Born 18th of August 1972 Damien Patrick Hardwick was drafted in the 1992 national draft 87th overall from Springvale. He began playing with Essendon in 1994 where he played 153 games, he won the Essendon’s best and fairest the W.S. Crichton medal in 1998, was part of the 2000 premiership side as well as All Australian in 2000.
In 2000 and 2001 he played in the international rules series against Ireland. In 2002 he was traded to Port Adelaide where he played a further 54 games and had played his part in the grand final win over Brisbane for the 2004 premiership flag.
Dimma started his coaching career with Hawthorn in 2005 as an assistant and was involved in the 2008 premiership winning team. He was shortlisted for the Melbourne position which saw the appointment of Dean Bailey, he was also shortlisted for the Essendon position which saw the appointment of Mathew Knights (former Richmond Captain). On August 25th 2009 he was appointed head coach of the Richmond football club and given the uphill task of rejuvenating our once great club.
In 2010 the Tigers were accused of fielding the worst team AFL history, with a great deal of youth and inexperience. Dimma had a vision for the Tigers and a playing style reminiscent of the Hawks (of whom we have just flogged) which has been his trademark as a coach. It took until round 10 of 2010 for Dimma to knock up his first senior coaching win over Port Adelaide in a wet and hard contested affair.
2011 saw the Tigers improve and become more competitive but we were still copping a walloping from the very good sides. Through drafting and trading the club has built a strong list, with the inclusions of Ivan Maric, Shaun Grigg and Bachar Houli, players all chosen for their ability to play the style Damien Hardwick had envisioned.
In 2012 we have become more consistent and extremely competitive and after round 9 no-one is questioning our credentials as side that can will make a tilt at a flag in the next couple of years and maybe play finals this year. It has been an up and down season with flag favourites hard to pick but our boys are playing some exciting footy and Dimma has risen his profile in coaching circles as an up and comer.
In any management term it is far easier to take over a winning team and keep winning than to build from the ground up and make it successful. Dimma is in the process of accomplishing just that, rebranding the Tigers a tough team and waking the sleeping giant.
It’s worth mentioning that Dimma has won a premiership in every team he has been in and we are certainly hoping that trend continues. Dimma on behalf of all Tiger fans thankyou and we love your work. After the win against the Hawks we will probably go in as favourites for this week’s game against the Saints. In keeping with our current form I know the boys will be tough this week and have a fair crack, so as always GO TIGERS
