Hardwick's post-game presser / Left ruing a loss that was hard to watch: Dimma

[one-eyed]

Dimma's post-match presser:

WATCH: https://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/1320510/round-7-hardwick-post-match

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'Eternal optimist' Hardwick refuses to write off Tigers' season

Coach admits Richmond 'has got to be better'

By AAP
1 May 2023

Despite sitting 16th on the ladder after seven rounds and riding a five-game losing streak, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has refused to write off season 2023.

Round seven's 11.6 (72) to 6.12 (48) loss to Gold Coast sees the Tigers at the lowest spot they've been since round 14, 2014 when they also sat in 16th place with three wins from 13 starts.

However, the following week was the start of a nine-game run of wins that took them into finals in the most unexpected of resurrections.

"I'm the eternal optimist," Hardwick said after Sunday's game.

"I still believe our best is good enough. But the fact of the matter is we're a long way off that at the moment and we have to figure out how the hell we get back to what we want to be."

Sunday's loss wasn't a case of going down in a hard-fought, high-quality encounter though, giving Hardwick no chance to make excuses for his team.

"It wasn't a great game of footy, let's put it that way," he conceded.

"We're left ruing a loss that was really hard to watch.

"We've got some emerging talent we're excited by and we're missing some experience, but the fact of the matter is we've just got to be better, full stop."

https://www.afl.com.au/news/915937/-eternal-optimist-hardwick-refuses-to-write-off-tigers-season

[one-eyed]

Hardwick still believes in his battling Tigers

Richmond coach Hardwick has not given up hope of making the finals, believing they could snap out of their funk at any moment and transform into the contender he believes they are.

The Tigers sit third-last on the ladder through seven rounds with only a win and a draw to show for what has otherwise been a largely competitive season, including leading flag fancy Melbourne by 25 points a week ago.

But Sunday’s 24-point defeat to Gold Coast was Richmond’s fifth on the trot – and third in a row to the Suns – and extends their winless streak at Marvel Stadium to six games since Hardwick said he “hated” playing at the AFL-owned venue.

“We’ve been in this situation before, taking the 1-5, or whatever it is, record out of it. We’ve been in situations before where we’ve had holes where we just can’t seem to get out of it,” Hardwick said.

“Sometimes you’re looking at it, and you think, ‘Geez, I don’t know where our next win’s coming from’ but all of a sudden, things can change very, very quickly.

“We’ve got to understand and have the belief that that’s just around the corner. We will sit there and work out some things that we know we can get better. There are some things that are going well, but there are some areas of our game that we’ve just got to execute [better] and get a hell of a lot cleaner.”

Hardwick said he felt “flat as a tack” but that he was adamant the Tigers could turn things around.

“I’m the eternal optimist. I still think our best is good enough, but the fact of the matter is, we’re a long way off that at the moment,” he said.

“We’ve got to figure out how the hell we get back to what we need to be – and there’s only one way to do it. It’s to stick together ... and understand when we play our very best footy, we are capable.”

Hardwick dismissed the relevance of the Tigers’ Marvel Stadium record, as well as the club’s much-discussed older list demographics.

That conversation went into overdrive when they shipped several high-end 2022 and 2023 draft picks to the Giants last year for Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper.

“The list demographics are a funny one. You choose to be what you are ... you look at Geelong, for example, that are old or oldish – they’re winning,” Hardwick said.

“Age has got nothing to do with it. We pick a side that we think can win, and the fact of the matter is there are certain guys who are over 30. That’s part of being a successful side and those players go on [longer]. We’ve just got to play better as a collective group. We don’t look like we’re playing a Richmond style of game, and we do look a bit disconnected with that, so we’ve got to get to work as a coaching group and get that better.”

Dion Prestia (managed) will return for Saturday’s clash with bottom side West Coast at the MCG.

Source: The Age.

[Buddysucks]

Question for those that know more about the inside running of the team; who leads the match committee re team selection, positions played etc?

Resting and Managing players is a horrible look for everyone. Managing older players just highlights they shouldn’t have gone round again, and as for injury prone players… well, our medical department needs a boot up the a-hole.

Also, the players and Dimma just aren’t in the same page anymore. There’s no ‘connection’ on field and there is a boring and inevitable ‘sameness’ to what we service up each week.

Change is a good thing if managed properly, over the last 3 years we’ve only ever changed through necessity and not strategy. We’ve lost players to other clubs and not adequately replaced them or, overestimated the talents of players waiting in the wings. Same goes with coaches, we’ve lost Leppa, McRae both great teachers and leaders. Not sure we can say that with this lot.

[one-eyed]

‘How the hell do we get back to it?’: Coach ‘flat as a tack’ as Tigers’ slump continues

James Mottershead and Ben Waterworth
Fox Sports
May 1st, 2023

Hardwick post-game said he felt for fans and those connected to the club though as Richmond

“There’s bits of play where we look great, we should get out and then we don‘t score and it’s like ‘argh’. Then all of a sudden it’ll come down the other end and they do,” Hardwick told reporters post-game.

