Copping a beating from Adelaide provided the genesis for Richmond’s AFL grand final appearance, Tiger coach Damien Hardwick says.
The Crows hammered Richmond by 76 points in a round six encounter – the only meeting of the clubs before Saturday’s premiership decider at the MCG.
Hardwick says he learnt more from that loss than any of Richmond’s wins en route to the club’s first grand final since 1982.
“As an AFL coach, you probably learn most when you’re losing,” Hardwick said.
“It was disappointing, that game. The Crows played a fantastic brand of footy but we certainly learnt a lot about our side.”
Hardwick said he and his players rapidly took heed of the harsh lessons from that Adelaide Oval encounter, Richmond’s heaviest loss of the season.
“We got to work on a number of things,” he said
“We took a little bit of a step backwards after that game and tried to rectify a few things in our game we felt weren’t quite to the level.
“When you look at us back in round six to how we play at the moment, it’s chalk and cheese really.”
Adelaide coach Don Pyke dismissed any relevance of the round six match to the premiership decider.
“It’s fair to say both sides have evolved since the round six game,” Pyke said.
“Certainly, we learn week-in, week-out.
“We went from being after six rounds and 6-0, we got sat on our bums a bit the next week (in a loss) against North.
“So you learn as you go through. Both sides have learnt and adapted.”
Both coaches have played in premierships – Hardwick with Essendon in 2000 and Port Adelaide in 2004; Pyke with West Coast in 1992 and 1994.
But Hardwick noted coaching was completely different to playing.
“Don would probably say the same thing,” he said.
“As a coach, the harsh reality is you have got very little control on game day.
“As a player you feel like you can actually impact the contest.
“But … there’s nothing better as a coach seeing a group of players under your charge and the way they play the game.
“When it starts coming up to the game, you feel a little bit nervous – I go and look at my team board and I feel at ease, they play a great brand of footy.
“We’re playing the best side in the competition but we know if we play our best, we give ourselves a chance.”
