One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on August 03, 2007, 12:34:05 AM
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Miller's legacy is toothless Tigers
Caroline Wilson | August 3, 2007 | The Age
GREG Miller went to Richmond towards the end of the 2002 season. His brief was to oversee the Tigers' ailing football fortunes, support the struggling Danny Frawley and instil some "Shinboner" spirit and winning culture into a club that had forgotten how.
Miller called for patience from fans. He asked for five years. Even when he stood for the Tigers' board at the end of 2004 to save Clinton Casey's reputation and presidency, Miller never sold his North Melbourne shares, insisting he was holding them in trust for Bob Ansett.
Now the five years that Miller requested are drawing to a close. Despite Frawley's overall lack of success at Richmond and Jeff Gieschen's before that — in fact, we could go back to 1983 — never did the club under those two regimes finish a season with one win, as the Tigers may do this year.
It has been said that Terry Wallace — whom Miller appointed to a five-year deal at the end of 2004 as part of Casey's legacy, which left the club in debt to the tune of $4 million — has escaped scrutiny this season. But surely Miller, by any stretch of the imagination, must be seen to have failed the club he joined to help win a premiership.
Casey left the club soon after the members re-elected him — as we predicted he would — and his successor, Gary March, appears to have diluted some of Miller's power, or tried to. No longer does Miller have an open chequebook to sign players and any push to sign a footballer for more than three years must get board approval.
Recruiting responsibility is no longer Miller's but when he, Wallace, March and chief executive Steve Wright met in Sydney last weekend on a new blueprint for the football operation, Miller remained at the helm of the football department.
While some unrest continues at board level regarding his position as a director elected by members while on a six-figure contract, Miller, to date, has resisted any subtle pressure to stand down. He still owns his Kangaroos shares and continues to thrust himself forward as the club's front man in times of crisis.
After the debacle against Geelong three months ago, he inflamed the situation with an emotional directive to members that became back-page news — a directive sent out without full knowledge of the board and of which March was given little notice.
It was put to Miller that the club seems to have gone backwards since he took over. He pointed to the stable board, high membership and successive profits. This was cheeky. That Richmond again will make a million-dollar profit this year without special AFL assistance is, according to the AFL, due to the good work of chief executive Wright.
Consider Miller's early moves at Richmond. He urged the board to extend Frawley's contract to remove pressure from the coach and in his first draft, he effectively traded away picks two, 18, 28 and 32 for Kane Johnson and Jay Schulz.
At the end of 2004, when he was running several other businesses, including a juice bar in which several Richmond players invested, he tried to recruit Rex Hunt to the board to help Casey fight off a challenge, only to learn that Hunt was not a member.
March, Wright and Wallace, at various points this season, have excused the litany of football mistakes of that time, saying that Miller has been forced to do too much. But no one forced him to devote time outside the club to other interests.
Then he stood himself and virtually ran Casey's campaign as well as signing Wallace and choosing Brett Deledio, Richard Tambling, Danny Meyer, Adam Pattison and Dean Polo with the Tigers' prized first five picks in the national draft.
Time could prove us wrong, but when you look at Richmond's youth in the form of its first, second, third and fourth-year players, they do not present as a potential force in 2011, the year the club has earmarked as high noon on the premiership clock.
It wasn't Miller's fault that Nathan Brown broke his leg but most of the recycled players chosen during his time have not worked.
A Richmond premiership player commented before the recent Hawthorn clash that he looked forward to watching the Richmond "pygmies" take on Hawthorn's "land of the giants". That game cruelly exposed two football strategies that left the Tigers wanting. In the Port Adelaide disaster, the club's youth was used as an excuse and yet the Richmond players averaged 64 games to Port's 69.
Miller vowed to lure old Tigers back to Tigerland but still no former player sits on the Richmond board.
It is true that Wallace, too, should be feeling the pressure. Not for the first time in his football career has he come to Tigerland with a big reputation, only to see it sullied and he, like the rest of the football department, must take responsibility for the club's poor player choices, including the rucking deficiency in 2007.
Wallace's dismal self-fulfilling prophecy at the start of the season backfired on the club and cannot have helped the spirit among the players.
Player development does not appear to be his strong point and Craig McRae will soon have a new boss in the form of an overall development manager for whom the club will advertise from tomorrow.
But while Wallace has proved he can reinvent himself, Miller — whose cunning, charismatic style worked so well in the '90s — is another question.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/millers-legacy-is-toothless-tigers/2007/08/02/1185648061192.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
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Aren't we all just sick of the rubbish articles from this slapper!
Buzz off Caro and leave our club alone. We are sick of your rubbish Miller bashing articles.