“Those 12-point swings – which when things are going well for your side and you‘re actually up and about and you’re actually OK, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, we’re lacking confidence and our execution just falls off a little bit and then it goes back the other way – it becomes demoralising. I think what happens is it can zap our team’s energy – and I felt like that today.

“It feels like that now for me. I feel flat as a tack. I feel flat for our team, our supporters, our coaching group, our club.

“I’m the eternal optimist, I still think our best is good enough, but we’re a long way off that at the moment and we’ve got to figure out how the hell we get back to what we need to be. And there’s only one way to do it and it’s to stick together, it’s to turn in and sit there and understand when we play our best footy we’re capable. We aren’t doing that at the moment, so how the hell do we get back to it?”

After watching Hardwick’s press conference, former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon said the Tigers coach was clearly “frustrated” and “exhausted” with his side sitting 16th on the ladder with a 1-1-5 record.

“For me, Richmond just lost their drive a little bit,” Dixon told Fox Footy’s First Crack. “Down back, they just made so many errors and even when they go forward, they used to be so dangerous, now they‘re only scoring 39 per cent (of the time) when they go inside 50, which is 18th in the competition.

“I‘m worried about Richmond. I’m Tiger Tooth – they’re a bit long in the tooth now.

“They’re getting out, but it’s like they’ve got no punch. They used to have a bit of zip and zap.”

Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna added: “For a group that had so much continuity when they were winning flags, there’ so much injury, there‘s so much change, so many young players coming in and they’re not quite getting it together. It’s frustrating because they’re used to high standards.”

Dixon pointed out the acquisitions of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper in last years’ trade period suggested the Tigers thought they were still in the premiership window this year. Reaching this year’s finals series now, however, appears mightily tough.

But dual premiership Kangaroo David King pointed out Taranto and Hopper are 25 and 26 respectively and at Punt Road for the long-term, highlighted by the fact they signed seven-year contracts.

“I think they’re still good acquisitions,” King told First Crack.

“A lot has been made of the cost of those guys, but you’ve got to pay to get a player. I mean Taranto was almost the reason they were getting back into that game late. That last quarter was on a knife‘s edge and it was Taranto who was getting all those clearances.”

Hardwick said the Tigers weren’t playing “Richmond” footy and could see his side lacked confidence. He pointed to another poor week in the front half of the ground being one of the key factors in the Tigers’ poor form.

But Hardwick said he isn’t throwing in the towel, adding Richmond had been in similar positions in the past where things have just clicked.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” he said.

“We’ve been in situations where we’ve had holes and can’t seem to get out of it. Sometimes you look at it and think ‘I don’t know where our next win is coming from’, but all of a sudden things can change very, very quickly.

“We’ve got to have the belief that’s just around the corner.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/richmond-tigers/afl-news-2023-damien-hardwick-press-conference-after-richmond-loss-to-gold-coast-suns-trades-to-get-jacob-hopper-and-tim-taranto/news-story/2f14d2d5db6f8842c82de80a8c9f2a10

[mightytiges]

Question for those that know more about the inside running of the team; who leads the match committee re team selection, positions played etc?

Resting and Managing players is a horrible look for everyone. Managing older players just highlights they shouldn’t have gone round again, and as for injury prone players… well, our medical department needs a boot up the a-hole.

Also, the players and Dimma just aren’t in the same page anymore. There’s no ‘connection’ on field and there is a boring and inevitable ‘sameness’ to what we service up each week.

Change is a good thing if managed properly, over the last 3 years we’ve only ever changed through necessity and not strategy. We’ve lost players to other clubs and not adequately replaced them or, overestimated the talents of players waiting in the wings. Same goes with coaches, we’ve lost Leppa, McRae both great teachers and leaders. Not sure we can say that with this lot.

I don't have an issue with us managing and resting players. Soccer teams do it all the time. The skill is how and when to do it. Obviously, you need the depth, but you also need to optimise your chances of winning while doing it. For instance, Celtic's best defender is a bloke called Carter-Vickers. He was BOG against Rangers on the weekend. Now that Celtic has got their most important games they needed to win out the way, Ange has said that Carter-Vickers will be rested for the last month of their season and put in for early off-season surgery. Compare that to us who rested Jack and then Prestia in games we were expected to and needed to win. It's just dumb player management .

The issue of a disconnect between our mids and forwards is on our line and ball movement assistant coaches. The last time there was a major failure in this area (2016), we had a total cleanout of our assistant coaches and surrounded Dimma with new assistants with fresh tactical ideas. For me, the consistent failure our players to protect the defensive side at stoppages and be front and square (defensive side) at contests is a glaring problem. If our assistant coaches in charge of this can't see the problem, let alone show signs of fixing it, then it's time to move them on.