Hardwick laments unintelligent Tigers

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick accused the Tigers of playing unintelligent football after Friday night’s last-gasp one-point loss to Collingwood.

A sloppy, error-riddled match culminated in a frantic finale, in which Magpies’ ruckman Brodie Grundy kicked the game-winning goal with just four seconds left on the clock.

Despite losing Dylan Grimes to a hamstring injury in the first quarter and kicking a wasteful 1.6 in the second, Richmond had their noses in front at every change and led by 17 points late in the game before losing their grip on the contest – partly through Collingwood’s play and partly because of their own mistakes.

“You can be in front for a period of time, but unfortunately (when) you probably beat yourself with smarts, it’s really disappointing. I thought we played some really unintelligent footy towards the end,” Hardwick said.

“The players know better, we just didn’t make the right decisions at the right time.

“It’s easy to individualise, but we should’ve been better in that situation.

“We missed gettable shots on goal, we leave the door open and good sides bounce back and take the four points from you.”

Young Pie Darcy Moore set up Grundy’s winner with a long ball from out near the 50m arc after a deliberate out-of-bounds call paid against Nick Vlastuin.

Hardwick had no problem with the umpire’s call in that instance, but took issue with his players’ response.

“I would have thought we’d have spoiled the ball through, but credit where it’s due,” he said.

“It was a smart kick from Moore – we probably thought it was going to be that type of kick, but they just got the better of the contest.

“We just wanted to get that ball through for a point or a long spoil, but got neither.”

Hardwick admitted Grimes would likely join Brett Deledio, Ivan Maric and Shaun Edwards on the sidelines for next week’s clash against Adelaide, but was hopeful it wouldn’t prove a major issue.

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