They’re no strangers to preliminary finals but Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admits the journey to this year’s grand-final qualifier is as tough as it could have been for his club.

The Tigers have past the 100-day mark in their Queensland hub ahead of Friday’s preliminary final against Port Adelaide.

While the Adelaide Oval clash will be the Tigers’ fourth straight appearance in a preliminary final, the path to get to this point has been far from normal.

Forced out of Victoria due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Richmond will be facing a Power team that has played one game in the past three weeks – the qualifying final win over Geelong in week one of the finals.

That was Port’s first finals win in six years and while the Tigers have all the experience, Hardwick knows the minor premiers will have an edge from spending a long period in the comfort of their own homes.

“Sleeping in your own bed, in your own home, it’s obviously a little bit different,” Hardwick said.

“Come up here for 30 (days), all of a sudden you’re here for a hundred. It is quite daunting. It is challenging there’s no doubt about it but, in fairness I think our guys have handled it incredibly well.

“We’ve had some hiccups along the way but you find a little bit about yourself I reckon at the darkest times and I think our guys will grow from it, they’ll learn from it, and become stronger as a result of it.

“We’re in a pretty good place.”

The Power claimed a statement win over the Tigers in round 11, with Hardwick believing his team was lucky to only lose that match by 21 points.

The two-time premiership winning coach says both teams head into Friday’s game with different line-ups but acknowledges the Tigers are entering into a bear pit against a fired-up, quality opponent with a parochial crowd behind them.

On-field discipline has been a talking point for the Tigers this season but Hardwick says there’ll be no time for shrinking violets with a grand-final spot on the line.

“The very best sides will play the hardest brand of footy and we’re going to overstep the mark sometimes,” Hardwick said.

“Do I want us to be giving away stupid free kicks or 50-metre penalties? No, I don’t, and the players understand that. They accept responsibility. We’ve got to get better in that part of the game.

“The game is gonna be pretty volatile, we’re in a hostile environment, against a very good opposition so we want to play on the edge.”