Jon Ralph looks at Damien Hardwick’s rise from battling coach to AFL trailblazer

DAMIEN Hardwick was down to the last three as the Tigers pondered their next coach before one key question sealed his and his club’s fate. JON RALPH on Dimma’s early struggles and rise to the top.

RICHMOND president Gary March was furious with the timing of the headline as much as the story’s contents.

It was the day of the 2012 Carlton-Richmond season opener and March had provocatively compared third-year coach Damien Hardwick to club legend Tommy Hafey.

“We would sincerely hope Damien is a Tommy Hafey-type who coaches for 10-plus years and coaches us to premierships,” March stated just days after Hardwick’s first contract extension.

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The headlines blared, the Tigers’ hierarchy made their displeasure known, and the Blues went on to belt the Tigers by 44 points.

As March said on Wednesday of that turbulent time: “That was back when we were going no good and you guys all wanted to sack him”.

There is only one Tom Hafey at Richmond, a four-time premiership hero and coach of the club’s Team of the Century.

Damien Hardwick celebrates the premiership with Dustin Martin. Picture: Phil Hillyard

But Hardwick, who on Saturday coaches his 200th senior AFL game, is carving out a remarkable legacy of his own.

He will next year pass Jack Dyer’s record of 222 games coached (some as a player-coach), and by the end of 2020 reach Hafey’s club record 248 games in charge.

Not so long ago it was hard to know exactly what Hardwick stood for, what he truly believed in as a coach.

Yet in the space of 18 months he has joined his great mate Alastair Clarkson as a football trailblazer, carving out his own sizeable legacy.

Hafey’s game style was immediately identifiable — kick it long down the guts — and his connection with players so strong they were known as “Tommy’s boys”.

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Now it is Hardwick who is breaking new ground.

A coach ridiculed for praising his players for their effort after a heart-rending loss to GWS last year is breaking the mould.

He has backed in intuition to introduce a style of football unique in 120 years of football and ridden it all the way to a flag.

He has brought the fun back into Punt Road in a way that makes players from many other clubs envious of the joy obvious among the playing group.

Hardwick has brought back the emotional connection as a powerful tool harnessed by the playing group and copied by others.

Ironically given this week’s opponent. March revealed on Wednesday he had chatted to Nathan Buckley about the senior role midway through 2009.

Damien Hardwick is among the best coaches in the AFL. Picture: AAP Images

Buckley would eventually sign Collingwood’s succession plan that year, leaving Hardwick to fight it out with Alan Richardson and Ken Hinkley for the Tigers role.

It has been a ride full of soaring peaks and dramatic valleys, yet March believes it took that long for Hardwick’s true character to re-emerge.

“We had just appointed Brendon Gale (as CEO) and he sat in on the final interview with Damien,’’ he said.

“At the time it was myself, Brendon and Craig Cameron and we just thought he was the guy to take the club forward.

“The last three were Hinkley, Damien and Alan Richardson. And it came down to the last two in Hinkley and Damien.

Damien Hardwick celebrates the premiership with his players. Picture: AAP Images

“And I turned around and said to the guys, “Who would you run through a brick wall for?

“I reckon that was the casting decision for the three of us.

“From that very first day we interviewed him you could see his emotional connection with everyone he comes across.

“I don’t think he necessarily always wanted to have fun. That has evolved and he has been too intense at times.

“But what has happened in the last three years is his own personal, his true personality, has come out in his coaching.

“What you are seeing now is the real Damien, not a version of it.”

Richmond vs Collingwood: The only place on TV to watch the game is FOX FOOTY. Special extended pre-game show live from the MCG on Saturday at 1pm