Richmond boss gives clue on Hardwick replacement, calls out AFL ‘myth’

Richmond boss Brendon Gale has given a hint as to who will replace Damien Hardwick as Tigers coach, calling out an AFL “myth”.

Damien Hardwick and Ken Hinkley.

Richmond CEO Brendon Gale has given a clue on who the Tigers will consider to replace Damien Hardwick as the club’s next senior coach.

Hardwick shocked the AFL world this week when he announced he was quitting as coach mid-season, and wouldn’t have a farewell game.

The 50-year-old was in his 14th season in charge at the Tigers and was the longest serving current AFL coach.

Hardwick coached Richmond to three premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020 — breaking a 37-year premiership drought and creating a dynasty at Tigerland.

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Highly rated Richmond assistant coach Andrew McQualter has been appointed interim coach and will likely be a contender to take over the top job on a full-time basis.

But interim coaches don’t have a great recent history in the AFL.

In 2019, David Teague and Rhyce Shaw were appointed as caretaker coaches of Carlton and North Melbourne, respectively, before being given the head coaching job full time. But neither Teague and Shaw lasted in the top job long.

Andrew McQualter has taken over as interim Richmond coach. Pic: Michael Klein

While Richmond are set to miss finals this season, their playing list still features several gun players including Tom Lynch, Shai Bolton, Dustin Martin, Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper and Liam Baker.

Longtime Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has been linked with the Tigers gig, but Gale believes the argument that Richmond needs to hire an experienced and established coach is a “myth”.

Interestingly, of the last 19 coaches to have won AFL premierships, only one won a premiership at a second club. The rest were in their first head coaching job.

Mick Malthouse won the 2010 flag with Collingwood after leading West Coast to two premierships in the 1990s.

“I was speaking to someone today and I said my own intuition tells me this need to get a premiership coach is a bit of a myth, and that proves it,” Gale said on Footy Classified.

Gale said the advantage of picking an untried assistant coach is it gives the playing group the opportunity to grow and evolve with their coach.

“One of the great things about Damien, obviously he was tactically very smart, but he was able to grow with the team,” he said.

“They (the players) were invested in him and he was certainly invested in them. So, that’s a pretty important consideration.”

Brendon Gale (right) at Hardwick’s farewell press conference. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Gale said Richmond’s top priority was finding a replacement for Hardwick, adding there are “many” candidates.

“It won’t be by myself, we’ve got too many smart people down there to rely on,” he said.

“We’ll pull together a committee of people who can rely on each other’s thinking and maybe rely on some independent people as well.

“We’ll then map out the attributes we look for in a coach today. How is the game evolving? “What will it look like in 10 years’ time? Damien really evolved and changed with the game and the way you coach elite sport.

“Then it’s a matter of looking at the market and seeing what sort of candidates might be attracted to coaching the Richmond Football Club, and we think there’s many.”

Hardwick has been coy on his future but it’s likely his AFL coaching days aren’t over — and his departure from Richmond could spark a coaching merry-go-round.

Who will replace Damien Hardwick? (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Hinkley is out of contract at the end of this season and despite the Power’s scintillating 8-2 start to the season, the club says it will wait until later in the year to make a call on his future.

Hinkley has been in charge at Port Adelaide since 2013, taking the Power to three preliminary finals.

Hardwick won two premierships as a player at Essendon in 2000 and Port Adelaide in 2004, and there’s a belief he might be open to coaching Port given they have a team ready to challenge for a premiership.

There is also mounting pressure on Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew, who is in his sixth season at the helm but yet to lead the Suns to a maiden finals appearance.

Dew is contracted until the end of the 2024 season.

Meanwhile, West Coast coach Adam Simpson is on borrowed time as the injury ravaged Eagles appeared destined to claim the wooden spoon.

Simpson’s deal runs to 2025 but any credits from winning the 2018 premiership have run out and his sacking is all but imminent.