Tigers AFL coach Damien Hardwick ‘picks a battle’ with Seven weather queen Jane Bunn – and loses

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick has been put in his place after taking a shot at Channel Seven’s Melbourne weather presenter Jane Bunn – only to have her burn him with a hilarious comeback on live TV.

The Richmond boss took a cheeky swipe at the popular meteorologist in a press conference on Thursday when he was asked about his team’s strategy of using two ruckmen, Toby Nankervis and Samson Ryan, who was dragged off the field in their last game against Collingwood when they played in the wet.

‘The conditions probably conspired against him,’ Hardwick said, referring to Ryan’s struggles against the Magpies.

‘Jane Bunn let us down with the weather prediction, I thought, but no pressure, Jane, this week.

‘But from our point of view we were forced to take him off because conditions didn’t suit.’

Bunn hit back in fine style in a short video a few hours later, returning serve to the three-time premiership-winning coach.

Popular Seven weather presenter Jane Bunn (pictured) hit back in fine style when Damien Hardwick took a cheeky swipe at her forecasts on Thursday

‘If you don’t like playing in the rain maybe you should come over to Marvel Stadium, it’s always lovely under that roof there,’ she said.

Bunn then gave Hardwick a tip about how the outlook is for his side’s game against the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. 

‘However, on Saturday there’ll be lots of showers passing through and so it’ll be a little bit wet at the MCG.’

The meteorologist’s reference to conditions being ‘lovely’ under the roof at Marvel had a bit of a sting in the tail as Hardwick famously said he is not a fan of the venue after a poorly attended game in 2021.

‘If you want big crowds, play our home games at the G,’ he said.

‘I hate coming here. I probably shouldn’t say that. The MCG has got a soul, it’s got Richmond people there. Our people don’t come here [Marvel].’

Hardwick picked up on the video and admitted defeat in a good-natured tweet on Thursday night.

The Richmond coach pulled Bunn up for failing to predict it would rain during the Tigers’ loss to Collingwood last Friday

After Bunn shot him down in hilarious fashion, Hardwick admitted defeat in a good-natured tweet (pictured)

‘Pick your battles. Jane wins!’ he wrote in a post that included Bunn’s video and a popular clip of Simpsons character Homer Simpson hiding in a bush, which is usually used to show someone is embarrassed or wants to get out of an awkward situation.

Hardwick has decided to rest flag-winning veterans Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt for the game against the Dogs.

‘Our older players, we’ve openly spoken about the fact they won’t play every game,’ the coach explained.

‘There’s going to be opportunities throughout the year where we sit there and go ‘This is a game where we’re going to manage a certain player or two’.

‘We’ve got a long-term plan in mind and we need to make sure we’re consistent with that plan.’