Richmond coach Damien Hardwick found out the hard way just how retired he is as a player after being levelled at training on Monday.
Hardwick, the triple-premiership coach at the Tigers, was holding a tackling bag during a training drill at Punt Road Oval when he tried to stand in the way of hulking defender Noah Balta.
But as the video released by the club shows, the 50-year-old coach was no match for his 100kg player who sent him flying through the air in the collision.
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Balta stood over his coach roaring and flexing after pommeling the former Essendon and Port Adelaide hard man, with fellow players laughing and cheering with delight.
The defender finally offered his hand to help the coach up.
Hardwick got in on the fun, calling it “workplace bullying” in a Twitter post replying to the video.
He also got no love from assistant coach Xavier Clarke, who didn’t even offer a hand to help Hardwick off the ground.
Hardwick, in his 13th season as coach of Richmond, played 207 games himself and was regarded as a hard man of the game but was giving away 20kg to Balta, who also stands at 193cm.
The Tigers are back training at Punt Road having completed an arduous training camp at Apollo Bay last week.
