Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt has stated the players are fully behind coach Damien Hardwick after the three-time premiership coach's private life came into the spotlight in recent weeks.
Hardwick has come under scrutiny after it was revealed his marriage was over and he was now pursuing a relationship with a club official.
Riewoldt spoke to the media during the Tigers' first session back for 2020 and spoke about how the players would support their coach as he has supported them in the past.
"Damien's a good enough character to separate his personal life and professional life, he's shown in the last four years that he's arguably the best coach in the land," Riewoldt said.
"He'll continue to support us and we'll continue to support him."
Riewoldt revealed that Hardwick had addressed the news with the group ahead of training on Monday.
"He's addressed it already this morning and now its business as usual for us, It's a sign of a club with a good culture that we can separate the personal side of things and get back to work," he added.
Riewoldt said the news was somewhat surprising but he didn't think it would affect the club going forward.
"You never predict something like this, but these things happen in peoples lives, we just move on," he said.
"Obviously it's sad that Dimma and Danielle's marriage has come to an end, the whole Hardwick family has been a massive support network for us and they'll continue to be and we will for them as well."
Riewoldt was less then impressed when asked by Channel 7's Tom Browne whether Hardwick's new relationship would make things awkward at the club regarding their work for gender equality.
"I think that's a really long bow to draw Tom," Riewoldt replied.
"We feel we have been at the forefront of a lot of issues and we are extremely proud of our women's footy program, this has no relevance to it whatsoever."
