Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is embracing Friday night’s clash with reigning triple premier Hawthorn at the MCG, notwithstanding the magnitude of the assignment confronting the Tigers.

They go into the match low on self-belief after five consecutive losses, minus the services of injured skipper Trent Cotchin and suspended key defender Alex Rance, and with the Hawks expected to be in a savage mood following their 75-point mauling at the hands of Greater Western Sydney last Saturday.

Hardwick, however, is well and truly up for the challenge.

“It’s one of the great things about coaching . . . you’ve got to consistently try and reinvigorate your group to get them to believe.  We’ve been doing that for a number of weeks,” Hardwick said on 3AW.

“They’re obviously a formidable outfit, Hawthorn . . . The positive for us is we’ve beaten this side before. 

“The great thing is we get an opportunity to reinvigorate ourselves on a Friday night. 

“The best thing about having a bad loss on the weekend, is being able to climb back on that horse straight away on Friday. 

“So, we’ll be instilling as much confidence and belief into our players as we can.  But a lot of it stems from the fundamentals of our game . . .  Those haven’t changed for a hundred years – winning the ball, being clean with the ball, and nailing tackles. 

“We think if we get those things right, we’ll be okay . . . 

“Over the last two weeks, we’ve been in games – a couple of goals off going into the last quarter . . .  Just the fundamentals of our game have let us down horribly.  So, we’ll consistently train them.

“Once we get those things right, then the confidence will build and we’ll be able to get our offensive game, and defensive fundamentals, back on track.”