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Operation Get Hardwick

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There’s no Hardwick riding in on a white horse to save us.
He’s mentally shot,that’s been pretty obvious in the last couple of weeks.
He will take a break from it all and end up on Friday night footy explaining to the brain dead like BT what’s really happening during the game.
Can’t see him coaching in Melbourne again or coming back to SA.
WA would be great for him as the media are very soft especially with The Eagles.
 
There’s no Hardwick riding in on a white horse to save us.
He’s mentally shot,that’s been pretty obvious in the last couple of weeks.
He will take a break from it all and end up on Friday night footy explaining to the brain dead like BT what’s really happening during the game.
Can’t see him coaching in Melbourne again or coming back to SA.
WA would be great for him as the media are very soft especially with The Eagles.
I don't see him coming here, but no one wants to coach in WA if they have options.
 
Possible Tiger coach - and Port????

JUSTIN LEPPITSCH
Could the triple premiership Lions defender return to Richmond’s coaching panel for a third time but this time as the man in charge? Leppitsch has experience leading his own team after coaching Brisbane from 2014 to 2016. Either side of that stint, he was an assistant coach at the Tigers. He played a key role in Richmond’s golden run of three flags in four years, with Hardwick lauding his teaching skills, as well his ability to challenge and innovate. Leppitsch is currently in his second year as an assistant at Collingwood, in charge of the team’s forward line after an impressive year as defensive coach in 2022. Leppitsch had interest from Carlton in 2021 before the Blues landed on Michael Voss.

NATHAN BUCKLEY
It’s been almost two years since Buckley and Collingwood parted ways mid-season, with the former coach slotting into media roles with Fox Footy and SEN radio with aplomb. But Richmond would have to ask Buckley if he was interested. A seven-time All-Australian and Collingwood legend, Buckley coached the Magpies for nine-and-a-half seasons, guiding the club to five finals appearances. He came mightily close to guiding the Magpies to the 2018 premiership, only to be pipped at the post by the Eagles in a heartbreaking five-point loss. The Pies also made it to a preliminary final in 2019 and the semis in 2020. The most impressive aspect of the back-end of Buckley’s coaching reign was his ability to swallow his pride and admit he needed to change the way he went about things. After two years, would Buckley be willing and keen to hop back into the, in his own words, “high-pressure” environment? The Tigers, at least, must find out.

ANDREW McQUALTER
Don’t underestimate this internal contender, who’s been Hardwick’s right-hand man for several years. After a 94-game playing career with Sydney and Gold Coast, McQualter in 2014 joined Richmond as a development coach before becoming a key assistant during the club’s premiership dynasty. McQualter made it to Carlton‘s shortlist of coaching candidates in 2021 before Michael Voss got the gig. The 36-year-old is set to take on the interim Tigers coaching role until season’s end. But David Teague and Rhyce Shaw were interim coaches that ultimately won the full-time roles at Carlton and North Melbourne respectively – and their stints lasted just 50 and 29 games respectively.

ADEM YZE
The next ‘Clarko lieutenant’ in line for a senior gig. And he’s been around the mark before. Yze, a former Melbourne star, came close to landing the Giants and Essendon jobs, but was ultimately pipped at the post by Adam Kingsley and Brad Scott respectively. He also missed out on the Crows position at the end of 2019 when Matthew Nicks was appointed. Yze thrived in multiple positions at Hawthorn over nine years before moving back to the Demons — the club he played 271 AFL games at — and playing a crucial role in their success over the past few seasons. Yze has ambitions to become a senior coach. And you sense his reputation has only increased over the past two seasons.

DON PYKE
Pyke has previously said the idea of being a senior coach again was enticing, but questioned whether it was an appropriate next step as enjoyed assistant life. But he’s an experienced operator that’s had a big influence on two clubs’ styles over the past decade. While Pyke’s time at the Crows ended in messy circumstances, it was a successful stint on paper that included a 2017 Grand Final appearance, transforming the Crows into an offensive powerhouse. He’s then had a similar influence as John Longmire’s senior assistant coach at the Sydney Swans, who’ve improved their ball movement and attacking capabilities significantly. Pyke was in the mix for the then-vacant Collingwood gig in 2022 before he pulled out of the race.

LEON CAMERON
Could be a bit soon for Cameron, who only departed the Giants as their senior coach a year ago, but Cameron had a successful tenure at the Giants, albeit without capturing a flag. Cameron led the Giants to five finals appearances in eight-and-a-half seasons, including the 2019 Grand Final. He’s remained in Sydney this year and linked up with the Swans’ academy, so it might take some convincing to lure him away from New South Wales. But Cameron finished his AFL career at Punt Road, playing 84 games across four seasons for the Tigers.

MATTHEW KNIGHTS
A Tigers great that played 279 matches and won two best and fairests, Knights has yellow and black running through his veins, while he also has ample experience in the coaching industry. He was senior coach at Essendon for three seasons (2008-10) before linking up with Geelong. Knights led the Cats’ VFL team to a flag before becoming an assistant coach with the club’s AFL team. He’s now part of West Coast’s coaching set-up.

JAYMIE GRAHAM
The highly-rated assistant from Western Australia has had stints at West Coast and Fremantle – currently at the latter as part of Justin Longmuir’s coaching staff – and has even filled in the senior role at both jobs. The 40-year old has previously been in the running for several coaching jobs and is touted as having the potential to be a future senior coach. Could there be another vacancy in his home state — more specifically, his former club — at some stage though?

ASH HANSEN
While the Blues haven’t met expectations this season, Hansen has enhanced his reputation at Ikon Park, where he’s currently working as its forward line and offensive coach. It comes after he spent nine years at the Western Bulldogs as well as coaching Footscray to the 2016 premiership, leading to his promotion to the club’s senior coaching staff.

