The Richmond Surge

[Sanctorum]

The following article is from CodeSports and gives an excellent insight into the phenomena developed by Damien Hardwick to turn around the fortunes of Richmond after years of decline.

"CLUBS ADAPT ‘SURGE’ IN HUNT FOR SUCCESS

by Shannon Gill

There’s an apocryphal line about 1960s rock group the Velvet Underground that speaks to their influence; while their popularity was niche, everyone who bought their records started a band.

It means their sound in some way would influence all manner of rock music for decades to come. And so it is with the AFL.

If you win, there are 17 other clubs wondering if they should do what you’re doing. In the case of Richmond’s triple premiership success in 2017-20, however, that influence is more far- reaching than usual.

As Champion Data has discovered, the buds of Richmond’s surge mentality have been flowering at other clubs with Tiger ties, and it’s all represented by the forward handball.

“The Richmond surge” will be talked about in hushed tones for as long as we talk about footy.

But as much as the manic harassing, tackling and knocking the ball forward is synonymous with that team, handball metres gained might be its best measure.

That is, instead of backwards or lateral handballs to escape pressure or find someone in a better position to kick, the handball that is directed forward.

Richmond would handball forwards, for better or worse, with the intention of finding space and releasing a player to break the lines of defence. They believed that forward-momentum handballs created goals.

In 2016, Richmond sat 10th in metres gained from handballs. It became handball happy while breaking a 37-year premiership drought in 2017.

From 2017 to 2022, the Tigers were No.1 for handball metres gained every season – by wide margins, too.

In their 2019 premiership year, Richmond averaged 497m gained per game with handballs. The next best team averaged 209.3m. It is a staggering discrepancy that shows how different the Tigers were then and continue to be.

In raw numbers the Tigers have gained 63,555m from handball since 2017. The next best team is Geelong (the only team with more matches) on 31,877m.

Once upon a time players who played under successful coaches were deemed attractive coaching options (premiership coaches Tom Hafey, Ron Barassi, Allan Jeans, David Parkin and Robert Walls all coached at least 14 players who became senior coaches), but now it relates to assistant coaches.

It was no different for Richmond and Damien Hardwick, who watched a group of lieutenants gain senior roles at other clubs.

Everyone wanted some Richmond magic.

And while some have not succeeded, others are flying. The first to do it was Essendon hiring Ben Rutten.

Rutten was sacked late in 2022, the project deemed a failure, but he did succeed to a degree in transporting the Richmond handball game.

At the end of 2019 he was announced as the successor to John Worsfold, and to many minds was effectively the senior coach in 2020 before being officially appointed.

In 2020 and 2021, Essendon was second only to Richmond for handball metres gained.

It culminated in a finals appearance in 2021 then all went awry in 2022, but elsewhere there were others using the Richmond blueprint to greater effect.

In the 1980s it was said there was a trail of bad blood that ran from Victoria Park to Punt Road due to the poaching of players that put both clubs on the edge of bankruptcy.

In 2022 there may have been a trail of roses down Olympic Blvd. When Craig McRae amicably packed his belongings at Richmond to take Collingwood’s top job, he brought another one-time Tiger assistant Justin Leppitsch and stuffed his kitbag with the forward handball.

Overnight, handball metres gained became paramount for the Pies; “Collingwood chaos” is a direct descendant of the surge.

In 2022, Collingwood’s 324.1 handball metres gained per game was second only to Richmond’s 359.8, as it rose up the ladder.

This year it has zoomed past to be the biggest forward handballers in the game, averaging 385m gained in each outing.

Of course, it has also been sitting either on top or near to the top of the ladder throughout the season.

Some four of the top six teams for handball metres gained per game in 2023 have direct coaching DNA from the Richmond flag era; Collingwood (McRae), Richmond (Hardwick, now Andrew McQualter), Essendon (formerly Rutten), GWS (coached by former Richmond assistant Adam Kingsley). Shaun Grigg, who played in the 2017 premiership team, is an assistant at Geelong.

The sixth of that group, Hawthorn, has an interesting tale, too.

After five rounds it sat last in the competition for this measure at 87.2m gained, but it appears coach Sam Mitchell then flicked the handball happy switch.

From rounds 6-16 the Hawks have been going at a higher rate (426.9m gained) than Collingwood and now sit third overall in the league. Since the handball shift, Hawthorn’s scoring has risen by 14.4 points per game too.

And is there a Richmond connection?

Hardwick spent five years as a Hawthorn assistant coach highlighted by a Mitchell- skippered premiership."

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