3 minute read

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says he could easily have lost his job at the end of the 2016 AFL season. Four years on, he's a triple premiership coach.

Damien Hardwick admits he could easily have been sacked as Richmond's coach at the end of the 2016 AFL season.

Then, Hardwick had spent six seasons without a finals win.

Now, he's coached three premierships in the following four seasons.

Hardwick is lauding the support of Richmond's chief executive Brendon Gale for backing him as a coach after Saturday night's grand-final win against Geelong.

"The support he has given me over the years - the easiest thing for Brendon to do at the end of 2016 was sack me," Hardwick told the Seven Network.

"He stood behind me, pushed me up the hill and got me where we needed to go.

"So I'm incredibly appreciative of him."

Hardwick's latest flag comes after the Tigers recorded just one win from their initial four games in a season shortened by COVID-19.

"We speak about it a lot: you don't judge yourself when you're going well, you judge yourself when you hit a bump in the road," he said.

"We hit some bumps along the way, there's no doubt about that. But that's where great leadership steps up and leads the way."

But he said the Tigers "found our mojo" when the club went into a Queensland-based Hub.

"It's just a real credit to our players, our staff and our families - I can't mention enough the sacrifices our families have made that are still back home," he said.

"And it's different not having them here. My wife and kids aren't here and it's a little bit hollow in a way.

"We really struggled in the initial parts of the season with the connection piece and as soon as we got in the Hub we found our mojo again."