Newly appointed Richmond coach Damien Hardwick arguably has one of the toughest jobs in the AFL – to turn around the fortunes of a club that has a proud history but, in recent times, has failed to deliver happiness to their long suffering supporters.
The Richmond job comes with many a challenge for a first time senior coach in Hardwick, but the rewards are immense if success can be achieved for a club desperate for glory after nearly three decades with very little joy for their large supporter base.
Former captains Kane Johnson and Joel Bowden have both announced their retirements from the game earlier in the year.
Also, prior to Friday nights humiliating display against West Coast in Perth, which saw the Tigers slump to an 80 point loss, the club announced that Nathan Brown and Mark Coughlan would not be retained on their list next year, possibly spelling out the end for the pair.
This appears to be the first move of the Hardwick era at the club and a sign of what is to come from the two-time premiership player.
Hardwick would love to have a mass cull now that another horrendous season has come to a close. However, one cannot change the entire playing list and he will be limited in how many players he can delist in the coming weeks.
The future of Ben Cousins and Matthew Richardson has also come up for great discussion since the Hardwick news broke last week. It would make sense on both a football front and a business front to keep the two stars of the game at the club.
Both possess a great deal of experience – Cousins (253 games) and Richardson (282) – and no doubt boost membership at the club greatly.
Cousins has arguably had the best year you would want out of him after two years out of the game. His second half of the season has been wonderful and proved he can still match it with the best in the league at times.
As for Richardson, a 2009 season decimated by injury shouldn’t take away from the fact that everyone was talking up his Brownlow medal chances at the start of the season after a wonderful 2008 campaign. The question remains however – how will his body will stand up to another year of senior footy?
Injuries to midfielders Trent Cotchin and Nathan Foley badly affected the Tigers side somewhat short of talent at present.
Youngsters such as Robin Nahas, Jack Riewoldt, Alex Rance, Dean Polo, Mitch Morton, Shane Edwards and Jayden Post have all shown they have ability and would still be a part of the regeneration of the on field fortunes of the footy club.
Players such as Brett Deledio, Shane Tuck, Kelvin Moore and Richard Tambling, who has been in great touch in the last 6 weeks, have now been around the club for while and need to continue their development with strong preseasons as they are pivotal to the side under the Hardwick stewardship.
There would however be more than a few nervous players at Punt Road this week as Hardwick wields the axe with players such as Troy Simmonds, Jake King, Cleve Hughes, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Kane Pettifer, Jay Schulz and Jordan McMahon all possibly deemed surplus to demands by the new coach.
Players such as King, Schulz and McMahon do however still have one year remaining on their contracts and trades would appear the only option but who be interesting in taking them?
One rumor is that St Kilda are looking at taking McMahon in the trade period similar to the way they took Farren Ray after last season. Few would argue that he has had an impact at the Saints and changed his career for the better.
The Tigers faithful are desperate for a sign of improvement from a side that promised so much particularly at the start of the ’09 season where some were talking up the Tigers premiership credentials. However, once again like so many seasons in the past, they have failed to deliver.
Hardwick needs to develop a winning culture for the yellow and black.
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