Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has conceded his charges may have peaked too soon in 2018 after the Tigers wrapped up their JLT Community Series campaign with an eight-point win over Hawthorn.
The T2017 premiers trailed by 40 points at the main break but, led by skipper Trent Cotchin, rallied with 12 goals to post their second victory of the pre-season.
Hardwick declared Saturday’s contest in Tasmania ‘a weird game’ but declared his team’s inconsistencies weren’t necessarily a bad sign.
He referenced the Tigers’ 39-point upset loss to Collingwood in last season’s preliminary final before suggesting they may have been too well prepared at this early stage last season.
MORE: Steven May in hot water over late hit on Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry |
“Our preparation is complete now from the pre-season, we’re playing some reasonable football without being over the top,” Hardwick said.
“I look back at last year and maybe I think we were a little bit too advanced at this time of year.
“And this year we’re probably not quite to the level we were but we’ve got some work to do and we’re reasonably happy to walk away with a win tonight and some really positive performances from some of our players.”
Hardwick added of the win over the Hawks: “We were disappointed with our ability to hunt the contest early in the game.
“I thought the second quarter was probably a poor a quarter as we’ve played since the preliminary final to be fair (laughs).
“It was disappointing but then we readjusted a couple of things and spoke about a couple of things at half-time and the players got to work.
“There were some really good performances in the second half that were pleasing for us and will make it tough for selection come Round 1.”
The Tigers open the 2019 AFL season against Carlton in an MCG blockbuster on Thursday, March 21.
