Mastering the master: Who will take the spoils in Clarkson v Hardwick?By Wayne Carey
The Age
30 August 2018 — 7:14pmAs footballers, Alastair Clarkson and Damien Hardwick were uncompromising.
As coaches, and now mates, you’d expect them to be no different in the lead-up to next week’s blockbuster final between Hawthorn and Richmond. In many respects, it’s the master versus the apprentice.
Hardwick might already have a premiership to his name, but he’s up against a modern-day giant and a coach who would have taught him a thing or two in their time together at Waverley.
Already the mind games have started. Hardwick declares his own side is “beatable”. Clarkson says the Hawks have been preparing for this game only for the past fortnight, compared with the Tigers, who’ve effectively been ready for months given they’ve been clear on top.
"Clarko" obviously spent time at North Melbourne, while "Dimma" also played under 19s for the Kangaroos before he was picked up by Essendon. From the moment I first met them, it was clear that both had many of the ingredients so crucial to being a good coach.
They might not have been physically imposing, but they were guys who had heart, and a bit of fear factor, and demanded respect from their opponents.
Their stories as coaches haven’t been been dissimilar, either. Clarkson took over a Hawthorn team that needed an urgent overhaul and with the help of a few great drafts he built a dynasty. Hardwick was appointed at Richmond when they were struggling, and he’s also transformed them into a powerhouse.
Dimma now has a number of incredible footy IQs at his disposal, in much the same mould of the Hawks premiership sides between 2013 and 2015. Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance and even Nick Vlastuin and Dylan Grimes provide similar leadership and direction to the likes of Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis.
With that leadership comes a certain calmness under pressure. It’s based on the knowledge that when you’re challenged, there are enough players making the right decisions and being able to execute at the same time.
Clearly, Hawthorn still have plenty of that footy IQ, but have they got enough? Guys like Jarryd Roughead, Shaun Burgoyne and Jack Gunston won’t fear the Tigers despite how consistent they’ve been this season, but I imagine Clarkson will spend the next week building up his youngsters and telling them they’re good enough. Make no mistake, they are.
Given what we’ve seen this season, Hawthorn looms as one of Richmond’s greatest threats in September. The Hawks lost the only clash between these two sides back in round four, but they hadn’t really got going then.
So often when a player looks for a target coming out of defensive 50 against the Tigers, they’re confronted by perhaps the most well-drilled set-up in the game. Facing a wall of Tigers forces a split second of indecision, and that’s when those small forwards pounce.
The sides that have beaten Hardwick’s men this season have largely stuck to the same formula. Adelaide, West Coast and Port Adelaide all retained the football, and calmly picked their way through the Tigers' manic forward pressure, not with a slow build-up, but with quick, precise ball movement by foot.
And there is no better exponent of the kicking game than Hawthorn. With more than 10 left-footers in those premiership years, Clarkson built his game around players who could hit targets.
He team might not necessarily have the same class now, but when you’ve got the likes of Shaun Burgoyne and James Sicily, who can execute so well by foot, they can still utilise that type of plan. Having coached under Clarko, Hardwick will know what’s coming, but whether he can stop it is another matter.
It won't be easy for Hawthorn. If Clarkson can manage to beat the reigning premiers with the group he has at his disposal now, it would stand as the greatest achievement of his coaching career,
better than the three-peat or even that very first flag back in 2008 when a young group beat the all-conquering Cats to grab a premiership perhaps a little before their time.
For a comparison, you could argue Leigh Matthews' greatest feat was guiding Collingwood to the flag in 1990, rather than his years of success at Brisbane. Leigh has admitted himself that the leadership and players at his disposal at the Lions made it much easier to steer the ship.
For all of Clarkson’s planning, the key for the Hawks will be scoreboard pressure. If they can get on top and make the Tigers pay, then it will be a whole different ball game. We’ve seen in recent weeks that even Richmond’s best make mistakes under extreme pressure and next Thursday night we might just see the sternest test of the Tigers premiership defence so far in 2018.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/mastering-the-master-who-will-take-the-spoils-in-clarkson-v-hardwick-20180830-p500r8.html
