Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale says besieged coach Damien Hardwick will remain at Punt Road next year despite admitting the Tigers are playing without belief.
Gale came out and publicly backed the under-fire coach following Saturday’s disastrous 88-point loss to Greater Western Sydney in Canberra in which Hardwick’s side managed just three goals.
“Damien has a contract, he’ll be the coach next year,” Gale told 3AW on Sunday.
“He’s been a strong coach for our football club and I think there’s some considerable learnings out of this year and I think he’ll be better for it.
“I don’t look at the game (against GWS) in isolation … it’s been a disappointing year.
“I really think probably from the opening bounce of round one we haven’t played well and that’s disappointing.”
Hardwick signed a two-year contract extension earlier this year that ties him to the club until the end of the 2018 season.
Richmond have bowed out at the elimination final stage of the past three seasons, their last finals win was back in 2001, and they sit 13th on the ladder with a 7-11 record after round 19.
Gale assured fans those at the club aren’t sitting on their hands and just accepting recent results, with all facets of performance at the club were being reviewed on an ongoing basis.
But he agreed that the listless performance against the Giants didn’t look great.
“Our guys look as though they’re playing without belief at the moment and I think they’ve looked like that for a while,” he said of the loss that followed a 70-point thumping at the hands of Hawthorn.
“They’ve played finals the last three years and that’s where they see themselves and I think when it reached a point when that was probably not going to happen they lost a bit of belief.”
Gale admitted the club has encountered “head winds” and “speed humps” as it has tried to improve its playing list during a period when expansion clubs GWS and Gold Coast have dominated the national draft.
But he dismissed the notion that the Tigers need to embark on a complete rebuild of their playing stocks.
“It’s an overused word, it’s very simplistic,” he replied when asked if a rebuild was required.
“List development is a continuum – there’s no start, there’s no end (and) there’s no complete rebuild, start again.
“I’m confident with where our list is at.”
mattyb
Guest
I agree Wilson,if Silvagni goes back for GWS players we will need to see if these players are as good as he thought the first time round and we will need to see how good this year's crop is that he may choose to ignore. Moving away from only Carlton I think some of the other other big clubs face similar problems with similar issues and may need a new more modern approach. Players from other clubs certainly has its place but maybe more as a top up with good youth not the other way around. I think Hawthorn and Sydney have the formula about right and their success in some ways shows that.
Wilson
Roar Guru
can see where you are coming from on that but I think so far Silvagni has done well with what he has done so far at the Trade table and the Draft Picks and it will take time before we can see if his recruiting is failed or if he is a genius or some where in the middle.
mattyb
Guest
Wilson,berrlins,hello. I should have also added Buckley but there is nothing against Silvagni. I just think all the so called big Victorian clubs need to do away with the jobs for the boys mentality and get in some fresh outside people. Richmond and Carlton are very poor and with their large supporter base I've been saying for some time that I think these clubs now aim more to be competitive rather than successful to draw in the members,you can see this in their low risk,low reward recruiting and getting average ready to go players rather than grooming and developing genuine youth,Richmond virtually admitted this earlier in the season. And let's be honest but fair to Silvagni so far. He is yet to prove he is a good recruiter and hasnt landed any unseen gems. At GWS he had many concessions to help him get a good list together and at Carlton he has used his top picks to get some obvious players and used the others to get players from other clubs,hardly groundbreaking. Carlton have a poor AFL history both on and off the field and some of their old boys have played a large part in this. Sure it's tough on Silvagni,I know this but it's a tough industry and some of these big clubs need a new approach and old boys don't exactly help with this. McKay and Gleeson must equally be moved on.
berrlins
Roar Pro
what's the knock on Silvagni Mattyb? I'm not going to say he's a revelation but he did some half decent deals for Carlton in his first off season and he's helped Draft the current GWS side which is second on the ladder. He'll go alright for the lads at Carlton
Wilson
Roar Guru
I think that is a bit Harsh on Silvagni as he only got back to the Blues last year.
mattyb
Guest
Gale is the one who does need to go. Possibly Hardwick as well but there isn't enough talk of moving Gale on. All the so called big Victorian clubs are underperforming and need a shake up. Gale needs to go from Richmond,McGuire from Collingwood and Silvagni,McKay and Gleeson from the Blues. These clubs are often blaming coaches when there are bigger problems at play.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
^^^
gameofmarks
Roar Guru
If Hardwick stays then Gale should go for giving him a two year extension on his contract so early in the season when there was no reason to do so!.
Tim
Guest
Hardwick gone with Ross Lyon the shock new announcement as Tiges head coach after he does to Freo what he did to StKilda At his first press conference, he talks of the new 5 year plan for Richmond.....( I can see Cam Rose tossing and turning in his sleep at the mere mention )
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
So I guess that means he's gone then.