Damien Hardwick is Australia’s longest-serving AFL coach and a former player. His professional playing career began in 1992 after being drafted by the Bombers, finishing in 2004 with Port Adelaide’s victory in the Grand Final.
Over the course of his playing days, Hardwick collected almost 150 wins and picked up the Best and Fairest award in 1998 with Essendon.
He went down the coaching path at Hawthorn in 2005 before joining Richmond Football Club as a senior coach in 2009. In 2017, Damien was awarded AFLCA Coach of the Year, and in 2017, he helped Richmond win their first premiership since 1980.
Damien Hardwick has been appointed the Gold Coast SUNS club’s AFL Senior Coach. A triple Premiership-winning Senior Coach, Hardwick has signed a six-year deal to join the SUNS until at least the end of 2029.
In 2022, he joined the sports advisory board at Levin Health.
Chronic back pain
For the last ten years, Damien has lived with chronic pain sustained from a bike-riding accident. He’s spoken about his interest in finding ways to relieve sports-related pain and the threat that concussions present to AFL players and victims of car crashes or falls. the latter of which is to blame for the majority of brain traumas.
Damien supports the ongoing research into medicinal cannabis being carried out at Levin Health. He described himself as being “very impressed” at Levin Health’s plans to research whether medicinal cannabis has the potential to be beneficial in supporting the treatment of concussions.
“I had an accident riding a bike with my son about ten years ago and have suffered chronic back pain ever since. I found it hard to exercise, and even sitting at my desk for a long time was painful.”
Damien Hardwick
Damien joins the Levin Health Sports Advisory Board
Levin Health’s commitment to solving challenging health issues is one of the reasons Damien decided to come on board. Working with researchers at La Trobe University’s Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, we’re investigating how effective medicinal cannabis may be at improving the lives of those with chronic pain caused by musculoskeletal injury.
Hardwick joined the Levin Health Sports Advisory Board with the hope that Levin Health may help change the sporting landscape for the better.
Together with Australian sports legends, including Lauren Jackson and Andrew Johns, Damien joins Levin Health’s focus on the health issues affecting sportspeople and the wider community. Alongside our ongoing research into the treatment, we’re gradually breaking down the stigma that comes with it.