It was a Thursday night selection which barely rated a mention. Yet, it proved the change which created a dynasty and set Damien Hardwick on the path to becoming a Richmond great.
Round 11, 2017 vs North Melbourne – In: D Butler, Out: T Elton (omitted).
In reality it was among the most telling.
There wasn’t the Cinderella boldness of a grand final debutant ala Marlion Pickett in 2019.
But there was the abandonment of plans to play a second key forward slash ruckman next to Jack Riewoldt.
Ben Griffiths (who played the first two games before concussion battles) and Elton had produced one goal from their eight combined matches as Riewoldt’s co-pilot and Hardwick had finally given up on a traditional structure.
Kane Lambert goals against North Melbourne in round 11, 2017.
The next best player came in and he just happened to be a small forward, delivering a 1-5 set up – Riewoldt surrounded by five buzzing smalls who piled on pressure.
Forwards coach Justin Leppitsch had loved that structure through the pre-season and by mid-season it became their improvised premiership blueprint.
Hardwick was asked about the scores from turnovers after his Tigers kicked nine of the last 11 goals to blow the Kangaroos away by 35 points in round 11.
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Did the coach put it down to his team’s pressure? Or was it simply the opposition’s poor skill execution?
“It’s an interesting one, perceived pressure,” Hardwick answered.
“We’re the AFL No. 1 for (creating) forward-half turnovers. Sometimes your reputation probably precedes you.
“When you’ve got guys like Rioli, Bolton, Castagna and Butler knowing they’re coming, I think sometimes it puts a bit of pressure on the opposition to probably get rid of it half a step earlier.”
Dan Butler was a key part of Damien Hardwick’s early flag success. Picture: Michael Klein
Then came the quote that aged like cabernet sauvignon: “You think what guys like Rioli and Butler and Castagna and Bolton are going to be like in two to three years. It’s pretty exciting for our footy club”.
When Hardwick spoke Bolton was 18 and had just played his third game while Butler (nine games) and Castagna (16) were hardly household names.
The premiership version of Hardwick would probably have described that Roos win as looking like a “Richmond game” … but in 2017 the AFL world was still learning what a Richmond game was.
Trent Dumont under pressure from Dion Prestia and Dan Butler.
Turns out it was speed up forward, oodles of defensive run and a stalking mentality, although there were plenty of doubters on the 2017 structure.
“You need more than one marking target — you’re never going to get the job done with just one bloke like Jack Riewoldt and five smalls,” Tim Watson said on SEN in the second half of the season.
“I really believe that they’ll go away and say as good as our small forwards are, as quick as they are, as much pressure as they apply, when they get tired and we need to kick the ball long down the line and we’ve only go Jack Riewoldt there.
“The opposition know you’ve only got Jack Riewoldt there — that is not going to get the job done at the business end of the season.”
But in the grand final that season the Tigers led Adelaide 18-8 in forward 50 tackles – an area Richmond ranked No. 1 for all season – and outscored the Crows 53-23 from front-half intercepts.
Richmond’s September goalkicking ladder read Dustin Martin, Jacob Townsend (five), Butler, Riewoldt, Rioli, Josh Caddy (four) and Castagna, Kane Lambert and Jack Graham (three).
Shaun Grigg, standing all of 190cm, was their second ruckman and despite losing hit-outs to advantage 21-6 the Tigers won clearances 43-38.
Hardwick had changed the game. He was Collingwood before Craig McRae’s version of this Collingwood.
In 2019 the Tigers played two rucks and two key forwards — Ivan Soldo, Toby Nankervis and Riewoldt and Tom Lynch — but pressure and turnovers remained their one-wood.
Controlled kick-and-catch ball movement would soon die out as chaos, running power and pressure became kings of the modern game.
Trent Cotchin launches the Tigers forward against North Melbourne.
THE MASTERMIND
Hardwick’s ability to reverse home-and-away results against key rivals come finals in his three premiership seasons was revered.
The former accountant and bank teller turned storyteller inside the walls at Punt Rd was adept at engineering different outcomes.
In 2017 Richmond lost to Geelong (14 points), GWS (three points) and Adelaide (76 points) the first time they played.
“You generally learn more from your losses, and we learnt a significant amount that night,” Hardwick said of the April annihilation at Adelaide Oval.
In the finals the Tiger smacked all three – beating the Cats by 51, the Giants by 36 and the Crows by 48.
With Rory Sloane dominating the 2017 grand final, and his opponent Dion Prestia, it was Hardwick who made a decisive move after Sloane’s second goal.
Damien Hardwick was renowned for his tactical nous. Picture: Sarah Reed
“We sort of had two wins,” Hardwick said post-game.
“Dion became a really important player for us and Jack (Graham) quelled one of the best players on the ground at that stage.”
In 2019 the Tigers lost to the Cats (67 points) and Giants (49 points) in the regular season – but rebounded to beat those clubs in the preliminary final (19 points) and grand final (89 points) respectively.
In 2020 the Tigers lost to St Kilda (26 points) and Port Adelaide (21 points) before reversing those results in the semi-final and preliminary final.
Hardwick noted Port’s inside dominance – the Tigers lost contested ball by 43 and inside 50s by 31 – cruelled them in the regular season.
On preliminary final night a midfield coached by Adam Kingsley won those counts by six and 14 as the Tigers won the match by six points.
Then, there was the famous fightback in the second half of the Gabba grand final in 2020. Hardwick’s stirring speech will live forever in Richmond folklore.
Damien Hardwick before the match against North Melbourne which changed Richmond’s fortunes.
THE 2016 ICEBERG THEORY
Collingwood coach Craig McRae – who joined Richmond in 2016 – was in awe of Hardwick that season.
“His ability just to back himself in and make strong decisions and play young players at the backend of 2016 showed a lot of courage,” McRae said.
“He copped a lot of flak for that.”
The Tigers used 41 players, the most in the AFL, as the likes of Connor Menadue, Corey Ellis, Oleg Markov, Nathan Drummond, Liam McBean, Ben Lennon, Adam Marcon, Callum Moore, Mabior Chol, Castagna, Griffiths and Elton featured late.
Hardwick’s job was on the line — yet he wanted to know who would sink or swim from his list.
Two quotes from deep in that diabolical season rise above the rest.
“People only see the top of the iceberg, they only see the 22 players we put out there on a weekly basis,” Hardwick said when the finals hopes dissolved.
“They don’t see what’s under the water, and we’re really excited about the prospect of some of these young kids coming through.
“Our last two drafts we’ve been really pleased with.”
Hardwick knew Dion Prestia and Toby Nankervis would request trades and the likes of Nathan Broad, Kane Lambert, Jayden Short and Ivan Soldo were future stars.
Dion Prestia was lured back to Victoria to lead the Tigers midfield.
So he set headlines with this declaration on Fox Footy’s On The Couch: “I personally think it will be a quick bounce. The potential I see in the players … I think we will be playing finals next year”.
The Herald Sun asked Hardwick about his iceberg analogy minutes after the 2017 premiership.
“I knew we had some talent down there that wasn’t quite ready,” he said with a grin.
“There’s a guy by the name of Francis Jackson that probably doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves.
“He’s been an incredible support to me, he drafted all these kids working in conjunction with Blair and Matthew Clarke.
“A coach is only as good as the talent that he has, and he built the list.”