Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has shown his much jovial side on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 just days out from his team’s elimination final clash against Brisbane.
The Tigers head to the Gabba on Thursday night to take on the Lions in a knockout final, which comes just weeks after the two clubs battled out a thriller at the MCG.
Appearing on AFL 360 via video link, Hardwick facetiously avoided a question about whether Dustin Martin would return for his first game back from a hamstring injury since Round 16 by pretending he was on mute while answering.
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“I’m only joking Robbo (the show’s co-host Mark Robinson), it’s alright, I can’t answer!” Hardwick said.
To which Robinson responded: “You smartarse!”
Later in the interview Hardwick’s dog could be heard barking in the background, prompting Robinson to request Hardwick put his pet on camera, which of course, he briefly did with a big smile.
“Bloody Hank (his dog) … the big fella. Losing his mind,” the Tigers coach said, before joking: “The worst TV of all time, you blokes!”
Robinson added: “Could you imagine you acting like this five years ago? No way, you were a cat on a hot tin roof, Dimma (Hardwick) going into a first final.
“And (now) you’re picking up your bloody dog on national television and laughing and giggling. It says a little bit about you as coach and your team I suppose.”
Hardwick then admitted he’d loosened up in recent years, with this more lighthearted approach from Richmond widely said to be key in its resurgence in 2017 as it went on to win three of the next four flags in a golden era.
“The one thing we always talk about is we work incredibly hard in our preparation to be diligent, but we like to have a fun time along the way,” he said.
“The one thing I’ve tried to do is separate myself as much as possible, and it is a challenge at various stages. The dog keeps me cosy at various stages. One of these at various stages will relax me also,” as Hardwick then held up a beer to the camera.
Robinson added: “You are loose mate, you are loose!”
Hardwick concluded that making the finals in itself should be embraced — a sentiment echoed by Tigers veteran Jack Riewoldt later on the show with the fresh perspective from teammate Robbie Tarrant, who hasn’t played in the post-season in eight years.
“The game itself is so much fun — to make finals itself — it’s so hard these days, the competition is so even, so we want to celebrate it, but we also can’t wait for the challenge ahead, it is a season within a season as we know,” Hardwick said.
“But we’re really looking forward to the challenge of going up to Brisbane, getting the warm weather on our backs and giving ourselves our best shot.
“We certainly know our best footy is quite capable of (posing) a significant challenge to other sides playing in September also.”
