Former Richmond development coach Mark Williams has revealed interesting details about his shock exit from the Tigers' coaching staff, saying that he and senior coach Damien Hardwick have not spoken since he was fired.
Williams served the Tigers alongside Hardwick for four years, saying he created "great relationships" with Hardwick and the players during his time there.
The Port Adelaide premiership coach appeared on the Don't Argue podcast to clarify much of the unknown following his shock sacking, just a year before Richmond went on to win their historical 2017 premiership.
Williams said he was attending a friend's funeral when received the news that the club would not employ him for the 2017 season.
“I got a call on the phone saying you need to come in and I said ‘I told you blokes I was going to this funeral’," Williams said.
“So they told me on the phone I didn’t have a job and it was just a complete surprise to me.”
He explained that there was a lack of communication, even when he was told he didn't have a job.
The thing that "surprised" Williams the most though, was that despite knowing each other for 20-years, Hardwick chose not to reach out and speak to him.
“Dimma was a young player at Essendon when I first started, so I have known him since then and coached him with Lloydy and Lucas and those guys," Williams said on the Don't Argue podcast.
"The difficult thing is I have great relationships with the [Richmond] players but I haven’t talked to Dimma apart from texting him good luck for the Grand Final and well done. Other than that I haven’t talked to him at all."
The coaching changes came after the Tigers administration decided there would be massive changes required to the assistant coaching roles.
"They [football department] decided, because we were out of contract, they would get rid of us and it was easy to show they had tried to change," Williams explained.
His role as development coach was pivotal for the progression of superstar Dustin Martin and star defender Alex Rance, two players that had significant roles in bringing Richmond the silverware last season.
For this reason, Williams believes that not only would he have appreciated a little foresight before the shock sacking, but also would have welcomed some appreciation and recognition for his hard work with their young stars.
“Not only did we lose the job at Richmond but we didn’t get the opportunity to say hey you guys were doing a pretty good job here," Williams said.
“It would have been nice for Richmond to say ‘listen, these guys have done a great job, but we are going to change’ ... but they didn’t say any of that and that was the difficult thing at the time."
