Damien Hardwick slams umpires over lack of Richmond free kicksSam Edmund
Herald Sun
18 Aug 2018RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has expressed frustration over how his side is treated by the umpires.
The Tigers are 18th for free kick differential and were again on the wrong side of the ledger in Friday night’s win over Essendon, losing the count 27-15.
Hardwick said he didn’t have an issue with the free kicks his side gave away as much as those it should get.
“It was a frustrating night, there’s no doubt,” Hardwick said.
“It’s not the free kicks we give away. The vast majority, the 80 per cent (of those) are there.
“It is the one’s you don’t get that I find a little bit frustrating. I look at Jack (Riewoldt) tonight and I thought, ‘You know what? He doesn’t get much’.
“And I look at the other end and think, ‘Hmm, I wish he was playing at the other end’, but it is what it is.”
Riewoldt gave away three free kicks in the second quarter alone, but didn’t receive a free for the entire game despite Hardwick believing he was held at times.
“Once again, it’s a very, very hard game to adjudicate,” he said.
“Jack normally perseveres with that. He doesn’t complain, doesn’t blame; he just gets on with it and jumps at the ball.
“There’s not much we can do about it. We’ll just take it for what it is and hopefully get a better result next week.”
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-coach-damien-hardwick-frustrated-by-lack-of-free-kicks-for-his-team-in-win-over-essendon/news-story/9da2fcdd938ceb7277d405ee0498bd6b