New Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick has moved to clear up a common misconception around his shock departure from Richmond halfway through last year.
Hardwick shocked the AFL world when he announced he was leaving the powerhouse club at the end of May.
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It was reported at the time that Hardwick was suffering from “burnout” but the triple premiership coach has told 7NEWS that wasn’t the case.
Hardwick, 51, said he had simply run his race at Richmond after coaching the club since 2010.
“It’s been a whirlwind (12 months), to be honest,” Hardwick Channel 7 sports reader Tim Watson. “I remember when I first finished at Richmond and … ‘burnout’ was probably not the right word.
“I just thought my message wasn’t quite getting where it needed to be. And I thought it was time for a change.
“I’d been there a long time and I know people used the word ‘burnout’, but it was more along the lines of … my message had become stale and I (had) become stale.”
Watson checked with Hardwick if he was certain about not using of the word ‘burnout’.
“Not that I recall it,” he said.
“People use it. I wasn’t too fussed about it, because I thought, ‘Oh, it is what it is and people will always say that’. But I always knew I wanted to coach again. Did I imagine it would be in six months time? Probably not.”
But Hardwick said he was probably “very naive” about what he thought would happen in the aftermath of his departure.
“This is going to sound a little bit arrogant but I was a three-time premiership coach that had walked away from the game and all of a sudden you’ve probably created a market,” he said.
Indeed it did. Gold Coast then sacked embattled coach Stuart Dew and in August Hardwick agreed to a six-year deal with the Suns.
Not long after that, Hardwick then made the brash comment that 80 per cent of the players on Gold Coast’s list would be part of the club’s inaugural premiership team.
Now that Hardwick has just got through his first pre-season at the Suns, Watson wanted to know if Hardwick thought that observation was on the money.
“I probably underestimated,” Hardwick said. “They’re probably all here.
“Well, I think we’ve got the capacity to do so. We’ll never put a ceiling on where we can get to. There’s certainly a floor, we need to make finals, no question.
“But I look at it with the players and if we provide game style that plays to their strengths, if we allow the players to be free and how they want to play the game and express themselves and find that inner confidence and belief, you never know what happens.”
Hardwick said he was genuinely excited about coaching the Suns to their first premiership and “being part of that journey”.
“I just can’t wait to see and watch them play. And I can’t wait to see our club grow,” he said.
“You know, there’s some things that we’re doing within our organisation that are quite special and can take us to some places that this club hasn’t been before which which is really exciting.”
Gold Coast take on Hardwick’s former club Richmond in the opening round of the season
“I haven‘t lost to them for 13 years so I don’t want to start now,” Hardwick said.
“I’m excited to see the people, if that makes sense. I’ve seen bits and pieces. Look, it’s gonna be really interesting. Obviously (Adem Yze) is starting a new era there and it will be the challenge of a new gameplan.
“So they probably know what I’m gonna bring. But I don’t know what they’re going to bring.”