Nappy duties: Novel punishment for Tigers who give up 50-metre penaltiesBy Daniel Cherny
The Age
August 16, 2020 — 1.50pmRichmond have implemented a novel measure to prevent players from giving away 50-metre penalties.
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick had bemoaned a lack of discipline from his side in the round 11 loss to Port Adelaide, in particular 50-metre penalties conceded by Dustin Martin and Josh Caddy.
So to give Richmond players further reason not to run foul of the umpires, any player who gives away 50 will have to change the nappy of Trent Cotchin's son Parker, who is staying with Richmond in the club's Queensland hub. The idea was the brainchild of the Tigers captain himself.
"We've got a bit of a protocol at the moment that if you do give away a 50, young Parker's nappy, Trent's baby, will be getting changed by that person. It started this week, so I'm pretty sure we won't be giving away any 50s," Hardwick said
"We want our players to play to the line, sometimes they are going to step over.
"It's probably the 50-metre penalties we're most disappointed with. It's something we've spoken to the leaders about, we expect our players to be a lot better than that.
"Games are so tight at the moment, you can't afford to do that."
Having been rested from the loss to the Power, Brownlow medallist Cotchin will return against Gold Coast on Monday night. However Bachar Houli won't face the Suns, with the Tigers opting to be conservative with the veteran who has joined the club's hub after initially staying in Victoria with his family. Hardwick said Houli was likely to face Essendon next Saturday night in Darwin, while Toby Nankervis (ankle) could also play in that game.
David Astbury (knee) still appears at least a couple of weeks away, as does Dion Prestia (ankle). Hardwick said Shane Edwards was on track to head to Queensland early next month after his partner Samantha gave birth to a girl but stressed that family would come first in any decision-making.
"Our plan is for Shane to come up on that plane at this stage," Hardwick said.
Asked about the issue of home-ground advantage in 2020, Hardwick said that the Tigers were determined to control what they could, and would cross the bridge of finals venues when they arrived at that juncture.
"It's obviously foreign, any year where we're all playing in the one state is obviously going to be pretty different, but the fact is we're loving being up here," Hardwick said.
"We're playing a great brand of footy I think at the moment, it's pretty exciting for our fans back home. Playing on two wonderful venues. I must say thank you to the Queensland government, but also to Gold Coast and Brisbane, who have been nothing short of outstanding by providing facilities for all clubs up here. But it is what it is. We'll worry about finals if we make it."
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/nappy-duties-richmond-implement-novel-50-metre-penalty-20200816-p55m6k.html
