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The tagline for the 1993 classic Groundhog Day was “He’s having the worst day of his life…over and over again.”
Director Harold Ramis has said that Bill Murray’s character lives his famous day for about ten years over the course of the film. Richmond fans have been experiencing their version for three and a half decades. Phil had it easy.
More recently, in every year without exception under Damien Hardwick, the side has failed to deliver early in the season.
This is Hardwick’s seventh year at the helm, and the side has never been ahead of the ledger after six rounds. At 1-4 right now, it’s not going to happen this season either.
Hardwick’s winning percentage combining the first six rounds of each year is 29 per cent. His winning record outside this time is almost double, at 56 per cent. It means he and the club have been under pressure from the get-go the entire time, which must take a toll.
Wins and losses, and the stats that accompany them, don’t always tell the full story, but in Richmond’s case they are an accurate reflection of what has been seen on the field consistently in the early rounds of Hardwick’s tenure.
Tiger fans wouldn’t have even needed to watch a minute this season in order to know what the on-field story is.
Richmond players aren’t covering the ground like their opposition are, or in fact, like most of the competition. Frequently they are caught between where the ball has been and where it’s going, caught in no man’s land, and allowing the opposition greater numbers at both ends.
We’ve all noted the brightness of the ball movement across the AFL this season, with teams creating overlap run and the loose player with ease, helped by the 10-metre protected space around the kicker.
The Tiges have failed abysmally at all of the above. The players can’t create their own space, which in turn produces treacle-slow ball movement, which leads to confusion, inconsistency and eventually complete loss of confidence.
It can only be one of three things – laziness, fitness, or a lack of football intelligence. Perhaps there are combinations of some or all off the three facets within individual players. None of it is acceptable.
If it’s fitness, then the entire conditioning and physical performance branch of the football department must come under fire.
If it’s laziness, then the coaching staff must shoulder the blame, being unable to have players mentally prepared for what is required on an AFL field.
If it’s lack of footy IQ, then it’s an entire football department issue, starting with the recruiters.
The players themselves must also be accountable for their ineptitude. Are they pushing themselves to the limit at training? Are they working hard enough in the off-season? Are they paying attention when the coaches are trying to teach them?
“Generally the answers are within the group. At some stage, we as a football club will stand up and say, listen, enough’s enough.”
This was Damien Hardwick on Sunday night after the loss to Melbourne. Reasonable enough sentiments, I suppose.
But didn’t they say “enough’s enough” after losing the 2013 elimination final to Carlton despite being six goals up at one stage?
Shouldn’t they have said “enough’s enough” after being three wins, ten losses the following season?
What about “enough’s enough” after last year’s elimination final against North, when they were in front for 70 per cent of the game, again giving up a significant lead?
Surely enough was more than enough when the Tigers lost contested possession by 33 in that final to North, the biggest differential in a final for several years?
Much was made at Tigerland of bringing in Jacob Townsend from GWS and Andrew Moore from Port over the off-season, to strengthen the Tigers inside game after that North loss.
This was the classic case of over-reacting to one game, given Richmond had finished the 2015 home-and-away season ranked second for contested possession differential. Five rounds in, Townsend and Moore have both already been in the side and subsequently dropped.
That said, the Tigers have always been an easy target for the mature players they’ve brought into the club under Hardwick, and sometime with good reason. Ricky Petterd, anyone?
But the truth of the matter is that most of the players to come in have cost the club very little, and many have been rookie-listed. Others, such as Bachar Houli, Shaun Grigg, Ivan Maric, Troy Chaplin and Anthony Miles have been cornerstones of a side that has played finals three years in a row.
Richmond had between seven or eight mature recruits or players from other clubs in the side when they defeated Fremantle in Perth, Sydney at the SCG and Hawthorn at the MCG last year.
In the grand final last year, Hawthorn also had eight of these type of players and West Coast seven, numbers that are consistent with what the Tigers have been doing. Melbourne beat Richmond on Sunday night with eight recycled players in the team. There are plenty of clubs with a similar percentage in their side. It’s the way of the modern game.
When a side is playing well, as the Tigers have done at various stages over the last few years, these recruits are seen as inspired and astute selections. When they are out of form, it’s a collection of duds and the list management is short-sighted. It’s what Ross Lyon would call “fingernail deep analysis.”
There’s no doubt Richmond bottomed out at the worst possible time in that 2009-12 bracket, right at the pointy end of the most compromised drafts in AFL history thanks to the introduction of the expansion sides.
No Jeremy Cameron or Dylan Shiel was ever coming to Tigerland. No Jaegar O’Meara, Brad Crouch, Adam Treloar or Chad Wingard either. How much could any one of these names added to the current list?
It also meant second and third round selections in this time were devalued. They haven’t been able to unearth any mid-late draft gems that help round out a side on the rise. Think of a Lachie Neale taken at 58 for instance.
Even still, the Tigers won 15 games in each of 2013 and 2015. Should this be seen as a crowning achievement, given where they were coming from, the nadir of which was the first half of 2010? Or should those years have been the base level of what this playing group should be achieving in 2016?
These are hard questions, with no easy answers.
What can’t be understood, or forgiven, is how Richmond has come bumbling and stumbling out of the gates in each season.
A justified criticism of the Tigers is that the difference between their best and worst is too vast. The same can be said of Damien Hardwick in the coaches box. Attitude reflects leadership.
Richmond has recovered from their slow starts to play finals in the last three years, but it’s not going to happen this season. The AFL competition is deeper this time around. The likes of Melbourne, St Kilda and GWS are much stronger now, other sides are harder to beat, and the Tigers appear to have missed a trick with the way the game is being played.
Even if Richmond raises their current standard to match the best of what they produced in 2015, it would still only make them the eighth or ninth best team at the high end, given how many teams across the competition have become shooting stars.
This season is a write-off for the Tiges, but with that comes freedom, and the chance to get a headstart on 2017 and beyond. No point crying over spilt milk, and what things might have been. They can only react to the situation they find themselves in.
Damien Hardwick’s contract was extended until the end of 2018 prior to this season, which was a year too long in most eyes. He’ll have at least until halfway through 2017 before getting the chop if things go badly, so he gets the next 12 months to define his future.
It came as a shock to many when Hardwick said a few weeks ago that Richmond might have to take a step or two back before going forward again, but it’s clear now that it’s going to happen whether they want to or not.
Bill Murray ended up getting his happy ending in Groundhog Day. Tiger fans are still waiting for theirs. Unfortunately, it’s still going to be a long time coming.