Dimma's presser today:
Watch here: https://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/978881/hardwick-previews-brisbane----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* What I saw was the first 3 quarters were really positive and then Collingwood took us apart in the last quarter which was disappointing. Gave up 3 centrebounce goals. In fairness, an experienced Mabior Chol against an All-Australian Brodie Grundy and Pendlebury, De Goey and Taylor Adams got to work. Cream stood up and they got the game on their terms and we couldn't fight back. We couldn't get our hands on the ball enough at stages. We certainly had enough inside 50 opportunities but couldn't quite get the scoreboard pressure we needed to arrest the momentum. There's some good lessons from both sides of the ledger. We played some really good footy for the first 3 quarters but defensively we let ourselves down in that last quarter. It's probably a bit reminiscent of our year really. There's been various stages where we've looked good and then there's stages where we've let through a flurry of goals. That last quarter on the weekend was similar which was unfortunate.
* It's difficult but I don't want to say it's difficult. Every game is a learning opportunity. Easy for a coach to sit there and yell and scream. Makes me feel better for 5 minutes and it may make our fans feel better for 5 minutes but our players learn better when they are in our positive frame of mind. Where they have a good understanding of what learning and teaching is all about. The old school fire and brimstone coach can have moments like that but if you're using that on a weekly basis then it just doesn't work. It's all about education. We had some really good meetings regarding what we did right but more importantly what we needed to improve going forward this weekend. As I've said over the past couple of weeks, we've been training really well. We understand there's a lag effect. We're getting some players back through or some opportunities in the system that we play and we're seeing some really positive steps in regard to that. So we'll always see it through the positive mindset for us. It's all about growth. You can choose to be buried or planted. We'll always choose to be planted.
* [Talk of Richmond demise]
To be fair it's the Australian way. I think we always talk down great performers. The reality is you've been at the top for a long time. I find the narrative disappointing at various stages but it's the nature of the game and we understand that. When you've been at the top and you're not performing to the level you can be then you open yourself up. We're big boys, we understand it. But we also understand we are a proud footy club and it's all about the journey. It mightn't be our year this year but it might be our year this year. But that doesn't mean it won't be our year next year. So we're really positive about where we are at. We've got some players we feel will come back into the side over the coming weeks who will improve us once again. But we're finding things about some players we've had at our lower/development level we're excited about also. There's always a silver lining from our point of view.
* It's hard to judge the hunger of our side when half the side has been out for the majority of the year. We're looking at our expectation and we're a proud team that wants to win every game. We'll give ourselves the biggest shot that we can. We've lost 3 games by 12 points or less. So you can look at that or just keep challenging the guys to get better and continually improve. Once again we're in every game to win. There's 6 games left and that fact is we've got to get better at many facets of the game to give ourselves a chance. When we continually improve and get our connection on track, make the finals ... hopefully we do make the finals ... we're going to be hard to beat.
* Big test (vs Brisbane). They are playing some good footy. We're seeing the way the competition is going at the moment that sides are going up and down. It's a funny competition. It's an even competition if that makes sense. Every week there' an upset along the way or a side that jumps up. Hopefully, we have a really good performance this week. We have incredible belief that if we play the way we play at our best we'll trouble the opposition. Brisbane would be disappointed with their loss last week but they've been one of the form sides of the competition for the vast majority of the year. It's going to be a tough challenge but one we're looking forward to.
* Absolutely, we can use this time to reload. We love the opportunity. We moved Daniel Rioli down back last week and I thought he looked really good. Rhyan Mansell came in and played a role. Ryan Garthwaite got an opportunity and Sydney Stack came back into the side as well. And then we get some midfield guys coming through. We can sit back and play them at VFL level but one or two AFL games is worth 50 VFL games in terms of experience. So they'll learn some incredible lessons from that and from some of the best players in the competition in Pendlebury, Adams & De Goey. So once again we can sit there and look at the battle but we want to win the war. Sometimes you've got to take one on the chin to make sure you're guaranteed to go forward the following rounds.