DANIEL GIANSIRACUSA
A highly-rated, long-time assistant coach who declared only a few months ago he still has ambitions to be a senior coach. Giansiracusa became an assistant at the Bulldogs in 2015 before stepping into the role as senior coach of Footscray in 2019. Giansiracusa in 2020 was named the AFL Coaches’ Association’s Assistant Coach of the Year before being poached by Essendon for the 2021 season as its backline coach. In October last year, Giansiracusa signed a contract extension for a further two years, tying him to the Bombers until at least the end of 2025. But he told RSN in march: “If that (senior coaching) opportunity comes I‘d grab it with both hands.”

BLAKE CARACELLA
Caracella has become one of the AFL’s sharpest and most highly-rated assistant coaches. Crucially, he’s experienced premiership success at three different clubs as an assistant coach: Collingwood, Geelong and, most notably, Richmond. Caracella spent three years at the Tigers prior to joining Essendon at the end of 2019 in his current role.

SCOTT BURNS
Another impressive assistant coach with an extensive resume, Burns has been an assistant with the Crows for the past three seasons. The Collingwood champion also spent three years plying his trade under master coach Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn. Prior to that was the Magpies’ midfield coach for four years and also had a five-year stint as an assistant at West Coast. Burns has been considered a potential senior coach for some time, with reports he just missed out on the Adelaide job in 2011 — when Brenton Sanderson became coach — and the West Coast job in 2013 — won by Adam Simpson. Burns was a hot early favourite for the Crows’ gig in 2019 before reportedly withdrawing from the mix and ultimately joining the club as an assistant.

Other highly-rated assistants to keep an eye on would be Corey Enright (St Kilda), Josh Carr (Port Adelaide) and Dean Cox (Sydney). Former senior AFL coaches David Teague and Ben Rutten are already part of the Tigers’ coaching set-up, but whether they’d want the senior gig after being sacked from their respective roles at Carlton (2021) and Essendon (2022) remains unclear.
bUT WHo yOu goNNa geT?
 

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“Stick to the plan,” we set before the season started. Even if a 3 time premiership winning coach becomes available for 2024 in the mid season we, “Stick to the plan!” Genuine beta-club mentality.

I’m over this coward’s hard on for to easy forecast financial projections based on stability and taking absolutely no risk to push our club past the clear limitations of a side under Ken.
 
Damien needs to watch the episodes of Ted Lasso where Roy Kent takes on a media role to see how that will play out for him.
 
A bunch of people on this board have convinced themselves that everything that goes wrong must be Hinkley, and everything good must be someone else. So they project abilities and responsibilities onto assistants that cannot possibly be verified.

Yes, there’s a point on that. However, in the past 11 seasons, there has been ONE common denominator and ONE common result. People have just put 1 & 1 together.

It might not be precisely right, but would it be necessary?
 
There’s no Hardwick riding in on a white horse to save us.
He’s mentally shot,that’s been pretty obvious in the last couple of weeks.
He will take a break from it all and end up on Friday night footy explaining to the brain dead like BT what’s really happening during the game.
Can’t see him coaching in Melbourne again or coming back to SA.
WA would be great for him as the media are very soft especially with The Eagles.

Does he need a break from football or from Richmond? Two different things…
 

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Yes, there’s a point on that. However, in the past 11 seasons, there has been ONE common denominator and ONE common result. People have just put 1 & 1 together.

It might not be precisely right, but would it be necessary?
The common denominator is that Ken is a good but not great coach. The fact that we have oscillated within the same fairly narrow range of end-year outcomes, through significant turnover in players, assistants and other personnel, suggests that he is the main decision maker, but also, naturally, works closely with and delegates to his assistants to craft the gameplay, work with and select the players, and respond tactically on game day.

I’ve never seen anyone in the ‘he isn’t the real coach’ camp answer whether they think McRae is not really coaching Collingwood, given how much time he spends without the headphones on the boundary line.

The reality is that the strategy is set before the match, adjustments are made between quarters, and yes, some tactical adjustments will be delegated to the assistants in the box.

The simplest explanation for why our form has been better since game 4 is that they were unhappy with rounds 2 and 3, the blowtorch was applied inside and outside the club, and adjustments were made, which are working for now.

My preference is for Ken to go at year end unless we win the GF. I think he’s had enough time and the conversion failures are sufficient to let him go. But I’m not going to buy into the more unhinged stuff written on this forum.
 
The common denominator is that Ken is a good but not great coach.

That’s a fact. That’s the whole issue.

We don’t need “a good, but not great coach.” We need a great one.
 
My preference is for Ken to go at year end unless we win the GF.

He needs to go. Period. If he goes with a flag, that’s the best scenario.

But he should have gone five years ago.
 

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Who knows whether Hardwick will coach again .... but in his presser he did repeated

I don't think that's true at all. He's exhausted - been doing this for 14 years straight or something.

Even 6 months may be enough of a break.
6 months could be long enough with his money he would be on no time frame.
After that I’m sure there would be media opportunities that can be very appealing.
Whatever happens I can’t see him at Port.
 
After that I’m sure there would be media opportunities that can be very appealing.
Whatever happens I can’t see him at Port.
That top line in your quote was a stray line from a draft post earlier in the day. I've deleted it.

It's all just pi55in in the wind at the moment really, from all of us ... none of us have any idea whatsoever how things will pan out.

I only know I would love it if he found his way to Port at some point.
 
6 months could be long enough with his money he would be on no time frame.
After that I’m sure there would be media opportunities that can be very appealing.
Whatever happens I can’t see him at Port.

I don’t see us going for him.
 

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