Why loss to Swans has Richmond coach Hardwick licking his lipsCourtney Walsh
The Australian
Apirl 9 2021Damien Hardwick was licking his lips as he entered the Richmond rooms at the MCG last Saturday after the Tigers were thumped by 45 points by the Swans.
Few coaches enjoy a loss but Hardwick has been around long enough to know that an early-season defeat can provide a learning tool for a team, even one with the credentials of Richmond.
The 48-year-old, who won premierships with Port Adelaide and Essendon before coaching the Tigers to three of the past four flags, had good reason to appreciate the opportunity.
Premierships are not awarded in April. But the building blocks that lead to them can start to be shaped to suit, as champion Tigers player Shane Edwards noted.
“It is the third or fourth year in a row where we have lost in round three and he has kind of come in, and I think he was licking his lips, just like, ‘How good is this?’,” Edwards said.
“We have already been taught a lesson this early in the season and now we have longer to work through our flaws.”
A loss in round three over the past two seasons has not cost Richmond anything in the end.
The Tigers were beaten by Hawthorn by 32 points in the corresponding round last year and then by St Kilda by 26 points a week later.
In 2019, the Giants were far too good when they were 49-point victors in round three, only to find themselves on the end of a grand final mauling from which they are yet to recover.
“Sometimes, early in the season, teams doesn’t know where they sit with things. This is an absolute gift with Sydney showing up what we need to work on,” Edwards said.
“We have 19 or 20 rounds to really work through it. What an opportunity. We have a long time to build … to when it really matters.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/why-loss-to-swans-has-richmond-coach-hardwick-licking-his-lips/news-story/86c68326f898247c3701796a7ae4dbf8
