One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on July 12, 2006, 03:25:39 AM
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Revived Tigers aim for summit
Greg Denham
The Australian
July 12, 2006
RICHMOND president Gary March says his club will again be one of the powerhouses of the competition within two years.
March, who took over at Punt Road when Clinton Casey retired late last year, yesterday said the Tigers were on the verge of regaining their greatness.
"We're on the way back and leading in the right direction," he said. "I predict that by 2008, we will be back on top as one of Melbourne's best-run and best-performed football clubs."
March said his criteria for Richmond to regain a stronghold on the competition was to attract, and hold, at least 30,000 members, consistently make profits in excess of $500,000, and to reach the finals on a regular basis.
"We're on track to achieve all those, and hopefully start by setting new standards next year," March said.
March said this season's membership figure of about 29,500 was a record. He expected supporter growth to continue with the club's on-field success.
The Tigers' membership stagnated since a record 29,047 in 1999, but has been on the rise over the past three years.
And the club's financial position is starting to blossom after overcoming a $2.2million loss in 2004.
Last year Richmond made a modest profit of $40,000 which, March says, will increase to more than $350,000 this season.
"All going well we could even get a result north of $500,000," March said.
Under chief executive Steven Wright, Richmond is tracking well out of its financial mess. Three years ago Richmond was in such a financial crisis that Casey provided a personal guarantee to the ANZ Bank over $1.7m of debt.
"We're still a middle-of-the-road club, but we're getting closer to the leaders," March said.
Eighth on the ladder after winning eight of their past 11 rounds, the Tigers are attracting bigger home crowds, and March believes they will increase even further in the run home.
"We're the second highest drawing club this year behind Collingwood," he said. "We pull just under 50,000 on average and with four MCG home games remaining, that average could increase to over 50,000."
"As a whole club, we're going forwards in leaps and bounds, and it was Miller and Casey who had the foresight," said March, who has been a director since October, 2002.
"Wallace, who is no doubt one of the best in the business, has had a big part to play and so has Steven Wright."
Richmond has not reached a grand final since 1982, when it lost to Carlton. It has since reached the finals only twice, most recently in 2001.
The Tigers won five premierships between 1967 and 1980.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19760898-36035,00.html
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Even Patrick's getting excited ;D
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Casey's moves allow Richmond to march on boldly
COMMENT
Patrick Smith
July 12, 2006
CLINTON CASEY's six-year reign as Richmond president was never less than volatile. He had one glorious season when the club finished third but eventually the Tigers ran up more losses off the field than they did on. Which is a fair achievement, for the football side played like nongs and nincompoops.
Yet Casey will be identified as one of the club's best leaders. He has left Richmond with a future, something which did not always appear certain after his administration ran up a $2million loss and the wooden spoon in 2004.
Casey made three outstanding appointments. He got Greg Miller to run his football department, Terry Wallace to coach his club and Steven Wright to run his administration.
So sound is the club's position six months after Casey stepped down his successor, Gary March, is making all sorts of predictions. They are bold, brave, but not unreasonable. Snatching Wallace as coach was Casey's biggest achievement. Wallace, the former Bulldogs and would-be Sydney coach, took over at the end of 2004 after the Tigers had finished last with just four wins.
He was immediately successful, as the club won seven of its first nine matches last year. It faltered after such a heady start, but still improved to finish 12th with 10 wins. This season it is eighth with eight wins and prepares to face Melbourne on Friday night in round 15's most compelling game.
Wallace has transformed the side that he inherited. No easy task, for in the two years before the club collected the wooden spoon it had placed 13th and 14th. The coach is a disciple of the modern trend of regulating the tempo of the game. At all times the game must be played at his pace and on his terms.
He seeks to establish this immediately by playing a seven-man defence. He likes to free up a wingman or a half-forward and squash him into the defensive half. Mostly that task falls to the 190cm tall Patrick Bowden, previously a forward with the Bulldogs who crossed to Richmond at the start of the season to join his brother Joel.
If opposition coaches are caught unaware or prepared to leave Patrick Bowden on his own then Wallace has in place the footings of his game plan. Patrick Bowden will control the free space in the back line and lend support to his defenders when required.
If the opposition moves a man across to cover Patrick Bowden then Joel or Andrew Kellaway will be freed up. All three are in the top six for marks, and the Bowden boys in the top three for disposals. With such a wealth of possessions the trio can set the tempo of play as the ball is released from defence.
Given Patrick Bowden's height, his presence in defence allows ruckman Troy Simmonds to push forward knowing he has a man riding shotgun for him. While Wallace has settled on Simmonds as a ruckman, his experience last year as a central forward has made him a potent goal kicker.
He has 18 goals in 14 games (19 in 22 last year) and spread the goal kicking responsibilities. Where once Matthew Richardson (17 goals) was required to kick four or five goals for Richmond to be in contention, contributions are sought from a variety of players.
While Kayne Pettifer (23 goals) will take shots from 30 metres out he does not play deep in the forward line but rather moves across and outside the 50 metre arc. He appears to have improved his endurance this season and thus is more versatile. Wallace uses Chris
Hyde as a defensive forward whose job is to restrain the most offensive-minded of the opposition backmen, but he has still been able to kick 12 goals.
