Tigers have contacted the Suns, but they're not sorrySam McClure
The Age
9 March 2018Richmond have confirmed they have contacted the Gold Coast Suns regarding Damien Hardwick’s comments on Tom Lynch, but the Tigers are adamant they did not issue an apology because they “have nothing to apologise for”.
In an interview that was meant to air on Fox Footy on Wednesday night, and appeared in News Corp papers on Tuesday, Hardwick spoke openly about his admiration for the Suns captain, who is out of contract at season’s end.
The Age understands that Richmond’s list manager Blair Hartley contacted his Gold Coast counterpart Craig Cameron and Suns CEO Mark Evans to apologise for the comments.
But while the Tigers confirmed contact was made, they were adamant no one said sorry.
“We certainly have done nothing to apologise for, (the contact) was just on the back of the article, just to make sure they’re OK,” Richmond footy boss Neil Balme told The Age.
“Any conversation that Blair has with them was between him and them, but we certainly didn’t apologise because we’ve got nothing to apologise for.
“The problem with the article is that it was written as if it was done (after Hardwick re-signed). It was recorded ages ago.”
Balme explained that Hardwick was asked a series of questions in a pre-recorded interview conducted weeks ago that would be aired during their second JLT clash with North Melbourne.
“He was asked: would you be interested? Like 17 clubs his response was: of course we would be!
“If he had his time again what he would say is: I don’t comment on contracted players.
“Whilst we are sensitive to it because we went through the same thing with Dusty last year, it was certainly not an apology.
We've got nothing to apologise for. We’re not trying to undermine anyone, we’re not proactively doing anything. Whatever will happen will happen.”
Hardwick’s comments have not gone down well with the Suns, including Evans, who left his position at the AFL to help turn the franchise around.
The Age understands that several key figures at the Gold Coast were also expecting Hardwick himself to make direct contact with the club to issue an apology.
“Those sort of players very rarely come out of contract, especially with free agency … to not cost draft picks, you probably make room for that type of player,” Hardwick said in the interview.
“He’s an incredible athlete, great player and a great leader by all accounts. The quality of those sort of players don’t come out often, so you’ve got to have a look at it
“You are actually allowed to do this. We do talk to players that are out of contract … It’s an uncomfortable situation because I’m talking to opposition players and opposition clubs are talking to my players, it’s probably not a great look for our game.
“I’d rather it just took place at the end of the year. This is prior to round one — we’re already speaking about Tom Lynch who’s got a whole year to play at a club that he’s heavily invested in.
“Look, we do (meet them). It’s not something I overly enjoy doing. I love meeting the kids, they’re great. The worst thing about being the coach is you fall in love with every single one of them. You want them all at your footy club. It’s part and parcel of what we do.”
Suns coach Stuart Dew was reluctant to add fuel to the fire when asked about the situation during a media conference on Thursday.
"It's outside noise to us, whether it's from another coach, other teams, media, we're not concerned," he said.
"It happened all last year, it'll happen all next year, sometimes I'll have to deal with it, sometimes I won't.
"To be honest, it comes and goes in one day. It's a little bit irrelevant."
When contacted about the situation, the AFL said it would prefer opposition players weren’t spoken about publicly by clubs, but also stated there were no rules against it.
http://www.watoday.com.au/afl/richmond-tigers/tigers-have-contacted-the-suns-but-they-re-not-sorry-20180308-p4z3g5.html
