AFL 2020: Richmond could reignite season in Sunshine State hub
Dual premiership coach Damien Hardwick thinks getting away to Queensland could be key to turning around Richmond’s fortunes.
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Richmond coach Damien Hardwick can’t guarantee all his players will join an interstate hub but said he was “dying to get there”.
The Tigers are set to be one of six teams relocating to Queensland for the remainder of the AFL season.
Tigers captain Trent Cotchin declared earlier this week there was a “genuine chance” some of his teammates wouldn’t travel when the team was inevitably forced intestate for a period of time, citing family reasons as a potential issue.
Hardwick said Richmond was a family club, and while “the club” would travel, individual discussions could be required for some.
But the two-time premiership coach said the up-and-down 2020 season would be one of “acceptance” and the Tigers were happy to accept whatever was required of them.
“Acceptance is a big thing. This season, overall, has been a season of distractions,“ Hardwick said on Friday.
“It‘s the side that best gets a handle on those distractions and realises they are what they are (that) is going to flourish.
“At the moment, I‘d probably say, ‘Are we handling it to the best of our ability? We’re going OK. Could we handle it better? Absolutely. But a lot of clubs are in the same boat.
“All I will say is we‘re dying to get there (to the interstate hub), and we’re dying to play.”
“The club will go. Individual decisions will be made along the way.”
Hardwick said a move could even help the spluttering Tigers who have lost the past two games going into an “important” clash with Melbourne on Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be a blessing. We are strong on connection at this footy club and this is going to give us an opportunity to connect,” he said.
“One thing we have struggled with is we have been separated by protocols (at training). We are happy to go and going take as great a side as possible and win as many games as we can.
“Get me on the plane.”
Hardwick said slow starts had been a theme for Richmond in recent seasons. The Tigers lost six of the opening 13 rounds last year before storming home to 12 in a row and the premiership.
But he conceded the Tigers weren’t playing the “Richmond way” and the shortened season demanded they rediscover their best against the Demons.
“We sort of have to finds our brand again, get back to establishing that and playing the Richmond way,” he said.
“Richmond are beating Richmond at the moment, that’s the way we went through it with our players. The ground isn’t looking how we need it to look.
“We expect that to click at some stage. We haven’t got the games to catch up, we need to get playing some better footy now.”
Jake Aarts, a mature-aged rookie who spent six years in the VFL, before joining the Tigers in 2018, will become the club’s first debutant this season.
The hardworking 25-year-old small forward has been a consistent performer in Richmond’s recent scratch matches and will replace premiership player Sydney Stack, who was dropped.
Hardwick said Stack was low on confidence but would be back.
“Sydney has to rediscover who he is and how he wants to play,” Hardwick said.
“He is lacking a bit of confidence, he’s probably fumbled a ball early in the game which he has dwelled on too much. It’s un-Sydney like.
“He doesn’t normally worry about mistakes, but he’s thinking about the things he’s not doing.”
Hardwick said one of either Noah Balta or Ryan Garthwaite would come in to replace injured defender David Astbury.
Originally published as AFL 2020: Richmond could reignite season in Sunshine State hub