I found this quote from Trent Cochin in todays HS interview fascinating. He details Dimmas reaction immediately post game Dreamtime this year. Clearly Dimma doesn’t rate Essendon and knowing Dimmas style as a player and coach (aggressive, tough, mongrel, competitor) he’d probably think Essendon were downhill skiers and lacked toughness, resilience and competitiveness. It’s hard to argue with him. He’s probably thought this about Essendon for many years, and I agree with his thoughts (assuming I’m reading it accurately which I think I am).
True, but it probably also means he spoke his true mind. I’ve always thought Dimma looked on at Essendon with disrespect. You could read between the lines over many years when he spoke around Dreamtime games. Essendon is everything he and Richmond weren’t. And that’s not a good thing!
I know his departure from the club (to Port Adelaide) at the end of 2001 left a bitter taste. Probably for both parties.
I don’t think he particularly has much time for us, which is a shame because he was such an important player for us from the mid 90s until he left. There’s clearly not much respect there either, but then again we only beat them once (by 1 point) in his last 9 years as coach… so understandable.
Hope we not only smash Richmond next year but also the flaky new club he is coaching.
Doubtful. He was just expressing what was plain for everyone to see for the most part, a team not that great. Hence why this off-season Scott and Vozzo have pushed to pick up some better quality depth.
Strong knee jerk reaction to a last gasp loss. He would have gone into this game fully expecting to win and continue the dominance the Tigers had. Got a rude shock that showed his team were no better than aa bunch of other also rans and reacted accordingly. He didn’t like losing to us, a bunch of spuds. However the bunch of spuds beat his team, coached by him for a decade, so what did that make them? The writing was on the wall for all to see, the Tigers were slipping and it was time for him to pull the pin and get out. No doubt he didn’t like what he saw was coming his way, hence the tirade. As Rodney Dangerfield said, l can’t get no respect.
I know Cotchin is out of the game now (playing wise) but not sure Richmond or Hardwick (even at the Suns) would be too thrilled about that going public so soon.
True. Though I don’t think that coaching things would be driving his feelings about the current Essendon team. Hardwick would detest Essendon’s style and approach on field. Transition, rebounding game style lacking grit, competitiveness and resilience. The complete opposite to what he would preach of his club / players. I’d say that’s at the heart of his long held beliefs about ‘Essendon’. I just hope this cultural transformation and evolution reversed our limpness as a broader club and we start being more assertive, bold, aggressive and extroverted. Thsts both on AND off field btw.
After he quit he essentially said he did so as knew his message was not getting through to group anymore
That in itself was immensely frustrating for him, plus the losses were building up and the grand plans for one last crack at it (which they clearly recruited for) had fallen in a heap
You need to remember where Richmond came into this season.
Finished 2022 in the 8. Lost to a Prelim Finalist team (Brisbane) in an Elimination Final interstate by less than a goal.
Made two big acquisitions in the pre-season that was supposed to get them closer to the top 4.
They got to us on a 4 game losing streak. We’d played ‘admirably’ but Richmond were coming off beating Geelong. That night was supposed to be the springboard of their run for the rest of the year.
I fully expect those comments from Hardwick. He rated that team. And felt they were better than they performed. He would have said the same thing two weeks earlier when they lost to Gold Coast at Marvel. And I have no doubt he would have used those same comments in the past. But they didn’t quite have the same impact.
Clarkson would have gone through the same thing with his successful teams. Every coaches message eventually becomes stale and doesn’t quite reach the group the same way.
He did well to identify it relatively early and left. Most coaches that have had success try to cling on for an extra few years in the hope their message eventually slices through to the younger group coming through.
I have no problems with his feelings towards Essendon. He’s no more an Essendon man than Sheedy was a Tiger man. He’s had more success at Richmond and spent more time there than anywhere else so he’ll be known as a Richmond great before anything else and have a far greater connection to their fans than ours because of it.
