By Caroline Wilson and Jake Niall
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, the man who guided the Tigers out of the wilderness to win three premierships in four years, is set to quit, The Age has confirmed.
The Tigers will hold a press conference on Tuesday to announce the resignation, which will be effective immediately.
Damien Hardwick and his players with the 2019 premiership cup.Credit: Scott Barbour
Hardwick, 50, informed Tigers CEO Brendon Gale of his decision on Monday and has started calling players to tell them, according to a club source.
Highly regarded assistant coach Andrew McQualter is expected to take the coaching reins for Sunday’s match against Port Adelaide at the MCG.
SEN Radio first reported the news Monday night and although the reasons for Hardwick’s decision were not clear, burnout was cited as a possible factor.
Hardwick is Richmond’s longest-serving coach, having overseen 307 games. He has 36 games remaining on his contract. He will be remembered as the coach who turned the Tigers from a club that was a perennial underachiever, and often ridiculed for its failures, into a modern colossus of the competition.
He restored Richmond at all levels, awakening the often dormant Tiger army.
The club famously showed faith in Hardwick after a wide-ranging review of the football department in 2016, and the former Essendon and Port Adelaide hard man went on to lead the Tigers to three flags in four seasons, breaking a 37-year drought in 2017.
Hardwick is a close friend of Alastair Clarkson, who last week announced he would take an indefinite break from his job as coach of North Melbourne to focus on his physical and mental health.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae, who worked under Hardwick at Richmond, expressed disbelief at the news on Monday night.
“His ability just to back himself in and make strong decisions and play young players at the back end of 2016 showed a lot of courage and he copped a lot of flak for that,” McRae told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“At that time, the ability of the board and other parts of the business to back him in, 2017 was a remarkable year.
“He changed the game in a lot of ways. Is it real that he’s moving on? I’m grateful to have worked with him. He is an incredible coach.”
Hardwick can be a combative character - only weeks ago he challenged critics at a press conference to “say it to my face” - but he is loved by his players and was fiercely protective of them. Along with star players Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin, he defined Richmond’s longed-for era of success.
He emphasised vulnerability and encouraged players to be open about their challenges and foibles.
He was one of a number of coaches on whom the game exacted a toll, enduring a marriage breakup that became public during the 2020-21 off-season.
Hardwick’s shock decision to walk away follows a one-point loss to Essendon in Saturday night’s Dreamtime at the ’G clash. The Tigers are 14th on the ladder, with three wins and a draw from the first 10 rounds of the season.
There will be speculation about Hardwick’s future, and whether he could take over from Stuart Dew at Gold Coast or from Ken Hinkley at Port, should they decide to part company.
Hardwick’s influence on the game is magnified by the hiring of his former assistants as senior coaches at other clubs; in particular McRae (a former Richmond VFL coach) at Collingwood, Adam Kingsley at GWS and Ben Rutten at Essendon. Rutten has since rejoined the Tigers as an assistant.
The “go-ahead”, low possession game style that Richmond succeeded with under Hardwick between 2017 and 2020 became a template for other clubs, especially Collingwood.
The coaching marketplace for the Tigers will be wide open. Hinkley was runner-up for the job when Hardwick was hired back in 2009.
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