AFL round 6: Richmond Tigers coach Damien Hardwick blames Sydney Swans for low-scoring encounter

Richmond Tigers coach Damien Hardwick bluntly slammed the Sydney Swans’ tactics after Sunday’s “horrible” encounter at the Gabba.

Richmond Tigers coach Damien Hardwick bluntly slammed the Sydney Swans’ tactics after Sunday’s “horrible” encounter at the Gabba.

Richmond Tigers coach Damien Hardwick has lamented Sunday’s “incredibly frustrating” AFL match against the Sydney Swans at the Gabba.

Only 60 points were mustered in the round six clash, making it the second-lowest scoring game in the AFL era — the record remains a 36-22 victory for the Brisbane Bears against Footscray in 1996.

Sydney only managed three goals in the match, while Richmond scored just one major after the first quarter. The last time Richmond won an AFL/VFL match with 34 points or less was way back in 1908, when they defeated Fitzroy 34-33.

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Speaking to media after the low-scoring slogfest, Hardwick bluntly labelled Sunday’s “farcical” encounter a “horrible game of football”.

“It was a horrendous game of football,” Hardwick said.

“There’s no doubt about that. It was hard to watch, it was hard to play, it was incredibly frustrating.

“Unfortunately it’s sometimes how games pan out. You have a lot of players in one D50, they can’t get out and we can’t score. I think we had 50 odd inside 50s for what was it, four or five goals. Which is farcical in nature really.”

Richmond’s 34 points was the lowest winning score of the 2020 season to date.

Hardwick also took aim at the Swans’ defensive mindset, subtly blaming Sydney for the lacklustre encounter in Brisbane.

“The fact of the matter is the spare’s down there. The ball was played in our half. I think it was 29 forward half turnovers to nine. It was down there for the vast majority of the game,” Hardwick said.

“I didn’t think we were much chance of scoring, but they were no chance of scoring. I think they got two goals from 50-metre penalties but outside that they kicked one goal for the game.

“There’s not much I can do. We’re attacking, we’ve got 75,000 people in our forward 50. It’s pretty hard. It’s become a tactic in the AFL. Foldback mentality is really keeping sides in games.”

However, Swans coach John Longmire denied the accusations.

“We kept our six defenders, they had an extra up at the ball. Our six defenders played behind the ball. We didn’t have seven defenders,” Longmire said.

“We didn’t go with them, which is what they often want up around the footy. We held our structure and needed to punch through a bit quicker when we got opportunities as well.”

The Swans’ score of 26 was their second-lowest since migrating to Sydney in 1982.

Although shortened quarters and wild weather undeniably played a part in the dull affair, many AFL fans condemned Sydney’s defensive style of play.

ABC Offsiders panellist Richard Hinds tweeted: “Have the sniffles so had a COVID test. It was far less painful than watching #AFLTigersSwans.”

Veteran sports author Titus O’Reily posted: “If I wanted to punish someone, I’d lock them in their house and make them watch this game.”

Despite the disappointing spectacle, Richmond ruckman Ivan Soldo believed the win was a rewarding experience for the club.

“It was more of a grind. It was a good win. Those are the wins you enjoy, the ones where it was more of a grind,” Soldo said.

The Tigers now sit in sixth spot on the AFL ladder, and will take on North Melbourne next Saturday evening for their round seven fixture.