Hardwick’s shock call a sign of the timesByPeter Ryan
May 22, 2023 — 8.23pm
The AFL coaching landscape is getting madder every week but Damien Hardwick’s decision to step aside as Tigers coach after 10 rounds is the maddest development yet.
His decision took everyone outside the Tigers by surprise, and if anyone at Richmond saw the decision brewing they kept it well hidden.
It underlines what a tough, unrelenting job being a senior coach is, particularly if you are striving to find the motivation to scale football’s mountain for a fourth time, with a new group in the same jumpers, who you need to teach the same tricks all over again
Perhaps in the post-COVID world where evaluation of what matters is part of the zeitgeist, Hardwick is showing the side that endeared him to his players and staff.
Hardwick will be most disappointed he did not get to inform his players before the news broke because he was a players’ man.
He defended them to the hilt from start to finish, even when his defences sometimes seemed unreasonable to the real world. He had players board at his place. He invested his whole being, with even his marriage breakdown being a public event.
However, Hardwick lived by the motto never complain, never explain. He did not seek out relationships within the media but could be pleasant and humorous company if encountered in his downtime. He could also be direct and occasionally narky if he thought the bounds of basic decency had been breached. But he got on with things, away from the glamour and razzmatazz.
Under his tutelage the Tigers eventually became feared and ruthless and winners, winning three flags in four years in a golden run that gave long-suffering fans such joy.
The great irony is that the champion of that era - Dustin Martin - who battled with motivation in recent seasons is just regaining his desire, as the coach who handled him so well is losing his, either momentarily or beyond.
Hardwick will be in demand. If West Coast decide their time with Adam Simpson is up or if Stuart Dew is no longer the right fit for the Gold Coast, Hardwick is sure to get calls from them. But it would offend him to think he would seek another’s job, particularly ones he has played with or coached alongside.
We wait to hear from Hardwick for the reasons behind his decision. Perhaps the kick from Essendon’s Sam Durham that saw Richmond steal defeat from victory again convinced him it was best for the club and for him to take a break, reputation and relationships intact, the Richmond imperative to keep moving forward that Hardwick instilled alive in his last act.
Perhaps watching what the game had done to his great friend Alastair Clarkson made him reflect on what was being sacrificed in the pursuit of a game. Only Hardwick can say.
There is one thing for sure. The bombshell would sure do what he thought was necessary for media nowadays: get some clicks.
That the coach got to go on his terms shows how much he - and others such as CEO Brendon Gale - have changed Richmond.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/hardwick-s-shock-call-a-sign-of-the-times-20230522-p5daf5.html
