The GF moment that brought Dimma to tearsLiam Twomey
Jon Ralph
Herald-Sun
3 March 2020He is one of footy’s most renowned hard men but former rugged defender Damien Hardwick has admitted he was reduced to tears late in the Grand Final.
Hardwick told Fox Footy’s season launch on Monday night at Crown that Trent Cotchin’s late goal from the centre bounce saw him hit with emotion.
The Tigers have a selfless culture, but as Cotchin broke from the centre his coach was desperate for him to ignore the leading Tom Lynch.
“It is actually my favourite moment from the Grand Final. I still get emotional just seeing it,” he told Fox Footy’s Eddie McGuire at the launch.
“Myself and Trent went through a lot together, and to see that goal and what it meant to our footy club was really important. Tommy Lynch was leading out of the square and he couldn’t have been more open but we were all saying, ‘Just kick it over his head’, and to see the players get around him…
“Trent will go down as one of the all-time leaders of the Richmond Football Club. To see what he has done is just outstanding and I shed a little tear in the box when I saw that goal go through. I was so happy for him.”
Hardwick revealed Dustin Martin’s squared ball to his former housemate Marlion Pickett wasn’t just inspired, it was orchestrated.
“Incredible really. It’s hard to believe he has played one game and has got four TV shows coming out. I have done more interviews about Marlion than anyone else….
“Him and Dusty had that really strong connection and Marlion moved in with Dusty for about three weeks and you can imagine the conversation would have been fast and vigorous.
“You can see that vision, we get different bits of vision and from behind the goal you could see Dustin telling Marlion where to run and he was obviously going to set the goal up.
“I was watching the crowd and every person in the stadium went up.
“People in Marlion’s situation, there are a lot of people out there who think their chance has passed but we can open up opportunities for people like that and the supplementary list is important.”
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