http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/richmond-star-brett-deledio-says-tough-love-gave-him-a-reality-check/story-e6frf9jf-1226389570731Richmond star Brett Deledio says tough love gave him a reality check
Brett Deledio From: Herald Sun June 09, 2012 12:00AM
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RICHMOND STAR BRETT DELEDIO SAYS COACH DAMIEN HARDWICK IS A COACH, MATE AND TEACHER TO HIM AND HIS TEAMMATES. PICTURE: COLLEEN PETCH HERALD SUN
DAMIEN Hardwick didn't take long to make an impression on me.
It was late in 2009 and he had just been appointed as Richmond's senior coach.
Back then my hair was long and scruffy and I had a beanie on when we crossed paths.
Dimma hit me up straight away: "What are you doing with your hair, man?" was the opening line.
Then it came to my contract. I was out of contract and so he was straight to the point.
"Now what are we going to do with your contract, Brett."
My reply was, "I have no intention of leaving, I want to stay, I want to play under you, and I want to see what it's like".
And then he said something that has stuck with me.
"Give me a hug," he said. "I am going to give you a hug right now."
And that's Damien Hardwick, my senior coach.
He is an extremely emotional man, and one that can well up at the drop of a hat. But he can also call a spade a spade.
He is our coach, our mate, and our teacher, and someone who almost always gets that delicate balance right.
No doubt, he is just one of the reasons Richmond is where it is right now.
Where is that?
Well, it's 5-5 ahead of a huge game against Fremantle at the MCG today.
We aren't anywhere near where we would like to be, but after a period of massive change at Richmond we believe we have made significant ground on many levels.
It has been three coaches, a cultural change, some massive tough love doled out in my direction, and finally some reward for effort.
But to chart that period - 160 games for me - it's probably worth starting at the beginning.
ARRIVING at Richmond as a No.1 draft pick I just lapped up everything at the club.
Senior games came early and I just loved being around the stars - Matthew Richardson, Kane Johnson, Wayne Campbell and Nathan Brown.
Arriving as a kid with attitude meant at times I played games on my own terms.
People ask me why that has changed, and they think it must have been all about Dimma.
To be honest, all of my coaches have played a part, including Terry Wallace, who was great for me.
But one particular incident stands out.
When Jade Rawlings came in as a caretaker coach at the end of 2009 it was a rude shock.
I have never been dropped, but in his first weeks it was so close, and it would have been well deserved. We were playing St Kilda one day - Round 12, 2009 - and I was standing next to Jason Gram.
He went one way and I went the other, and the ball was going their way.
I was just lazy. I wasn't interested. We were being smashed (we lost by 56 points) and I wasn't interested in doing the hard work.
The club got me in front of the leadership group and said: "We are not sure you can sacrifice for the team."
It was so embarrassing to be in front of the whole team that week. The leadership group had told me they didn't think I could do the right thing out on the field.
It rocked me.
The Thursday before we played Adelaide, Jade rang me up and said, "We are going to go with you".
My reply was simple: "I am rapt, I will buy in", and my role changed into tagging for the last half of 2009.
It turned into my first best-and-fairest trophy later that year.
Great outcomes can come from pretty severe reality checks.
Then Dimma came in, and hopefully my game has gone to a new level with him.
But you build the foundations, and certainly that happened with Terry and Jade.
Frank feedback has always been welcome. My old man once suggested I consider playing netball if I didn't like it tough, and Dimma is the same.
It has been three coaches, a cultural change, some massive tough love doled out in my direction, and finally some reward for effort.
Now wanting to play well is a must, but I always hang my hat on tackles.
You know you have played a real game when you are getting plenty of them. Even against St Kilda I was hopefully damaging offensively, but I had only one tackle and I felt funny about it.
It is the defensive stuff that wins flags and makes you play well.
HOW has the culture changed at Richmond?
Chris Newman has played a huge part in that.
His first year was one of the toughest initiations you could ever have. But he genuinely cares for people, and is one of the nicest people you could meet.
Ben Cousins played his part too, and that might sound funny to mention him and leadership in the same breath.
But although we know Ben has had his troubles, I have never seen someone so focused on team performance.
The first time he spoke up in a midfield meeting, when he arrived for the 2009 season, everyone's jaw dropped.
It was like, "This bloke seriously knows his s---".
You wish we had taped it.
He was all about working for your teammates and blocking for them, and making them better. One day a tagger was really riding me and he just came in and fairly sat this bloke on his bum.
His advice also helped me to back myself on the field.
One day he showed me some vision where I had just taken a mark.
He said: "Why didn't you just run around this bloke?" And I thought: "Why didn't I?"
To tone down his profanity-laden expression, he would say, "Stuff those guys".
But it was about maximising the potential you were born with by hard work.
His best piece of advice, though: "Look good, feel good, play good, and in that order."
For Ben, you needed to feel good about yourself before everything else flowed.
Now myself and Jack Riewoldt are in the leadership group, and we are working hard to build that aspect.
BECOMING the captain of Richmond would be amazing, but the best thing is that there are so many leaders: Newy, and vice-captain Trent Cotchin, and myself and Jack (Riewoldt) and Daniel Jackson, as well as plenty of others outside the official five-man group.
Wayne Campbell has really helped me build my leadership.
He told me that you can't expect to be best mates with everyone at the club, but you need to build relationships.
Whether it's getting the young blokes around for a feed, or getting them back to Kyabram, that's where it starts, and you try to build respect.
There is no doubt Jack Riewoldt has leadership.
He has come a long way since he first came into the leadership group and he was being questioned and the young blokes were questioning him.
He has learnt to bite his tongue, both on the field and in meetings.
When Dimma first came in we would call him the Big Wig in team meetings, sitting up the back and answering every question.
Because he knew the game plan so well, he knew every answer.
Dimma would eventually say, "Jack, shut up, let someone else have a go".
Now he listens as well as speaks.
His body language still sometimes spills over on the field, but that is something we are all guilty of.
Now we have spoken about doing it for the right reason.
Spray someone for ignoring you because that was the way the ball was supposed to move, not because they didn't give it to you.
On the field the recruits have made a difference, too.
Steven Morris dies for you in every contest, Shaun Grigg and Bachar Houli have been great, and Ivan Maric is just something special.
He is brilliant; such a competitor and someone who just loves hitting bodies.
The mullet is great, and he just doesn't care what people think of it.
But for me he is a mad man, and you know it when you look into his eyes. Fans see someone charging back to the centre square so quickly, while us midfielders are trying to catch our breath.
But he is high-kneeing it back, just anticipating the next bounce.
He has a point to prove, and he's just continuing to prove it every single game.
THE finals are a goal for us, but we won't get too far ahead of ourselves.
At 160 games without a final it puts me second on the current-day list of players, and it's killing me.
Finals means everything to me, and it's what drives us to improve as a club.
But it will happen at some stage, because we believe in this club.
Early in the year the club and myself committed to a five-year deal, which, to be honest, was never in doubt.
It was about the pride of being a one-club player and also wanting to show the young boys I am committed, so they should sign up too.
But the biggest thing was that it felt like we were starting to build something very special at Richmond.
You could jump ship and get on the coat-tails of a team that had been successful.
But you don't get the same feeling of satisfaction if you haven't come on the shared trip from where we have been.
There might be some more pot holes and diversions on that journey, but we believe we are heading in the right direction.
