Symbolic that 12 months ago many of us were still struggling to give dimma his full credit.
No longer the case.
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Hardwick
- Thread starter zippadeee
- Start date
No longer the case.
The biggest element of the game plan is the total buy in of all players and coaches. We have that now but it took some time for everyone to believe.
Agree, and I remember Dimma stating that we have a good game plan but not executing properly (in someway like that) and in which most of us (including me) didn't believe.
**Just noticed Baloo posted the same thoughts earlier but I’ll leave it here anyway in support**
I thought this too but that RD2 2016 game against Collingwood we were trying the fast ball movement we’re known for today. Incorrect mindset and cattle meant we got little reward and lots of scores against so we reverted. Unless Caracalla bought the cultural shift I reckon we’ve been selling Dimma short. There’s been glimpses at other times too the parts didn’t click until 2017.
Back then i just don't think we were defensively strong, in a sense we were one of the easiest teams to play against. So when we turned it over, it was a procession all the way back to the opposition goal, which incidentally usually wasn't very d\far as we'd be chipping it backwards almost all the way there before stuffing it up.
I distinctly remember watching the Dogs during the 2016 finals campaign and said to my brother "Imagine barracking for a team that has a crack like this"!
In a few months time we were actually watching our own side apply that sort of pressure plus some. We were winning our pre-season games (fell just short against the Pies) but we were playing full strength line ups against the opposition so it wasn't easy to gauge. Season starts and we're winning and i'm wondering "are we up earlier than everyone else"?
Round 6 or 7 we were still looking good, but we were playing completely differently, so the question was just how far we could take it.
Watchnig Cotchin is like watching the Richmnond DNA.
Champion Data would rate him probably an average mid because of their reliance on stats, but if you could pick from the whoel AFL pool and wnted to pick a side to win a flag, he'd be close to first picked.
Think back at our big finals and pretty much every single one of them has a Cotchin tackle at a crucial time. Not just a tackle at a crucial time though, but a STATEMEMT tackle, When you see that, as a Richmond supporter you know everything is good in the world.
You also realise how little the footy scribes actually know about the game.
Good posts Frickenel. This I think is the point, it is about giving the players the security to have a go and the space to stuff up sometimes.
But it only works with total buy in, with a game plan which recognises the particular strengths and weaknesses of the playing group and is designed with this in mind, and with a bloody well set up and talented back line which can handle the pressure when the inevitable mistake happens.
There will be times when it doesn't work: 1st half of the Prelim, first quarter against West Coast. But with total buy in there is always a way back, probably never more the case than in that VFL Final against Essendon where our seconds managed to win from so far back. It won't work every game, but it will work a lot of the time and it makes it very hard to put us away.
Dimma's transformation has been amazing. He had the brains and the guts to realise what he was doing wasn't working and to change it. The players were clearly ready for a change of tack given how fast they managed to implement the new game. What a tough decision for the club after 2016, very difficult to know the best way forward, glad they saw what Dimma could be rather than give up on him.
DS
But it only works with total buy in, with a game plan which recognises the particular strengths and weaknesses of the playing group and is designed with this in mind, and with a bloody well set up and talented back line which can handle the pressure when the inevitable mistake happens.
There will be times when it doesn't work: 1st half of the Prelim, first quarter against West Coast. But with total buy in there is always a way back, probably never more the case than in that VFL Final against Essendon where our seconds managed to win from so far back. It won't work every game, but it will work a lot of the time and it makes it very hard to put us away.
Dimma's transformation has been amazing. He had the brains and the guts to realise what he was doing wasn't working and to change it. The players were clearly ready for a change of tack given how fast they managed to implement the new game. What a tough decision for the club after 2016, very difficult to know the best way forward, glad they saw what Dimma could be rather than give up on him.
DS
The comments Benny Gale made about the media not giving Dimma the accolades he deserves are right on the money too.
He's a dual premiership coach FFS
Clarko as good as he is had the advantage of compromised drafts holding opposition tend back from catching up.
