Damien Hardwick laughed off the suggestion it was his “I told you so” second.
But the glint within the Richmond coach’s eye advised he loved silencing the critics – not less than briefly – with a 24-point upset of Geelong on Friday evening.
A second-straight win improved the Tigers’ document to 3-1-5 after a horror begin to the season had critics calling an finish to their premiership period.
“I’ve certainly got a lot of belief and I think the playing group is starting to feel that little heartbeat coming back,” Hardwick mentioned post-match.
“It looked Richmond-like – dirty goals, the way we got the ball to ground and the way we charged in.
“There was a little bit of play within the final quarter when the ball was on the goalline and there is our bodies flying in every single place – that is a Richmond recreation.
“That’s what the fabric of our footy club has been built on for a number of years and we’re starting to see that come back in our playing group.”
Former Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, whose worth to the staff has been questioned this 12 months, stepped up with three targets towards the Cats.
Fellow thirty-something Dustin Martin booted 4 in his greatest return of the season to this point.
But it was a pair of teammates on the different finish who arguably performed crucial roles.
Noah Balta recovered from a poor begin, wherein he gave up two early targets to Tom Hawkins, to play a vital position on the Cats’ spearhead.
And Nathan Broad claimed one other scalp when he restricted Coleman Medal chief Jeremy Cameron to at least one late objective when the sport was already over.
“Some of the things (Balta) does in the contest, just incredible,” Hardwick mentioned.
“Those two guys (Balta and Hawkins), if you look at them, they’re both big, strong men and the battles that they have are incredible.
“And I believed Broady did a beautiful job on Cameron.
“It’s funny, whilst in our four walls he’s really highly regarded, he probably doesn’t get the respect outside that.”
The solely bitter word for Richmond was Jacob Hopper’s calf harm, which led to the midfielder being substituted out of the sport through the third quarter.
Hopper will bear scans on Saturday.
“He’ll miss some time. I’m not sure how long but hopefully it’s not too serious,” Hardwick mentioned.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
