In the lead-up to his 300th game as Richmond’s coach, against Collingwood at the MCG tonight, Damien Hardwick has spoken about what the major milestone means to him.
“It is a great honour, especially to be a part of this great club . . . It’s a reward for everyone in our organisation, really,” Hardwick said.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate to work with some great people, work with some great players, and it is a pleasure to come to work every day, to sit there and think about the bravery I think that Peggy (O’Neal) and Brendon (Gale) showed when things weren’t going so well in 2016.
“I’m forever indebted to those people, in particular, but I think it’s a measure of a successful organisation.
“They back their people in, and I’m very fortunate to be a part of it.”
Hardwick also revealed a key factor in his coaching longevity at Tigerland.
“Part of my challenge, and part of the challenge of coaching full stop, is you’re cooking the sausages in a different way, to use an Allan Jeans analogy there,” Hardwick said.
“And one of the things I pride not only myself on, but our club does, is consistently improving in certain facets of our development.
“The reality is, as soon as I stop improving, that’s probably the time that I leave.
“That’s a challenge that everyone in our footy club is charged with, and I think that’s something, without patting myself on the back, I do reasonably well.
“I’ve just patted myself on the back and that is very much unlike me.”
