EXCLUSIVE: From fan to LOVER: The young staffer dating AFL supercoach Damien Hardwick had wanted a statue erected in his honour before being caught out by his wife in quarantine hubDamien Hardwick’s new lover revealed as Tigers sales rep Alexandra Crow
Sources claim Hardwick was caught out by his wife while in the Queensland hub
Crow allegedly owns property with a staffer at a rival AFL football club
The hub imposed during pandemic blamed for putting pressure on families
Crow hit BigFooty.com (sic - it was twitter) after the Tigers premiership win to praise Hardwick
By WAYNE FLOWER, MELBOURNE CORRESPONDENT
DAILY MAIL
20:38 AEDT, 5 January 2021AFL premiership-winning coach Damien Hardwick's new lover wanted a statue erected in his honour.
Less than a year before Tigers sales rep Alexandra Crow hooked up with her idol, Crow could barely contain her admiration for the Richmond coach.
In July 2019, Crow hit footy forum BigFooty.com [sic - it was twitter] to praise her soon-to-be lover after he reached a coaching milestone on par with Richmond legend Jack Dyer.
'Hi @damienhardwick, first time caller long time listener. Just wondering when you will be getting a statue,' she wrote.
The post, along with all of Ms Crow's social media pages, has since been removed as word of the scandal broke.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal the relationship has caused waves across the AFL, but nowhere more than at rival club Carlton.
A source told Daily Mail Australia Crow had been in a long-term relationship with a Carlton executive, whom she owned property with.
Records show she purchased the $1.2 million Ascot Vale home in May 2019.
Hardwick and Crow have not been spotted together since just before Christmas when they were seen looking stressed at a rooftop pub in Melbourne.
Sources have suggested Hardwick's wife Danielle learned of the affair after travelling to the Queensland hub with her daughter during Richmond's premiership winning 2020 season.
It is understood she left the hub distraught.
Hardwick is believed to have travelled back to Melbourne with Crow before shacking up with her in trendy Elwood.
Daily Mail Australia has been told Tigers' bosses had been worried about Hardwick since well before the COVID-19 lockdown began in March.
In Konrad Marshall's book The Hard Way: The Story of Richmond's 13th premiership, it was claimed Hardwick was so incensed about the lockdown he would tear COVID-19 posters down from the walls at Punt Road.
The book claimed Richmond CEO Brendon Gale had to tell Hardwick to place his trust in the experts' response to COVID-19 otherwise his negativity could 'derail the Tigers' season'.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9113223/Ttaffer-dating-AFL-supercoach-Damien-Hardwick-wanted-statue-erected-honour.html
