HOW HARDWICK REINVENTED HIMSELF, REFINED COACHING AND REDESIGNED THE GAMEBy Gerard Whateley
SEN
23 May 2023Damien Hardwick’s time at Richmond will come to a close during our time together this morning.
A glorious era that will endure in so many Tiger hearts.
He will have been such an important figure in so many of your lives across the past 14 years.
I imagine there’s an overwhelming sense of gratitude and a debt of loyalty.
While we wait to hear from Dimma, I’d love to give you the platform to share whatever emotions you are feeling as the reality sets in.
Hardwick will leave Punt Road as the club’s longest serving and, alongside Tom Hafey, its most influential coach.
More broadly, he’s a profound figure in the profession and the game.
In his 14 seasons Hardwick reinvented himself, refined coaching and redesigned the game.
He made chaos not only attractive but desirable. Fast footy, forward momentum became essential.
He derived the mantra of embracing imperfection. Ushering in the notion now spoken of as being the goldfish or using the windscreen wipers.
For a club that had twisted itself like a pretzel for decades, Hardwick had the new age Tigers play with a smile, a lightness of being.
Hardwick came to understand connection off the field was more important than anything he could plot on it.
Vulnerability became a religion in the locker room. The Triple H sessions at the core of their being. The aspiration was to be a Richmond Man.
It wasn’t the Xs and Os that created the juggernaut.
In the Hardwick legacy is the powerful case study of a club staying the course.
He survived a much-publicised review in 2016 and an attempted board coup that ran on the platform of sacking the coach – a not unpopular view at the time if we honestly look back.
Hardwick eased his controlling and obsessive ways. His transformation triggered the reinvention of the team.
And sparked a glorious run.
The premierships of ‘17, ‘19 and ‘20 cherished by the Tiger faithful and admired by all who love the game.
Amid the shock I can’t help but feel this is a great way to go.
Sudden and swift rather the protracted way these things tend to play out.
Hardwick had a long running joke with colleagues of walking to the car at half-time and heading to the airport to jump on a flight to Bali.
Metaphorically he’s done something pretty close to that.
This story breaks in so many directions.
Will Hardwick coach again? Who would be the ideal candidate for Richmond? What does a vacancy do to the terrain?
Suddenly it’s a buyers market and historically that sparks a run.
All of that is in play.
But principally this is a chance to honour Damien Hardwick and what he’s done for Richmond.
I hope he coaches on Sunday. If he’d rather not, then I hope he’s there.
It’s hardly a stretch to imagine 90,000 members of the Richmond community filling the MCG to express their love and gratitude to a coach who has given them so much.
And when the battle is over and the arms laid down there has to be a moment to acknowledge who you were fighting for and what it meant to them.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/05/22/how-hardwick-reinvented-himself-refined-coaching-and-redesigned-the-game/
