Damien Hardwick
Damien Hardwick started his journey at the game's highest level as a player with Essendon in 1994 after being drafted by the Bombers with pick 87 in the 1992 AFL national draft. A tough, fearless defender, Hardwick went on to play 153 games for Essendon until the end of the 2001 season, including its 2000 premiership - 101 wins, 51 losses and one draw in total during his time with the Bombers. He won the club's Best and Fairest award in 1998 and gained All-Australian selection in 2000. Hardwick subsequently spent three seasons playing at Port Adelaide (2002-04) - 54 games for 43 wins and 11 losses. His last game as an AFL player was Port's 2004 Grand Final victory over Brisbane. Following a distinguished 207-game AFL playing career, including two premierships, Hardwick opted to go down the coaching path, accepting a role as an assistant to Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn. Then, after a five-year involvement with the Hawks, including their 2008 premiership success, Hardwick was appointed Richmond's senior coach at the end of the 2009 season. Slowly, but surely, Hardwick transformed the then struggling Tigers into a force to be reckoned with. Six wins came in his first season as coach, eight in 2011, 10 and a half in 2012 and then, in 2013, Richmond made the finals for the first time since 2001. The Tigers lost three consecutive elimination finals in (2013-15) and slumped to 13th place on the league ladder in 2016, before Hardwick guided them to an historic premiership in 2017, breaking a 37-year flag drought for the Club. A third-place finish in 2018 was followed by back-to-back premierships for Richmond in 2019-20, cementing Hardwick's reputation as an all-time coaching great at Tigerland. During the 2020 season, Hardwick broke Tiger 'Immortal' Tommy Hafey's record for the most games as the Club's coach. By season's end, he had coached Richmond in 252 games, for 145 wins, three draws, 104 losses and three premierships
