Assuming he still wants to coach then Gold Coast is perfect for him. The young talent on their list is the best in the league and he has a chance to make history as the first coach to get them into finals (can't see Dew doing it this year). It's also away from the media spotlight and an awesome climate.
Coach Operation Get Hardwick
- Thread starter Macca19
- Start date
- Tagged users None
- Aug 19, 2013
- 2,157
- 2,724
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
It totally does, Norf was not enough, the dollars enticed him but at the end of the day that was just not enough to keep him engaged given what he was going through. Gold Coast could throw the kitchen sink at him and get him there, would it float his boat in the long term, doubt it. money is not everything, especially when you have plenty of it to start with.
TeeKray
Moderator
Port Adelaide - Allir Allir Player Sponsor 2021
Port Adelaide - Kane Farrell Player Sponsor 2021
Port Adelaide Forum Tipping Champion
Bring Back the Bars
Port Adelaide - Connor Rozee Player Sponsor 2020
Port Adelaide - Zak Butters 2019 Player Sponsor
Port Adelaide - Jack Watts Player Sponsor 2018
Port Adelaide - Riley Bonner Player Sponsor 2016
- Moderator
- #306
I loved Hardwick as a player and have loved him as a coach, albeit an opposition coach.
From the outside looking in, he seems to strike such a beautiful balance between being an old school hard ass and being a people person. He's likable but you would still fear him. He can crack a joke about one thing but be serious about another.
He's also very intelligent and has been successful wherever he has gone as a player or a coach.
Koch simply has to talk to him.
From the outside looking in, he seems to strike such a beautiful balance between being an old school hard ass and being a people person. He's likable but you would still fear him. He can crack a joke about one thing but be serious about another.
He's also very intelligent and has been successful wherever he has gone as a player or a coach.
Koch simply has to talk to him.
Before 2017 he was in Ken territory and hadn't won a final in 7 years, and was pretty much on the chopping block. If he had that record at Port people would have been calling for his head in 2015/2016, if not earlier.
And then what?
- Aug 21, 2007
- 33,278
- 110,277
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Aston Villa, San Antonio Spurs
Absolutely, and a lot of Richmond people were reasonably calling for his head after 2016. However they didn't just putter along after 2016, they made some pretty significant changes on and off field, including bringing in Neil Balme as their footy boss who had been a key figure in the Geelong dynasty and some blockbuster player movements. We haven't had anything approaching a "reckoning" offseason like that in the Koch era. We just putter along with the same key decision makers in place and no accountability.
Hardwick took over at the beginning of a rebuild after Wallace had blown the list. The equivalent year for us is probably 2011 in terms of list position, so he was always going to be slow out of the blocks. Primus did the hard yards of the first 2 seasons of the rebuild for Hinkley. Hinkley had an initial boost on the back of the development work done by Primus. Two elite top 10 picks over the previous 2 seasons, an elite fitness program and the innovative slingshot gameplan. He's basically never recovered from teams figuring the slingshot out.
Hardwick has demonstrated an ability to win a flag an then back it up with more.
- Jun 12, 2012
- 21,108
- 67,575
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
Let’s not forget how rank Richmond were prior to Hardwick. They had only made the finals once since 1995 and were stuck oscillating between 9th and the bottom four, collecting a couple of wooden spoons along the way. He inherited a much bigger shitshow than Ken did.
Have things not changed this year? Not saying the cup is ours this year, but you're fapping over a guy you would have crucified and cancelled your membership over 3+ years before he achieved anything.
Why would Hardwick go to the Gold Coast that has standards and accountability when he could just head over to a little club like Port Adelaide and spend the next decade with no accountability for performance whatsoever?
- Jun 12, 2012
- 21,108
- 67,575
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
You seem to be missing the part where he did in fact go on to achieve something, multiple times, hence the fapping. Every now and then someone proves the doubters wrong and it’s probably not all that surprising that in this case it was someone who’d won multiple flags as a player too.
It doesn’t act as a proof for any other case. Usually the doubters are right and with good reason. Ken has been given a record amount of time to prove us wrong, more time than anyone has ever been given in 125 years of VFL/AFL football, and he hasn’t.
I’m sure you know all of this already and can appreciate why people want someone who has proven that they can deliver.
