By Dylan Grimes’ own admission his flop to earn a free-kick reversal during Richmond’s AFL qualifying final win over Brisbane was Academy Award-winning stuff but his coach is not bothered.
Grimes had conceded a free-kick to Lions’ small forward Charlie Cameron in the first term of the 47-point win at the Gabba before making the most of a bump by Eric Hipwood to have the decision reversed.
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick refused to be drawn on whether the flop was on, suggesting some of the analysis of players’ on-field behaviour was unnecessarily obsessive.
“No, seriously. It’s funny isn’t it? Because I look at the game in a lot of different ways and I see guys and they’re shrugging their head and all that sort of stuff,” Hardwick said.
“Like at what stage do we stop and just let them play the game? The game is hard enough as it is, pull their heads in a little bit would be fair.”
While Grimes’ flop drew scrutiny, Saturday was another successful outing for the All Australian defender.
After outpointing Cameron in the two teams’ round 23 clash at the MCG, Grimes once again kept the Lions’ forward quiet with Cameron picking up just seven disposals and one goal in the match.
Hardwick said the season-ending injury to Alex Rance at the start of the year had allowed Grimes to show his quality to a wider audience.
“We had a once in a generation player in Alex Rance that people would always gravitate to but we realise that we had a really important player with Dylan as well,” Hardwick said.
“Obviously we’ve lost Alex for the year but people are starting to notice just how good a player Dylan Grimes is.
“I know as a coach if I generally put him in the vicinity of a good player that guy’s probably not going to touch it (often).
“He’s been incredible. Just reward to be an All Australian and, you know, he’s had a great, great year.”
The Tigers win means they now have a week off before facing the winner of next Friday’s semi-final between Geelong and West Coast at the MCG in a preliminary final.
Hardwick said young gun Sydney Stack could still be a chance to recover from his ankle injury to play in the grand final qualifier.
“He’s a very quick healer. He keeps telling me every time,” Hardwick said.
“He’s going really well.”
