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Richmond Tigers’ coach Damien Hardwick doesn’t have the easiest of jobs – coaching an AFL team notorious for its inability to play finals football.
But recently the embattled coach has been under more scrutiny than normal, and it’s easy to see why.
The Tigers have won a mere seven games this season, with only one coming against a current top-eight team. Richmond defeated the Sydney Swans by a single-point back in May.
Richmond are on the back of two heavy defeats, going down to the Hawks by 60, and backing it up with a resounding eight-eight point loss at the hands of newcomers Greater Western Sydney.
Hardwick insists it isn’t time for fans to start panicking, putting the loss down to the superior skill of their opposition.
“You look at their talent across the board, it’s superior… It’s great for GWS… they’re just bloody good,” said Hardwick following Saturday afternoon’s clash with the Giants.
Unfortunately for Hardwick, it won’t get any easier, with a run home that includes Collingwood, Geelong, St Kilda and Sydney.
“We still want to win as many games as we can, but it’s looking less likely at the moment,” said Hardwick.
Looking to the future, Hardwick admitted that even with healthy roster the club are “still off”, announcing that Richmond would be “openly recruiting” new players come offseason.
Given the Tigers strong finishes in recent times, making three-consecutive finals appearances, and with the addition of former Carlton defender Chris Yarran, many fans are shocked to see their beloved Tigers dwelling away in 13th position, with no chance of making the finals in 2016.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale reiterating the club’s disappointment. “It’s been a disappointing year… we haven’t played well. We would have expected to have been thereabouts (in finals contention) this year and we clearly haven’t”.
The Tigers are staring down the barrel of their worst finish since 2010, Hardwick’s first season as coach, where they finished in fifteenth place with a meagre six-victories.
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