Damien Hardwick says he feels “flat as a tack” and needs to figure out how to get the Tigers back to their best after Richmond’s 24-point loss to Gold Coast.
But the triple-premiership coach isn’t writing the season off just yet despite winning only one game from seven to start the year.
The Tigers on Sunday slumped to their worst start to a season since 2016, going down to the Suns by four goals to lose their fifth game on the trot. Despite winning the contested ball and clearance counts, Richmond wasted opportunities in front of goal, booting 6.12.
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Hardwick post-game said he felt for fans and those connected to the club though as Richmond
“There’s bits of play where we look great, we should get out and then we don‘t score and it’s like ‘argh’. Then all of a sudden it’ll come down the other end and they do,” Hardwick told reporters post-game.
“Those 12-point swings – which when things are going well for your side and you‘re actually up and about and you’re actually OK, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, we’re lacking confidence and our execution just falls off a little bit and then it goes back the other way – it becomes demoralising. I think what happens is it can zap our team’s energy – and I felt like that today.
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“It feels like that now for me. I feel flat as a tack. I feel flat for our team, our supporters, our coaching group, our club.
“I’m the eternal optimist, I still think our best is good enough, but we’re a long way off that at the moment and we’ve got to figure out how the hell we get back to what we need to be. And there’s only one way to do it and it’s to stick together, it’s to turn in and sit there and understand when we play our best footy we’re capable. We aren’t doing that at the moment, so how the hell do we get back to it?”
After watching Hardwick’s press conference, former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon said the Tigers coach was clearly “frustrated” and “exhausted” with his side sitting 16th on the ladder with a 1-1-5 record.
“For me, Richmond just lost their drive a little bit,” Dixon told Fox Footy’s First Crack. “Down back, they just made so many errors and even when they go forward, they used to be so dangerous, now they‘re only scoring 39 per cent (of the time) when they go inside 50, which is 18th in the competition.
“I‘m worried about Richmond. I’m Tiger Tooth – they’re a bit long in the tooth now.
“They’re getting out, but it’s like they’ve got no punch. They used to have a bit of zip and zap.”
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna added: “For a group that had so much continuity when they were winning flags, there’ so much injury, there‘s so much change, so many young players coming in and they’re not quite getting it together. It’s frustrating because they’re used to high standards.”
Dixon pointed out the acquisitions of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper in last years’ trade period suggested the Tigers thought they were still in the premiership window this year. Reaching this year’s finals series now, however, appears mightily tough.
But dual premiership Kangaroo David King pointed out Taranto and Hopper are 25 and 26 respectively and at Punt Road for the long-term, highlighted by the fact they signed seven-year contracts.
“I think they’re still good acquisitions,” King told First Crack.
“A lot has been made of the cost of those guys, but you’ve got to pay to get a player. I mean Taranto was almost the reason they were getting back into that game late. That last quarter was on a knife‘s edge and it was Taranto who was getting all those clearances.”
Hardwick said the Tigers weren’t playing “Richmond” footy and could see his side lacked confidence. He pointed to another poor week in the front half of the ground being one of the key factors in the Tigers’ poor form.
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But Hardwick said he isn’t throwing in the towel, adding Richmond had been in similar positions in the past where things have just clicked.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” he said.
“We’ve been in situations where we’ve had holes and can’t seem to get out of it. Sometimes you look at it and think ‘I don’t know where our next win is coming from’, but all of a sudden things can change very, very quickly.
“We’ve got to have the belief that’s just around the corner.”
— with NCA Newswire
