AFL Richmond v North Melbourne 2021: Damien Hardwick hits out at Jonathan Brown in passionate Tom Lynch defence

Damien Hardwick’s strong defence of Tigers forward Tom Lynch, which was aimed at a footy legend, has stirred up another champion of the game.

Chris Cavanagh and Sam Landsberger

8 min read

August 9, 2021 - 8:53AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 07: Maurice Rioli of the Tigers is congratulated by teammates after playing in his first game during the round 21 AFL match between Richmond Tigers and North Melbourne Kangaroos at Melbourne Cricket Ground on August 07, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

AFL

Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has been lashed for his criticism of commentators and accused of not living up to the Tigers’ own motto.

Hardwick went on the attack in his post-game press conference on Saturday in defence of out-of-form key forward Tom Lynch, who was critiqued by Fox Footy commentator Jonathon Brown for failing to impact enough contests.

Hardwick said Brown was “capable of putting his hand up to coach at some stage” and added it was “very easy in the cheap seats”.

Watch The 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

But AFL great Wayne Carey hit back strongly in defence of Brown, labelling Hardwick’s comments “really disappointing”.

“Dimma’s lost it, seriously,” Carey said.

“Jonathan Brown … has played Tom Lynch’s position as well as anyone that’s ever played that position, so he’s entitled to have an opinion on that.

“I understand that Dimma wants to defend his player but to suggest, ‘Get up here, (don’t) sit in the cheap seats’. Well, Dimma, he (Brown) played the game once and played at a very high level and actually played it better than what you did, Dimma, when you played.”

Tigers head coach Damien Hardwick came out strongly in defence of Tom Lynch.

Carey said Hardwick was not living up to the own standards he had set at Richmond.

“The fact that he says, ‘Get up here and coach’. I just thought that was not on and it’s not the first time in the last few months,” Carey said on Triple M radio.

“A part of the motto at Richmond was ‘be humble’. Dimma hasn’t been humble a number of times this year and I think that’s another example of it. I think that’s really disappointing, those comments about Jonathan Brown.”

A three-time Brisbane Lions premiership player, Brown kicked 594 goals from 256 AFL games and was a five-time club leading goalkicker.

Lynch went goalless from only six disposals and one mark against North Melbourne on Saturday and has managed just two majors across his past three games.

The Tigers celebrate their come from behind victory. Picture: Getty Images

News Corp understands the a do-or-die blockbuster against Greater Western Sydney for eighth place and rematch of the 2019 grand final will take place at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, although the AFL has not locked in the round 21 fixture.

Hardwick moved wise heads Shane Edwards and Liam Baker to half-forward at halftime on Saturday after North Melbourne’s short kicking game rendered the Tigers’ pressure ineffective.

It worked wonders as Richmond piled on 12 of the final 15 goals at the MCG to keep its season alive.

The Roos — playing at the ‘G for the first time in 853 days — won the first nine centre clearances and took 75 marks in the first half but just 30 in the second.

Maurice Rioli Jr’s maiden AFL goal helped ignite the charge and all six Riolis have now started their AFL career with a victory — Maurice Snr (1982), Dean (1999), Cyril (2008), Daniel (2016), Willie (2018) and now Maurice Jr (2021).

Hardwick praised Rioli’s ability to hunt, harass, close space and create scores through forcing turnovers.

“He brings a unique skillset,” Hardwick said of the pressure forward.

“We thought Thomson Dow looked electrifying at various stages, as did Maurice, Hugo Ralphsmith was very good and CJ (Callum Coleman-Jones) was quite imposing at stages as well.”

Legendary key forwards Jonathan Brown and Garry Lyon got stuck into Lynch (six disposals, one mark and no score) for not impacting enough contests.

Hardwick said his key forwards should not be judged off the stats sheet.

“We get our key forwards to play in a specific way and it’s to bring the ball to ground,” he said.

“If he’s getting out-marked I won’t be happy, but the fact of the matter is he plays his role.

“Tom’s a two-time premiership player. Enough said.

Tom Lynch had a quiet outing against the Roos. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“Actually, what I will say is it’s very easy in the cheap seats. Tom’s often outnumbered. I think he doesn’t get treated fairly at various stages.

“Browny’s capable of putting his hand up to coach at some stage. If he wants to coach – by all means, put your hand up.

“Seriously, give me his job. Let’s swap for a week.”

Lynch was involved in four one-on-one contests against the Kangas. He won zero, neutralised three and lost one.

The Tigers are likely to qualify for their seventh finals series in eight years if they roll the Giants and Hawthorn in the last two rounds.

But Hardwick prioritised resurrecting the game plan and giving the next breed gametime over pinching eighth place.

A starting half-back line of Daniel Rioli, Sydney Stack and Rhyan Mansell showed this is far from Richmond’s premiership run.

Kamdyn McIntosh (hamstring) should return against the Giants.

Hardwick said the wingman made a “brave” phone call on Saturday morning to rule himself out.

Still alive: Richmond back to Tigers of old in comeback win

Richmond kept their season alive with a come-from-behind 33-point win over a gallant North Melbourne outfit at the MCG.

After falling behind by as much as 26-points late in the second-term, the Tigers bounced back after a slow start by rediscovering their famed pressure footy and surged ahead with a sensational second-half — booting 11 goals to three after half-time.

