Damien Hardwick is not quite Richmond’s best ever coach in the eyes of this Tiger great, but he wants to see him honoured in the Tigers $65 million development.Glenn McFarlane
HeraldSun
May 24, 2023Tigers great Tony Jewell says a statue of Richmond’s two most successful coaches Tom Hafey and Damien Hardwick wouldn’t look out of place alongside Jack Dyer’s famous sculpture in the club’s proposed $65 million Punt Road redevelopment.
As Hardwick farewelled Richmond on Tuesday, Jewell and legendary Tiger Royce Hart were among a raft of club greats to pay tribute to the three-time premiership coach.
Jewell, who coached the Tigers to the 1980 flag, said Hardwick’s contribution to the club had been enormous and said he deserved to be rated along Hafey, who won a record four flags as Richmond coach.
“He is right up there with Tommy,” Jewell told the Herald Sun.
“Tommy could be a bit divisive at times with the board … It was dog eat dog back then, but with Dimma, at least from 2017 onwards, Richmond has been more at peace with the world.”
“A statue (of Hafey and Hardwick) wouldn’t be out of place (at Punt Road alongside Dyer’s statue). When you think of Richmond, you think of Jack Dyer and his ‘Captain Blood’ image.
“But what Tommy and Dimma did for the club should never be underestimated. They have been the two most outstanding coaches at Richmond in my time in football.”
Hart said it was understandable that from a personal perspective that he had Hafey marginally ahead of Harwick.
But he acknowledged Hardwick, who coached a record 307 games for Richmond, had to deal with the modern equalisation policies of the AFL in lifting the Tigers to a drought-breaking flag in 2017 as well as further flags in 2019 and 2020.
“Four premierships always beats three, but you have to hand it to Damien,” Hart said. “He’s done a magnificent job.
“It is a lot harder to coach clubs these days than it was in Tommy’s days, but what he has done for the Richmond Football Club has been so good.
“I reckon he will coach elsewhere, but there will always be a bit of Richmond in him.”
Jewell said Dyer, who died in 2003, and Hafey, who died in 2014, would have loved what Hardwick had helped turn the Tigers into in recent years.
“I remember when we won the premiership in 1967 and we were in a little pub in Richmond with Jack Dyer and his brother in law,” Jewell said.
“Old Jack had had a few (beers) and he had a tear in his eye. He put both hands on my shoulder and said: ‘You were like the ‘Tigers of Old’.
“He was saying that we had brought back a bit of pride by winning in 1967, and Dimma helped to do the same thing for us after 37 years in 2017.
“We became the ‘Tigers of Old’ again.”
https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/damien-hardwick-quits-richmond-all-the-reaction-after-threetime-premiership-coachs-shock-call/news-story/fe28d32700d5a9b3be7b291f394116bb
