'Say what you want, but don't come near me'Ryan Davidson
afl.com.au
Apr 6, 2018 12:12PMDAMIEN Hardwick is happy for spectators to go their hardest with verbal barbs, but has warned them to stay out of his personal space.
The Richmond coach's comments come in the wake of his much-publicised altercation with an Adelaide supporter as he walked through the crowd following the Tigers' loss at Adelaide Oval last week.
Hardwick responded angrily to a remark from the fan, pointing at him, having words and alerting a security guard who was escorting him.
The premiership mentor played down the dispute and was in a playful mood when discussing the incident on Friday morning.
"I like my personal space, and I'm happy (for crowd members) to do what you want and say what you want, but don't come near me," Hardwick said.
"It's more me protecting myself from myself if that makes sense.
"You pay your money and you can say what you want, but if you encroach on my personal space, I'll take an issue to that."
The AFL took no action against the fan involved, with League chief executive Gillon McLachlan telling 3AW the report from ground security indicated the comments from the fan weren't overly offensive.
"It's not ideal clearly but there's nothing too dramatic in it from what I've seen," McLachlan said.
Former Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade said this week that coaches shouldn't be subjected to problematic positions when walking through the crowd to the playing surface.
"I don't think the coaches should be able to (walk) through the crowd because at one stage in the future something is going to happen," Eade said.
"Someone is going to be too drunk or say something abusive, so I think it's best to avoid that before it does."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-06/say-what-you-want-but-dont-come-near-me