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She's such a sour old prune :shh
Guess who's dirty because she can't control things :scream
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Article seems fair to me.
DON PIKE has a big reputation in terms of performance manager. Id get him for the role there advertising. PIKE can run the list management and high performance area with McCrae.
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She's not objective, and that's unprofessional.
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It's a campaign against one man, Greg Miller. Surely the Age must be getting sick off her anti Miller tirades?
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It's a campaign against one man, Greg Miller. Surely the Age must be getting sick off her anti Miller tirades?
After reviewing what he has done during his 5 years, he ain't done us much good.
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What has she written in that article today that is wrong?
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What has she written in that article today that is wrong?
Exactly what I reckon.
We have heard it all before but it's still correct.
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The knives are out for Miller, the landscape is moving.
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What has she written in that article today that is wrong?
The draft picks "effectively" traded away for KJ & JS.
"Objective" doesn't mean right or wrong, it's more to do with being balanced and fair.
No mention of anything positive that Miller has done. All one way.
Her anti-Casey obsession continues, quick to point out a legacy of $4m debt yet fails to mention that Steven Wright is also Casey's legacy when deflecting a positive to him away from Miller.
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Her anti-Casey obsession continues, quick to point out a legacy of $4m debt yet fails to mention that Steven Wright is also Casey's legacy when deflecting a positive to him away from Miller.
Exactly Fish - if she had kept out her personal vendetta she has against Clinton Casey I'd have paid more attention.
If she wants to write about legacy maybe she could compare Clinton's to her old man's - he left us massive debt too IIRC ::) :banghead
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If she wants to write about legacy maybe she could compare Clinton's to her old man's - he left us massive debt too IIRC ::) :banghead
OUCH lol :thumbsup
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Aren't we all just sick of the rubbish articles from this slapper!
Buzz off Caro and leave our club alone. We are sick of your rubbish Miller bashing articles.
Well done Caro. :clapping Exposing that Hammerhead for what he is/done. Don't forget those gun players in Weller, Marsh, etc... that hammerhead also bought to the club. He is a disgrace and is so overrated it's not funny.
GO TIGES!!!
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If she wants to write about legacy maybe she could compare Clinton's to her old man's - he left us massive debt too IIRC ::) :banghead
:bow
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Miller never sold his North Melbourne shares, insisting he was holding them in trust for Bob Ansett.
Because they are not really his shares. Bob Ansett has his North shares spread around a few people to avoid a 5% maximum shareholding rule. Miller is just holding them for Ansett. He votes the way Ansett tells him too.
It has been said that Terry Wallace — whom Miller appointed to a five-year deal at the end of 2004 as part of Casey's legacy, which left the club in debt to the tune of $4 million — has escaped scrutiny this season. But surely Miller, by any stretch of the imagination, must be seen to have failed the club he joined to help win a premiership.
When was Miller CEO or on the board when Wallace arrived to appoint Wallace himself ???.
It was put to Miller that the club seems to have gone backwards since he took over. He pointed to the stable board, high membership and successive profits. This was cheeky. That Richmond again will make a million-dollar profit this year without special AFL assistance is, according to the AFL, due to the good work of chief executive Wright.
Yep it is Stephen Wright's work but the question was that the club has gone backwards. The answer is it hasn't. It is still rebuilding itself both on and off the field.
Consider Miller's early moves at Richmond. He urged the board to extend Frawley's contract to remove pressure from the coach and in his first draft, he effectively traded away picks two, 18, 28 and 32 for Kane Johnson and Jay Schulz.
Pick 28 was for Justin Blumfield.
We also got pick 41 in that Johnson trade which was used on Tim Fleming. The later picks were swapped.
It should have be mentioned we could have gotten both Sugar and Wells but instead the previous admin under Brayshaw put those wanting to leave on big $$$ and long contracts to keep them at Richmond.
Time could prove us wrong, but when you look at Richmond's youth in the form of its first, second, third and fourth-year players, they do not present as a potential force in 2011, the year the club has earmarked as high noon on the premiership clock.
That would be 11 on the clock Caro. We would not be consistent finalists until 2011 onwards according to Wallace's presentation. That's 4 years away at least. By then we'll have new facilities, no debt and hence more dough to spend in other areas around the Club that need more $$$. We're only now putting money into recruiting and development where we were the lowest spending club in the comp. And people wonder was mistakes have been made in recruiting and development of players.
A Richmond premiership player commented before the recent Hawthorn clash that he looked forward to watching the Richmond "pygmies" take on Hawthorn's "land of the giants". That game cruelly exposed two football strategies that left the Tigers wanting. In the Port Adelaide disaster, the club's youth was used as an excuse and yet the Richmond players averaged 64 games to Port's 69.
