Damien Hardwick says Richmond’s list is ‘enormously talented’Sam Edmund
Herald-Sun
May 1, 2015 ASKED if he’s feeling the pressure, Damien Hardwick’s face breaks into a wry grin.
“As an AFL coach, when don’t you think I feel pressure?” Hardwick said on Thursday.
“That’s the industry we’re in. From our point of view we just go about our business. The reality is, as we’ve seen this week with the (Alastair) Clarkson incident, it’s a high pressure job with high pressure stakes. Every day there’s pressure.”
Hardwick, in his sixth season as Tigers coach, has watched his side fall at the first hurdle in their past two finals campaigns. He has this year been frustrated by losses to Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.
It’s a form line that prompted chief executive Brendon Gale to this week tell the Herald Sun Hardwick was the “the right man for the job” after only four rounds.
At 2-2, Richmond faces Geelong at the MCG on Saturday. The Tigers haven’t beaten the Cats since Round 9, 2006, but Hardwick remained defiant, describing his side as “enormously talented”.
“There must be some poor coaches below me. I’m ninth on the ladder,” he said.
“Listen, we’re strongly united here. We know exactly where we’re at and what we’ve got to do. Brendon, to his credit, has said the same thing all along — it’s a methodical build and it takes time to make a good footy club. We’re well on the way to that.
“We’ve got winnable games and as far as I’m concerned every game is winnable. What we’ve got to do is make sure we take stock and deliver. We didn’t deliver last week, we were disappointed with our performance and we’ve got to get better.
“I think we’re enormously talented, we’ve just got to harness that talent and get the best out of them. That’s my job and my coaching staff’s job.”
Hardwick said the fickle nature of the game led to wildly fluctuating opinion.
“The Bulldogs have been outstanding. We have you guys pumping up Adelaide as premiership favourites, next thing you know they’re getting beaten by the Bulldogs and they’re premiership favourites.
“Look, all we worry about is the four-week block in front of us. We’ve finished the first block and we’re 2-2; we’d love to be more but unfortunately we aren’t. Consistency is a great measure of success. We’re nowhere near as consistent as we need to be.
“The one thing about this group, they’re as disappointed about this performance (against Melbourne) as I was. They’re a proud group and we’re better than that, but we’ve got an opportunity to show it this week.”
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/damien-hardwick-says-richmonds-list-is-enormously-talented/story-fndv8t7m-1227327984449