In the midfield Wallace is looking to break even rather than dominate. He knows the limitations of his collection of players compared to those of the elite teams in the competition. Captain Kane Johnson and Greg Tivendale have adopted run-with roles.
Shane Tuck is typical of his midfielders - competitive and disciplined. So is Nathan Foley, who is just 177cm tall. His most brilliant is
Brett Deledio but the biggest improvement in the game of last year's Rising Star is in his defensive skills.
Most of all, Wallace will demand his team controls the accelerator of the match. His side must be the one that speeds up the game or allows it to putt-putt along. He will do this two ways.
In the side's infamous round eight win over Adelaide, the Tigers refused to allow the ladder leader possession. After kicking three early goals, the Tigers kicked short both backwards and sideways. Control was more important than scoring. The Tigers added just seven more goals but allowed Adelaide just nine for the match.
Richmond will also attempt to keep possession by kicking over the man on the mark to a huddle of 10 or 12 players. The huddle will break and hopefully Richmond finds a free man who marks. The huddle then reforms and the ball is moved forward again. It is most effective against teams that do not man-up as a matter of course.
But it is a discipline that means players who do not have excellent disposal skills, or who are capable of smart decision making, struggle to retain senior status.
The new president has declared Richmond will return as powerhouse in the AFL. Wallace has established the battle plan.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19760894-12270,00.html
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Tigers make plans
11:48:22 AM Wed 12 July, 2006
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au
Richmond might be set to declare its biggest profit for years on the back of the club's on-field revival under coach Terry but chief executive Steven Wright has warned of much hard work to come before the Tigers re-emerge as an AFL power on and off the field.
Less than two years after the club finished last on the AFL ladder and suffered a financial loss of $2.2 million and the Tigers are riding high on the back of a record membership and with average crowds at the MCG this year of nearly 55,000.
And after eight wins in the past 11 matches, the Tigers have given themselves a great chance of reaching the finals for only the third time in the past 24 years.
Full article:
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=280408
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Going nicely down at Punt Rd at the moment, hopefully they can continue the upswing and get the profit level up over the million dollar mark in the next 2 or 3 years which I believe is very possible with our brand and support base. A good crowd on Friday will also add nicely to the bottom line.
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Still alot of work to do before we get anywhere near a power again but we're heading in the right direction on and off the field :thumbsup.
To get near the big boys we need to aim for at least between 35,000-40,000 members within the next 5 years say, $1 million plus profits as Ramps said including the elimination of our debts and average crowds of 50,000 (which we are already achieving this year at the 'G). We're averaging 54,688 at home games the 'G this year which is the highest on record (1980: 54,577).
Average crowds:
Coll. 56,849
Ess. 42,582 (includes Anzac day)
Rich. 38,534
Carl. 37,909
Dogs. 36,852
St K. 36,807
Geel. 35,894
Melb. 34,010
Haw. 29,280
Roos. 28,478
Home game and ground crowds.
Coll. 70,948 (MCG)
Rich. 54,688 (MCG)
St K. 38,385 (Dome)
Melb. 39,087 (MCG)
Ess. 38,083 (Dome)
Carl. 37,064 (Dome)
Dogs. 34,392 (Dome)
Haw. 33,385 (MCG)
Roos. 26,450 (Dome)
Geel. 23,462 (Kardinia Park)
http://stats.rleague.com/afl/crowds/summary.html#01
http://stats.afl.com.au/public/statistics/attendSBSsummary/14/All/All/attendSBSsummary_14_all_all.shtml
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Wright said the club was hoping it would be allocated more home games at the MCG next season - with the Tigers pushing for nine of their 11 home games to be staged there next year rather than the present seven.
"I don't think the AFL will allow any club to play 11 home games there but if we ended up with 9-2 and maybe playing say Port Adelaide and Fremantle at Telstra Dome then that would be great," he said.
"Our membership tells us they prefer the MCG and our crowds are much stronger at the MCG and at this stage our team plays better at the MCG so everything tells us we would be better off playing at the MCG."
"However if you get scheduled against a Port Adelaide or a Fremantle at the MCG, you are better off financially playing those teams at Telstra Dome because there is no point having those games at a 100,000 MCG with only 25,000 people there."
Financially we may be better off at the Dome (we lose that guarantee don't we if we only play 2 home games at the Dome?) but we give up a major home ground advantage playing even Freo and Port at the Dome. We'd go from near certainties at the 'G to a 50/50 game at the Dome.
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ESTIMATED NET ASSETS
From The Age:
1. Essendon $13.5m
2. Adelaide $9.5m
3. West Coast $9m
4. Brisbane $8m
5. Hawthorn $7m
6. Collingwood $6.5m
7. Geelong $6m
8. Port Adelaide $5.2m
9. Fremantle $250,000
The remaining clubs (in order) have a negative asset position:
10. Sydney
11. Richmond
12. St Kilda
13. Melbourne
14. Western Bulldogs
15. Kangaroos
16. Carlton
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/07/12/1152637741883.html
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The remaining clubs (in order) have a negative asset position:
11. Richmond
If we aren't back all square at the end of this year we should be the next. Hopefully we'll score a few more wins (and play finals) and we get close to a profit of $500k.
