two drafts we’ve been really pleased with.

“I’ve spoken about how this is the best list, people only see the 22 we put out there as the top of the iceberg, what I’m excited about is underneath.”

The Tigers will have just one top-40 pick in this year’s draft and have been strongly linked to Gold Coast ball magnet Dion Prestia.

Hardwick said the focus on the future would not translate to scoreboard pain this year.

“They (the kids) have still got to play some football to get picked at AFL level,” Hardwick said.

“We know our best football is capable. We’ve got eight games to try and regain some respect from the competition and show the footy world if we do play our best what we’re capable of doing.”

WHAT’S GOT DIMMA DANCING?

Damien Hardwick says he is excited by the past two draft hauls

2014 DRAFT

No. 12 Corey Ellis (17 games)

No. 33 Connor Menadue (16 games)

No. 52 Nathan Drummond (1 game)

No. 67 Daniel Butler (0 games)

No. 77 Reece McKenzie (retired)

Rookie Jayden Short (8 games)

Rookie Jason Castagna (2 games)

Rookie Kane Lambert (25 games)

2015 DRAFT

No. 15 Daniel Rioli (10 games)

No. 50 Oleg Markov (0 games)

No. 67 Nathan Broad (2 games)

Rookie Callum Moore (0 games)

Rookie Mabior Chol (0 games)

Rookie Adam Marcon (0 games)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/damien-hardwick-backs-kids-on-richmonds-list-to-turn-fortunes-around-quickly/news-story/a8b10231a9a641f658da9687d3f9b9c7

[one-eyed]

Bring on the future, says bullish Hardwick

AFL.com.au
July 8, 2016


RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick thinks the Tigers can quickly bounce back into future finals contention despite the disappointment of 2016.

He scoffed at suggestions star midfielder Brett Deledio should be traded and said the club was looking for more players to reach the standards Deledio, Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance consistently reach.

"We've got some incredible talent," Hardwick said on Thursday.

"We're after more players [who can] play, what we call, above the line, playing not just to a capable standard … we're after more players who can jump up."

Hardwick said he was pleased with the players who had joined Richmond through the last two drafts, with Corey Ellis, Connor Menadue and Daniel Rioli all performing well at senior level.

He defended his claim that Richmond's list was the best he had seen in his time at Richmond, saying the upside of the youngsters enthused him.

"People only see the 22 we put other there, the top of the iceberg. What I am excited about is what is underneath. That is really exciting for us and we are going to see some of those boys play," Hardwick said.

He said the team was looking to springboard into 2017 in the remaining eight weeks now that finals were out of the picture.

Hardwick said Nathan Drummond, Ben Lennon, Jason Castagna and Liam McBean were all likely to get opportunities in the senior line-up in the final part of the season if their form in the VFL deserved it.

Chris Yarran makes an appearance at Richmond training on Thursday. Picture: AFL Media

In the immediate term Richmond will bring back ruckman Shaun Hampson after he missed a week with a knee injury.

He conceded veteran Ivan Maric had battled in his first game back after a long stint in the VFL.

Rioli has put his name forward after making 13 tackles in the VFL on Sunday.

"He looked a class above on the weekend, his speed, agility and his tackling," Hardwick said.

He said the youngster was working on winning more uncontested ball to add more polish to his game because his endeavour and courage were second to none.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-07-07/bring-on-the-future-says-bullish-damien-hardwick

[🏅Dooks]

Lmfao 

Ahhhhhhh dear.....just a joke the spin this guy comes up with to suit the situation

Not a man to be trusted.

[cub]

bla bla bla turn it around bla bla bla, why not sooner then dimma.
Footscray will kill us because we play weak football

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Richmond, the home of bruise free football......

[MintOnLamb]

That sounds great, until you look at it closely.

what I would like to know is why we have no real intensity, player shepherding, player follow up, player movement for options, why we constantly go to the sides and not up the middle, why we can't put teams away when they are on a plate, why our tackle rate is so low, why we struggle constantly against sides like North and Carlton, why do we move the ball like treacle flowing uphill, why do our players get rag dolled constantly, why they are rewarded for games when they don't chase or do 'the team thing', why are we so slow, why do we let our captain get tagged out of the game and offer no support,

doesn't matter what players we have with our current game plan.

Improvement requires change.

Team list, team selection, team ethos, coaching, all need to be addressed.

[Stalin]

3 years too late u selfish über flog damien

[Owl]

such vitriol! simple fact is my whiney commie forum comrade, you just cannot make jam from poo

[tony_montana]

  dimma

[Stalin]

such vitriol! simple fact is my whiney commie forum comrade, you just cannot make jam from poo

Clearly you've not tried Damien's creamed topped poo cake

[Francois Jackson]

3 years too late u selfish über flog damien

 

matt thomas
chris knights
grigg extension
chappy
hampson


etc etc. complete garbage and part of the reason we are where we are. spots kids could have easily filled or top end talent yet we wasted a million dollars on duds like hampson, grigg and the cripple knights.

[Chuck17]

Always add substance a well placed etc etc

[(•))(©™]

“The big thing for us is people only see the top of the iceberg, they only see the 22 players we put out there on a weekly basis,” Hardwick said.


What a dumb, narcissistic bastard.
Get the out of Punt rd

[(•))(©™]

Lmfao 

Ahhhhhhh dear.....just a joke the spin this guy comes up with to suit the situation

Not a man to be trusted.

The people who rented his house found that out.

[Raoul Duke]

Makes Wallace look like an amateur when it comes to spin,the sooner he's gone the better.