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Damien Hardwick
- Thread starter Tigers of Old
- Start date
I'm currently identifying as Trans-fat.
My pronoun is everywhere.
Almost blissfully-timed
I would have preferred that he left after the end of a season so a new coach could run a pre season and have involvement in trading and drafting.
I understand that Dimma may not have been at the stage to make that decision at the end of 2022 but that certainly would have been better for everyone.
Dimma was “ tapped on the shoulder “ after the Dreamtime Game you will find
Why ?
Tiges had gotten wind he wasn’t going to be at punt rd in 2024 and was caught out meeting with Port during Gather Round ( round 5)
4 weeks later he was gone
Good job by RFC to move him on , as heart and mind elsewhere
I think it's all of the above. Burnt out, run out of sausage recipes, and had one eyeball on a possible future gig.
This. Hardwick will forever be remembered as the bloke who got us to the glory land.
But in hindsight his time was up. Players were flat. He pigeon holed his stars. No coincidence Martin is playing with a sense of freedom now that he came roam between centre square and the forward 50. Cotchin the same.
Hardwick was pretty clear in his presser. He had flipped the snags so many times that he couldn't find another way to flip them. But that relates purely to the BBQ (RFC) and snags(players) he was on.
New BBQ, new snags, new utensils, better BBQ weather, and the AFL guaranteeing that he gets as much fire as he needs, he'll happily be the Tong Master again.
New BBQ, new snags, new utensils, better BBQ weather, and the AFL guaranteeing that he gets as much fire as he needs, he'll happily be the Tong Master again.
Don't know about that, he was sitting right behind Dimma at The Champ's 300th ((13minutes in after the King goal).
And a better run from the umpires? That would swing it on it’s own.
Pretty sure that pay out cap was only introduced for the clubs that are getting massive AFL financial support as there was a freight train of coach payouts by pathetic managers who would then run to the AFL for more funding to save them. Clubs that are self sufficient such as Tiges, Colonwood, Weagles etc aren't forced into the payout restriction.
Never had an issue with it. Tommy was a Tiger legend plain and simple. We were stupid enough to sack him and the bloke was entitled to earn a living so he went and coached elsewhere.
Coaching footy is a fairly short term industry with a very restricted market for new opportunities.
Dimma gave us all he could while he was at Tiger land and that included our drought breaker and threesome. Don't give a stuff where he goes to coach next, he'll always be a Tiger legend, same as Tommy. If he does happen to win another flag elsewhere good luck to him, just hope it's not by trampling over the Tigers during the finals series to get there.
Its fair to remember that its hugely tribal for us lot, but for players/coaches/admin its a job. Long hours and high pressure.
I guess the lucky ones still keep the fun and wonder of it. Dimma seems mostly to have it.
He didnt want to work at RFC anymore.
Fair enough.
Doesnt mean he cant cheer the side, read our news, buy his kids memberships and jumpers, have a spot in the middle of his heart for us.
Can he go get a new job? Why the sausage not?
I guess the lucky ones still keep the fun and wonder of it. Dimma seems mostly to have it.
He didnt want to work at RFC anymore.
Fair enough.
Doesnt mean he cant cheer the side, read our news, buy his kids memberships and jumpers, have a spot in the middle of his heart for us.
Can he go get a new job? Why the sausage not?
We probably were stupid sacking Tommy but it wasn’t cut and dried. Tommy’s type of coaching had a use by date, Tommy’s teams were the fittest and fiercest but they weren't sophisticated. We did actually have a bit of a bump in 1977 after he left, following a poor 1976.
That being said he may have left a touch early and of course the next year he nearly pulled off one of the greatest coaching feats of all time when he took Collingwood from wooden spooner to beaten grand finalist in a season.
I’ll always be grateful for what Tommy did for the tigers as I will be with Dimma.
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Sacking aside, going by his coaching style wearing out, I suppose most Tiger supporters had some angst seeing Tommy carry the Scum to 5 GFs from 1977 - 1981, luckily losing all 4 (1 drawn), while we only got into 1 in that 5 year period but won it. Imagine if this was the other way round.
Didn’t matter to me if it was Tommy or not, I couldn’t detest Collingwood any more no matter who the coach was.
I don’t remember but i am sure there was a bit of “what if” in 77-79 especially from the supporters.
I'm barely older than you and remember it well.
I was astounded when we pushed 4 time premiership coach Tommy out the door. Still reckon that was the moment the rot set in, just took a while to really mess us up.
When Hafey took Collingwood from the wooden spoon to the closest you can get to a flag without winning one, it took 2 Grand Finals to get rid of them, it just vindicated that we should have kept Hafey. Yes, his coaching was starting to look a bit out-dated, but the results at Collingwood were a testament to how good he was, and we should have kept him. He was smart enough to adapt to change, and in any case, the fundamentals of being fit and play hard still work. People used to criticise Hafey for not moving players, but he always said they needed to beat their man and he wasn't going to give them the opportunity to get moved away from an opponent who was beating them. It was a conscious decision rather than a lack of strategy.
Can't say I remember having any animosity towards Hafey when he went elsewhere.
Always a Richmond man for mine, remains our most successful coach with 4 flags.
DS
