Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admits it’s been frustrating to hit form late in the season, but said he’s encouraged by the development of some emerging Tigers.
The Tigers will chase their fifth win in a row when they face Greater Western Sydney on Saturday at the MCG, a side they already met in Round 10 and managed a 113-point win over.
“We didn’t play anywhere near well enough at the start of the year. I think we went around at 3 [wins] and 10 [losses] in our first 13 games and it’s just not good enough,” Hardwick said.
“We’ve started to hit our straps a little bit now but we’ve still got some good sides we need to get over to make sure we continue that form. So we’re really disappointed where we’re at, more importantly we need to earn the respect back of our fans and supporters.”
Hardwick said a dramatic improvement in contested ball numbers, helped by the discovery of midfielder Anthony Miles, has been a big factor in the Richmond’s recent turnaround.
The improvement of David Astbury and form of Dustin Martin are more positives that Hardwick is taking from season 2014.
“David Astbury was probably winning our best and fairest before he went down. Dusty’s had an incredible season, Brandon Ellis has taken his game to the next level and we’ve found the young kid Miles, which is exciting for us,” he said.
“We’ve just got to continue to unearth these players, we’ve still got a couple of spots we need to fill to get better but we think we’ve got some players capable of taking us to the next level.”
Hardwick says that no matter where his side sits on the ladder, at any point in the season there is pressure and expectations on his players to perform at a high level, which he believes they must do if they are to continue their impressive form and finish the season strongly.
“We’ve got to make sure we continue to strive to win footy games. They’re all worth the same amount of points, we just need to make sure we get back on the winners list as much as we can.”