Hardwick on the other hand was the coach on the other end of the compromised drafts because at that time while on the bottom, instead of getting pick 1 we were getting pick 8.
Agree Hodge would be a ripper assistant, or maybe even Clarko, you know, just to round out his coaching education under Dimmer
I recall in 2017 when we lost 4 or 5 in a row many were lamenting Hardwick pulling the handbrake when we got in front and protecting a lead rather than going for the throat.
In Konrad Marshall's book for that year, he sat in the box in the Melbourne game and I recall reading in the book that Dimma was getting frustrated in the Melbourne game with the players kicking sideways and backwards when that wasn't the plan. However, the view from the outer was it was under Hardwick's instruction...an example of pulling the handbrake.
It confirmed that what you see out on the ground isn't always at the specific direction of the coach. Marshall also made that reference during the book.
Thankfully something clicked midway through that year.
In Konrad Marshall's book for that year, he sat in the box in the Melbourne game and I recall reading in the book that Dimma was getting frustrated in the Melbourne game with the players kicking sideways and backwards when that wasn't the plan. However, the view from the outer was it was under Hardwick's instruction...an example of pulling the handbrake.
It confirmed that what you see out on the ground isn't always at the specific direction of the coach. Marshall also made that reference during the book.
Thankfully something clicked midway through that year.
What clicked was belief. For this to all work you need everyone believing, everyone trusting one another, and everyone turning up to help when it is their turn to help. Some will get it quickly other will take some time and still others have the old system engrained in them and need to readjust
Late in the 2017 it all came together. Earlier we had lost a few games by less than 2 goals. Then after the Saint Kilda game we won 9 of 10 with an average winning margin of 40, including three 100 point turn arounds from early in the season against Saints Fremantle and ultimately Adelaide
Neil Balme arrived and pointed the ship in the right direction - all Dimma needed - let's keep the winning going!
Yeah, apparently Beavis was the handbrake to Blake's throttle. Anyone that thought different had no idea of football or was just a fanboi that would ensure we'd always be mediocre.
Not just accolades for being a dual premiership coach, but he should get accolades for making the changes, building the culture and being so much more honest in press conferences and the like.
He is an interesting character Dimma, certainly very smart but that sometimes needs help too, but you also need to be smart enough to know when help is required.
DS
Exactly, I had the expericne of s
Dimma has often said, give me better players & I will be a better coachIt's quite uncanny how the exact moment we realised he could coach was when Dustin had the greatest season of all time.
It's quite uncanny how the exact moment we realised he could coach was when Dustin had the greatest season of all time.
A lot of things fell into place that year , but I think Dimma giving the players the freedom to express themselves on and off the field had a lot to do with it ,
He found his own coaching style that the players responded to , instead of probably mimicking others that he had worked under .
Not to criticise too harshly but Dimma said himself yesterday that he hasn't done a great job against team's that have played a 7th man behind the ball.
Teams are effectively employing that game plan against us & it's on him & his coaching team to rectify it.
No point complaining about the look of the game when we're the team that's been directly involved in so many ugly scrappy games of footy this season.
Teams are starting to counter what's worked for us in the past. Of course they're going to employ tactics that work. Heck we've played our defence that way for quite a few successful seasons now.
We need to move on it & find ways to counter it..
Teams are effectively employing that game plan against us & it's on him & his coaching team to rectify it.
No point complaining about the look of the game when we're the team that's been directly involved in so many ugly scrappy games of footy this season.
Teams are starting to counter what's worked for us in the past. Of course they're going to employ tactics that work. Heck we've played our defence that way for quite a few successful seasons now.
We need to move on it & find ways to counter it..
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Very true TOO. But Hardwick isnt also going to expose the team to get scored on either. Hence why yesterday we too held our structure. He knew (as mentioned in his presser) that we were in no danger of losing that game.
Teams can employ those tactics against us. But in reality they wont be winning too many games.
This only becomes an issue when teams score heavily against us early and then park the bus. Just like in the Hawthorn game. Thats when he needs plan B - which like you said, he hasnt found one.