Jack Graham (36 disposals, eight marks, eight tackles) and Dion Prestia (29 disposals) helped turn the tide while Nick Vlaustin (30 disposals, 14 marks) set things up brilliantly from half-back.

The win puts the Tigers into ninth place and within two points of eighth placed GWS who they face next weekend in a virtual ‘elimination final’.

After getting the early bounce, North Melbourne ran out of gas after half-time as their run-and-gun attacking brand of football waned after half-time – with the result all but sealing the wooden spoon.

Luke Davies-Uniacke (38 disposals) was immense for the Kangaroos while Aaron Hall (37 disposals) and Cameron Zurhaar (four goals) were equally impressive.

Richmond failed to find their much-needed response in the opening-term as they were held goalless by their buoyant opponents.

North Melbourne pinned holes in the Tigers defence, stretching them with their daring and rapid ball movement through the corridor — resulting in the Kangaroos booting the first three goals of the contest.

David Noble’s side continued to dominate the contest after quarter-time and Zurhaar was the main benefactor kicking three first-half goals.

However, wastefulness in-front of goal kept Richmond in the contest and Jack Riewoldt’s goal on the half-time siren cut the margin back to 20 points.

After half-time, the Tigers finally got into their groove, rediscovering their famed pressure and putting the inexperienced Kangaroos to the sword with seven-goal third term – to open a ten-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

A Jack Mahony goal straight after three-quarter time got North Melbourne back within a kick but a late avalanche of Tigers goals put the result beyond doubt.

Noble lamented his side’s second-half fade-away after falling against a fast-finishing Richmond.

The Kangaroos burst out of the blocks with a scintillating opening-half and had the Tigers on the ropes as they held a 26 point lead late in the first-half.

However, North Melbourne would go on to concede nine goals to three after half-time as Richmond amped up the pressure causing Noble’s side to lose their stranglehold in possession – in particular their dominance in uncontested disposal.

Noble believes his side’s inability to match the Tigers’ response after half-time proved costly but said they’ll still be able to take positives from “some elements” of the game.

“I’m not overly happy with the second half,” Noble said post-game.

“We had some really good controlled periods and got the game on our terms and then conceded way too many shots on goal from the opposition in the second half,

“Our defence didn’t do as well in the second half as the first half, our pressure around the ball wasn’t as strong so there’s some really good learnings that have come out of it,

“There were some elements out of that that we will take away and tick and there will be some elements that we will pull apart in the second half in particular,

“For our fans out there to see our young mids continue to improve and continue to control the game in different portions that’s the result of some really sound work in there.”

Since their slow start to the season, the Kangaroos have significantly improved in most areas of the game with their loss against Richmond their first back-to-back loss since Round 11.

With his side staring down the barrel of winning their first wooden spoon since 1972, Noble said there are plenty of positives his side can take out of their post-bye run of form.

“I think our effort when we’ve come to the game has been a tick,” Noble said.

“I think there’s been some growth in the execution and the understanding of our game plan on what it looks like, how it feels and our ability to wrestle the game at times and get into some real arm wrestles and fight around where the game looks,

“We’ve been really encouraged by our offence and our ability to score.”

After numerous fixture changes over the past two seasons, the Kangaroos finally played on the MCG for the first time since Round 3 2019.

Despite the loss, Noble said having had the opportunity to play at the home of football will put them in good stead for the future having faced a side who made the ground a fortress for the best part of four seasons.

“We talked to the group after the game, it’s a great experience for us to play on the ‘G,” Noble said.

“It’s where finals are played and we want to sort of have a look at our style and see how it’s set up against the ground as well as a pretty tough opponent … that plays the ground really well,

“The ‘G’ is a great spot to play, it certainly is a great place to test yourself there is no doubt about that.”

Noble said he is unsure of when and where their contest with Sydney will happen next week but “assumes” they’ll play on Saturday at Marvel Stadium.

RIOLI JR DEBUT

After weeks of biding his time in the VFL, Maurice Rioli Jr was finally unleashed on the big stage.

Rioli, who is the son of late-great Maurice Snr, got his opportunity in the side after putting together a solid run of form in the VFL while also joining nephew, Daniel in the line-up.

After a quiet start, Rioli had an impact in the second-half, kicking his first career goal at a crucial juncture to get the Tigers back within a single point in the third term.

HALL BREAKOUT SEASON

Aaron Hall may be one of the most underrated players in the entire AFL.

Since arriving at Arden St from the Gold Coast, it has taken time for Hall to find his feet at the Kangaroos but since moving to half-back under coach David Noble – he has fit in like a glove in North’s attacking game-plan – ranking elite in disposals, kicks and metres gained.

Hall continued his fine season, backing up his 36 disposal effort last week with 37 against the Tigers and a whopping 717 metres gained.

NORTH FINALLY RETURN TO ‘G

After 853 days, North Melbourne finally returned to the MCG.

Despite being based only kilometres away, the coronavirus affected fixture of the past two seasons has meant the Kangaroos have had to wait since Round 3 of 2019 to return to the home of football.

In the period since North last graced the hallowed MCG turf, Richmond had featured a whopping 24 times.