The similarities between Hawthorn dynasty and Richmond’s current success
Richmond’s path to success is eerily similar to Hawthorn’s three-peat, and it goes way beyond a Rioli starring in both teams. Can the Tigers create a Dimmasty? Jon Ralph investigates the rise of two great clubs.
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The Tigers are yet to create a dynasty for themselves, but it is not far out of their reach.
The latest club to achieve such a feat was Hawthorn and there are a number of similarities between the two clubs — not least that Damien Hardwick was an assistant under Hawthorn four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson.
One of the key takeaways: be sure to get yourself a Rioli - a name synonymous with premierships.
Jon Ralph investigates how these two clubs rose to prominence.
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Building elite talent through the draft
The Tigers invested in quality picks and drafted Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance, as Hawthorn did with Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead, Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis.
Both teams secured their absolute elite talent through top‑20 draft selections and watched them win Norm Smith and Brownlow medals.
And a coach who mixes an occasional temperamental nature with rock‑fast relationship with his players
Damien Hardwick was footy royalty — premierships at two clubs, much‑lauded reputation — while Alastair Clarkson was a journeyman scrapper who chalked up 134 games in stints at two clubs.
But the bedrock of their relationships with players is implicit trust and care.
Clarkson plays terrible tunes on his guitar to celebrate player milestones to show players he is one of them, while Hardwick opens his home to young indigenous players, such as Sydney Stack and Daniel Rioli.
It is no secret that when all seemed lost in 2016 Hardwick’s relationship with his players kept him in a job.
He and Clarkson are two footballers bred for the rough and tumble of an earlier era who have captured the emotional intelligence needed to coach Gen Xers and millennials.
The prudent topping‑up of established talent through trades.
Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy, Toby Nankervis, Tom Lynch and Bachar Houli all played key roles in one or both of the premiership wins. Some came as cheap‑as‑chips pre‑season selections, such as Houli, and became matchwinners.
Some the club paid big for, using a top‑10 pick for Prestia in a trade and watching him become a finals hero.
Similarly, Shaun Burgoyne, Brian Lake and Josh Gibson were some of the long list of players the Hawks identified through specific needs and saw them flourish under Clarkson’s care and Hawthorn’s development system.
Almost recklessly risky recruiting of an eventual Grand Final star
The harder you work the luckier you get
Clarkson was desperate to pick up cast‑off Stuart Dew and, despite the club’s objections, Dew rewarded him with six minutes of heroics to turn the 2008 Grand Final.
Richmond’s list was so stacked it was able to take a similar risk with Marlion Pickett, aware he was redeemed after an earlier stint in jail. He rocked the 2019 Grand Final.
There are not many similarities in physique, but they were the last players picked on their lists and in Norm Smith consideration in a Grand Final.
Game plan innovation
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Clarkson has always been a master of innovation, changing his game plan at least three times, through his cluster — revolutionary defensive positioning — to a style based on ball retention with a fleet of accurate left‑footers.
Hardwick had to learn the hard way with a failed game plan lacking dare and adventure, but he turned organised chaos into a game plan. It is a dual premiership‑winning idea rivals are still trying to follow.
A Rioli
Get one on your team because they tend to win premierships.
Hawthorn was in such a beautiful list management sweet spot it could afford to take a risk on Cyril Rioli despite his modest shape, turning him into a rampaging pressure forward.
His cousin Daniel Rioli, another mid‑teens pick, fulfilled exactly the same role and feasted on five goals in the 2017 preliminary final, as Cyril had done before him.
A Norm Smith Medal‑winning freak born for September
Sometimes you just get lucky
Dustin Martin and Luke Hodge were the cream of the crop, top‑three draft selections who showed flashes of early brilliance despite off‑field turbulence. Then they started winning Norm Smith Medals for fun.
All the planning and tactics in the world sometimes are beaten by an out‑and‑out superstar.
Like Martin in 2019, after a slow start to the season, Hodge often kept his top‑draw stuff for finals and Grand Finals, in particular.
A rock solid administration promoting stability and reining in the coach’s left‑field or damaging tendencies
Ask anyone at Hawthorn about Clarkson’s brilliance and they will tell you about the power behind the throne. In other words, the wise counsel from football bosses Mark Evans and Chris Fagan, who allowed him to shine while also ensuring some of his craziest ideas and tempestuous nature did not see the light of day.
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Likewise at Richmond, Neil Balme has been the gatekeeper and adviser who allowed Hardwick to flourish, extracting the best elements of his personality and coaching style.
Both clubs also set ambitious revenue and membership targets, with the financial strengths allowing them to secure innovators and tactical wizards, such as Hawks biomechanist guru David Rath and Tigers assistant Blake Caracella, who helped turn the club’s tactics on their head.
***Footy20 is available from February 29 while stocks last at participating newsagents and IGA and Woolworths stores in Victoria/Riverina. Cost is $4.95 plus purchase price of that day’s Herald Sun.
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Originally published as The similarities between Hawthorn dynasty and Richmond’s current success
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