Why Dimma looks like a ‘confused man’: The harsh reality after ‘climbing Mount Everest’Ben Cotton
Fox Sports
July 28th, 2021 3:00 pmAFL legend Leigh Matthews believes Richmond coach Damien Hardwick looks like a “confused man” at the moment amid his team’s struggles.
The out-of-form Tigers’ defeat to the Cats last weekend marked their fifth loss from their last games to sit outside the top eight.
It’s left the reigning back-to-back premiers’ pursuit of a third-straight flag and even a finals berth on shaky ground, while injuries to the likes of Dustin Martin, Dion Prestia, Bachar Houli, Noah Ballta and Nick Vlastuin have been significant blows.
Speaking on 3AW’s Sportsday, Matthews suggested Hardwick is unsure of which levers to pull right now to get his team’s season back on track.
“I look at Damien Hardwick at the moment and to be honest, you look at a confused man because you don’t really know why it’s not happening,” Matthews said on Sportsday.
“Logic might say we just haven’t got the same players playing in the same manner, which goes back to what I always say – good players make good coaches.
“Nevertheless, sometimes you kid yourself when you’re coaching a dynasty team and think, ‘geez, we’re fantastic at what we do, we do it our way’, then all of a sudden a few of those players don’t play so well or they get injured and all of a sudden you fall off the cliff.”
Matthews compared Hardwick’s current struggles at the sliding Tigers to his own at the Brisbane Lions after coaching them to three-straight premierships from 2001 to 2003 as well as Alastair Clarkon’s at Hawthorn after its golden era.
The Australian Football Hall of Famer said winning multiple premierships in a short period of time is “like climbing Mount Everest” and that it’s tough to make sense of why your team suddenly isn’t performing when it drops off.
“Alastair Clarkson has already been through this. They’ve fallen from the dynasty to battling, they’re battling down the bottom of the ladder,” he added.
“It’s like climbing Mount Everest. The dynasty team is when you’ve won say three premierships within a few years of each other. Not just winning a premiership, but when you’ve been as good as Richmond has been.
“Damien Hardwick would think, ‘we’re doing the same things, we’re trying to get the same things going’, and it’s just not happening. It is very, very painful.
“Alastair Clarkson may have already gone through that because Hawthorn have dropped off the perch for a few years now.
“It is terrible, because you kind of think to yourself you get used to certain things as a coach and getting certain output from your team.”
What’s working in the 10th-placed Tigers’ favour in a bid to crack back into the top eight is a favourable run home – facing the Dockers (away), Kangaroos (home), Giants (away) and Hawks (home).
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/richmond-tigers/afl-news-2021-richmond-drop-off-damien-hardwick-confused-man-leigh-matthews-run-home-finals/news-story/93d1cc17307c137346a6d2a7ea5733e8