Agree we are small but taking averages is misleading in our case given the hole in the middle of our list. You cannot compare out more experienced players with those of Port's premiership players and both Port and now Hawthorn this year have a mid-age quality core group. We don't this deep mid-age core.
Miller vowed to lure old Tigers back to Tigerland but still no former player sits on the Richmond board.
We've had former players on the board during the past 25 years and we were still crap and they were hardly doing what was best for the long-term benefit of the RFC.
Miller has done some dumb things but sheesh get a new record Caro :sleep.
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top post MT :clapping
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who really cares
everyone knows miller is fos and a w@nk
miller poq, go back to ur beloved nearly extinct roos
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Great stuff, MT. You've answered Caro very well.
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If she wants to write about legacy maybe she could compare Clinton's to her old man's - he left us massive debt too IIRC ::) :banghead
OUCH lol :thumbsup
Double ouch ;D. WP brings out the sledgehammer :lol
Caro's daddy let 3 Club champions walk out of the Club too and the Club hasn't been the same since :whistle.
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Miller never sold his North Melbourne shares, insisting he was holding them in trust for Bob Ansett.
If there not his shares he should dispose of them back to Mr Ansett or to someone else to hold them for Mr Ansett.
It has been said that Terry Wallace — whom Miller appointed to a five-year deal at the end of 2004 as part of Casey's legacy, which left the club in debt to the tune of $4 million — has escaped scrutiny this season. But surely Miller, by any stretch of the imagination, must be seen to have failed the club he joined to help win a premiership.
Greg Miller put himself up as the person who ran the footy department, the person who made the key recommendations in football department. At some stage a person has to be properly evaluated and the fact is we are stone motherless last and the supporters have lost hope.
It was put to Miller that the club seems to have gone backwards since he took over. He pointed to the stable board, high membership and successive profits. This was cheeky. That Richmond again will make a million-dollar profit this year without special AFL assistance is, according to the AFL, due to the good work of chief executive Wright.
Stephen Wright is the person who lead the business side of the club back to some healthiness. This is indisputable and Wilson is correct on this.
Consider Miller's early moves at Richmond. He urged the board to extend Frawley's contract to remove pressure from the coach and in his first draft, he effectively traded away picks two, 18, 28 and 32 for Kane Johnson and Jay Schulz.
Pick 28 was for Justin Blumfield- what a great success that was lolm, p41 was used on Fleming another superstar right there. We could have gotten Wells but we were the only club in the country who didnt realise that Carlton were gonna lose there picks- this to me is incomprehensible.
Time could prove us wrong, but when you look at Richmond's youth in the form of its first, second, third and fourth-year players, they do not present as a potential force in 2011, the year the club has earmarked as high noon on the premiership clock.
In 2004 we had 5 top 20 picks. Unfortunately this wasnt the draft that will put us on the road to a flag, indeed it seems its not even a draft that could make us competitive. Wilson was correct on this as well.
A Richmond premiership player commented before the recent Hawthorn clash that he looked forward to watching the Richmond "pygmies" take on Hawthorn's "land of the giants". That game cruelly exposed two football strategies that left the Tigers wanting. In the Port Adelaide disaster, the club's youth was used as an excuse and yet the Richmond players averaged 64 games to Port's 69.
Cant disagree.
Miller vowed to lure old Tigers back to Tigerland but still no former player sits on the Richmond board.
Well thats true as well.
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Caro's daddy let 3 Club champions walk out of the Club too and the Club hasn't been the same since :whistle.
5 club champions. ;)
Bryan Wood and Brian Taylor also walked out during his presidency.
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Caro's daddy let 3 Club champions walk out of the Club too and the Club hasn't been the same since :whistle.
5 club champions. ;)
Bryan Wood and Brian Taylor also walked out during his presidency.
Cheers FF. You're right. I forgot he got chucked out in 1985.
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If she wants to write about legacy maybe she could compare Clinton's to her old man's - he left us massive debt too IIRC ::) :banghead
OUCH lol :thumbsup
Double ouch ;D. WP brings out the sledgehammer :lol
Caro's daddy let 3 Club champions walk out of the Club too and the Club hasn't been the same since :whistle.
Yeah sorry I am so sick of all this crap.
Caro has been carrying on about Clinton Casey for god knows how many years now. He is gone but she brings up the old chestnut every year without fail. If she is going to take pot shots from the comfy of her cheap seat then she deserves a few rockets back. It's all about consistency and balanced reporting
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i think she has another piece in tomorrows age..re: joseph and sheedy plot, word around the place is that perhaps ronny is trying to get wallace to north under wallaces instruction?
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everyone knows Ugly Caro writes rubbish but all you supporters continue to read her rubbish & thats what sells media ;D