- Jul 26, 2020
- 12,647
- 35,035
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
Clarko stepping away has nothing at all to do with North not being enough for him.
- Mar 1, 2014
- 9,657
- 18,892
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
The only genuine comparison between Hardwick and Clarkson is they are both hard nosed coaches who have had a lot of success, but for all that Dimma does have some qualities that even oppo supporters can find likeable, and taking into account his on field toughness as a player for both Port and Essendon I'm not aware of him ever being a behind the play cheap shot merchant.
Not so sure you could use `likeable' to describe the other bloke though, regardless of whether he is guilty or innocent of the racism accusations.
Re any future coaching situations, I hope the Powers that be at our club have been smart enough to have a succession plan in place and Josh Carr will take over `publicly' as Port coach at the end of this season, and I suspect as others have already stated the AFL will throw megabucks at Hardwick to get him to take on Gold Coast.
Not so sure you could use `likeable' to describe the other bloke though, regardless of whether he is guilty or innocent of the racism accusations.
Re any future coaching situations, I hope the Powers that be at our club have been smart enough to have a succession plan in place and Josh Carr will take over `publicly' as Port coach at the end of this season, and I suspect as others have already stated the AFL will throw megabucks at Hardwick to get him to take on Gold Coast.
Have a listen to it lol my preference is Carr which I've said umpteen times.
Ken finally comes down to the boundary 11 years deep in a contract year after media pressure from a club great.. yea he's the poster boy for change mate.
TeeKray
Moderator
Port Adelaide - Allir Allir Player Sponsor 2021
Port Adelaide - Kane Farrell Player Sponsor 2021
Port Adelaide Forum Tipping Champion
Bring Back the Bars
Port Adelaide - Connor Rozee Player Sponsor 2020
Port Adelaide - Zak Butters 2019 Player Sponsor
Port Adelaide - Jack Watts Player Sponsor 2018
Port Adelaide - Riley Bonner Player Sponsor 2016
- Moderator
- #322
Lol.
One of these men is an intelligent and hard nosed operator whilst also being witty and likeable. He played in premierships at two clubs and was regarded as a hard nosed footballer. He is a triple premiership coach at a club that had barely played finals in decades.
The other man is a mediocre country bumpkin. He was a soft flanker who played in a soft team that never won a premiership. He has coached for 11 years at a club without even making a grand final, a league record.
Oh yes but it took Hardwick a few years to win his premierships so at that point they were similar, I guess?
One of these men is an intelligent and hard nosed operator whilst also being witty and likeable. He played in premierships at two clubs and was regarded as a hard nosed footballer. He is a triple premiership coach at a club that had barely played finals in decades.
The other man is a mediocre country bumpkin. He was a soft flanker who played in a soft team that never won a premiership. He has coached for 11 years at a club without even making a grand final, a league record.
Oh yes but it took Hardwick a few years to win his premierships so at that point they were similar, I guess?
TeeKray
Moderator
Port Adelaide - Allir Allir Player Sponsor 2021
Port Adelaide - Kane Farrell Player Sponsor 2021
Port Adelaide Forum Tipping Champion
Bring Back the Bars
Port Adelaide - Connor Rozee Player Sponsor 2020
Port Adelaide - Zak Butters 2019 Player Sponsor
Port Adelaide - Jack Watts Player Sponsor 2018
Port Adelaide - Riley Bonner Player Sponsor 2016
- Moderator
- #323
I'd genuinely like to know why people defend this guy. Is it contrarianism? Or is it just blindly backing the club in at any cost?
His record as a player and coach over decades is indefensible. He's premiership kryptonite.
Hardwick is the exact opposite - when they induct him into the Hall of Fame, the first thing they'll mention is his five premierships.
His record as a player and coach over decades is indefensible. He's premiership kryptonite.
Hardwick is the exact opposite - when they induct him into the Hall of Fame, the first thing they'll mention is his five premierships.
Ken is every footy nuff who thinks they can coach. His defenders are living through him.
Some people are just satisfied in having the opportunity for a day or night out at the football with their family or friends with a slightly better than 50 per cent chance of their team having a victory to cap off the experience. This is the only downside to the move to Adelaide Oval - it has delivered the club a bunch of theatre goers.
Similar threads
