Damien Hardwick has complete faith in his Richmond team telling them to embrace finals hypeGLENN McFARLANE,
Herald Sun
31 August 2017RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has told his players to embrace the hype of playing in front of a near-capacity MCG crowd in Friday week’s qualifying final against Geelong, saying he has an unwavering faith in the best team he has coached.
Having lost three knockout finals in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Hardwick insisted this 2017 version is a far more trustworthy, resilient group which plays a brand of football well suited to September.
“This side is a lot better,” Hardwick said when asked to compare his finals teams. “(They are) more consistent, they play a game style I feel is certainly finals calibre ... the personnel, the leadership and the way they play the game ... is going to hold us in good stead.”
“We play a high pressure game, a high contested game, a high tackle game. Those are the sort of things that finals footy is all about.
“Our guys love it ... it is not the prettiest game that we play at certain stages, but it is certainly fast and physical and pressured. They are a lot better than what I have coached in the past.”
Hardwick revealed he sometimes goes home at night to watch vision with his children, marvelling at the transformation the team has made since missing the finals last season, something that almost cost him his job.
“I want our guys to embrace the hype of the finals series, there are 10 other sides wishing they could be us and seven others,” he said. “I was one of those guys who was like ‘don’t pay attention to the hype’, but you know what, it is not often you get there, so enjoy it.
“I get nervous, don’t get me wrong. I get anxious about all that, then I look at our team board and I look at the players who have delivered in spades for us all year.
“I’ve got players in our VFL side smashing it at the moment, so it is an exciting place to be.”
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