Former Richmond assistant coach Mark Williams says he hasn’t spoken with Damien Hardwick since sackingMarch 27, 2018
FOX SPORTSMARK Williams says he hasn’t spoken with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick since he was unceremoniously sacked from the club after the 2016 season.
The Tigers cleared out their entire backroom staff after missing the finals, with Williams among three assistant coaches who were all told to pack their bags on the same day.
Richmond went on to win the premiership the following year. However, speaking on Crownbet’s Don’t Argue podcast, Williams said their relationship has never been the same.
“The difficult thing is I have great relationships with the players, but I haven’t talked to Dimma apart from texting him good luck for the Grand Final and well done,” Williams said.
“Other than that I haven’t talked to him at all.
“Dimma was a young player at Essendon when I first started, so I have known him since then and coached him with (Matthew) Lloyd and (Scott) Lucas and those guys.
“Obviously we took him over to Port Adelaide, so it is difficult, but knowing Dimma he has got on with his life and that’s what he does.
“But at the same time he would find it very difficult to come and talk to me as well.”
Williams was Hardwick’s coach when he was an assistant at Essendon, before bringing him to Port Adelaide in 2002 when he took the senior job at the Power.
He then spent four years as an assistant coach at Richmond under Hardwick’s guidance.
However, he was relieved of his duties at the Tigers over the phone at the end of 2016.
“All I remember is going to a funeral over in South Australia for a mate of mine who died right over on the west coast,” Williams said.
“I got a five-minute call on the phone saying you need to come in. I said ‘I told you blokes I was over at this funeral’.
“So they told me on the phone I didn’t have a job and it was just a complete surprise to me.”
https://www.stuff-williams-says-he-hasnt-spoken-with-damien-hardwick-since-sacking/news-story/1c5a497bc05a2ef29813ab0e57ba42fe