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ESTIMATED NET ASSETS
From The Age:
1. Essendon $13.5m
2. Adelaide $9.5m
3. West Coast $9m
4. Brisbane $8m
5. Hawthorn $7m
6. Collingwood $6.5m
7. Geelong $6m
8. Port Adelaide $5.2m
9. Fremantle $250,000
The remaining clubs (in order) have a negative asset position:
10. Sydney
11. Richmond
12. St Kilda
13. Melbourne
14. Western Bulldogs
15. Kangaroos
16. Carlton
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/07/12/1152637741883.html
Well well -
12. St Kilda - million dollar profits and they're still in debt - why don't they ever mention that
13. Melbourne - million dollar profits after million dollar handouts and they are still in debt
10. Sydney - million dollar profits after god only knows how many millions handed out in the last 25 years and still in debt
11. Richmond - granted, still in debt but working their backsides off to reverse it without any million dollar handouts.
Just stating the FACTS!!
:gotigers
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13. Melbourne - million dollar profits after million dollar handouts and they are still in debt
And just yesterday Gardner said the Dees will make another "million dollar profit" this year without ever mentioning the CBF handout creates the profit ::). What a farce Melbourne still receives handouts while other clubs like the RFC are scrimping and going without to earn their own way out of debt >:(.
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Richmond should never use the CBF. I get the feeling all the clubs who use it are gonna get there arses kicked down the track...and they wont be able to do anything about it.
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Don't forget Hawthorn. They appear very high on that list but it's mostly down to their social club and the payout they got from Waverly. As you pointed out MT their crowd figures are woeful and they are still having to sell off a lot of home games. They may have a lot of assets, but they don't have anywhere near the capacity to make money that we do.
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Richmond should never use the CBF. I get the feeling all the clubs who use it are gonna get there behinds kicked down the track...and they wont be able to do anything about it.
You've got that one right Ramps :thumbsup
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Don't forget Hawthorn. They appear very high on that list but it's mostly down to their social club and the payout they got from Waverly. As you pointed out MT their crowd figures are woeful and they are still having to sell off a lot of home games. They may have a lot of assets, but they don't have anywhere near the capacity to make money that we do.
I'm going to dob you in to Hawkk (self appointed HFC minister of misinformation and propaganda on BF).
Apparently the dawks have Melbourne's south-east covered because they moved their training and administration to Waverley. :ROTFL
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Opportunity knocks. The RFC should send stuff Costa and Brian Cook an email this morning expressing interest.
Sure it'd be an away game but the more guaranteed games at the 'G we can offer the MCC the better the stadia deal we will get. We should be aiming to get a minimum 14 matches at the 'G per year - realistically 9 home and 5 away.
It's a win-win. The Cats get a home game against the second-biggest drawing club in Victoria and daylight ahead of all except the Pies at the 'G. The RFC get another game at our home ground and Tiger supporters will be able to turn up in droves instead of only a few hundred forking out $$$ to squeeze into Kardinia Park which only holds 23,000.
Cats to ask for game at MCG
14 July 2006 Herald-Sun
Jim Wilson
The Cats will also push for a blockbuster home game at the MCG against Collingwood and possibly one other against a high-drawing Victorian club.
Cook said this week that a crowd of 70,000 at the MCG in a home clash against the Pies could earn the Cats upwards of $500,000. The figure is likely to be even more appealing once corporate hospitality is thrown into the equation.
The Cats are tossing up whether to play two home games at the MCG or stick with just one blockbuster against Collingwood.
They may stay at Telstra Dome for one home game although they're leaning towards the MCG for a second home clash, possibly against St Kilda or Essendon.
``We have recommended to our directors that our 2007 fixture position include nine home games at Skilled and two in Melbourne,'' Cook said.
``One definitely at the MCG and other either at the 'G or Telstra Dome against a high-drawing Victorian club.''
The MCC has supplied clubs with figures of what they could earn by playing at the MCG.
Clubs have been pleasantly surprised, having feared the stadium's overheads would have affected the bottom line in earnings.
There were club concerns the new northern grandstand would have pushed up overheads and corporate costs.
But it's thought the attraction of playing home games there, in gate receipts alone, has massive financial appeal.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19781740%255E19742,00.html
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I agree with MT, we should be the 2nd club that Geelong plays at the G. We get some benefits to and we'll get some more TV exposure as well.
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Another 60,000 reasons why Geelong should choose us although we're great at shooting ourselves in the foot when the Tiger Army turns up but the team doesn't :-\.
I was surprised when the crowd figure came up on the scoreboard. It didn't feel or look like a 60k crowd IMO but I guess the crowd was prodominantly Tigers and we didn't have much to cheer about apart from the ironically cheers when the footy eventually got passed to Polo after being on his own for half an hour.