One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on July 28, 2008, 03:45:48 AM
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Tigers go elsewhere to replace manager
Greg Denham | July 28, 2008
RICHMOND may go outside the AFL to replace its general manager of football operations Greg Miller, who was "sacked" on the weekend.
Sources close to the Tigers yesterday revealed that a replacement, set to be recommended by president Gary March before the end of the season, has an elite sporting background, but not necessarily within the AFL.
Words used within Richmond circles to describe a likely successor since The Weekend Australian reported exclusively that Miller's time at Punt Road was up after almost six years, have included "younger", "sharper" and "dynamic".
Miller's demise was hastened on the weekend following the revelation that he would be axed at the end of the season.
A brief conversation on Friday night between Miller, 55, and March led to a scheduled meeting on Saturday, but Miller, feeling betrayed by the Tigers, did not attend.
Instead, he is believed to have spent most of the weekend in the countryside southeast of Melbourne.
Miller had questioned March over the validity of rumours and innuendo about his position and the Tigers' president wanted to front him face-to-face.
March, who yesterday did not return calls from The Australian, has called a staff meeting today to explain all, following uncertainty within the Tigers' football department over the weekend.
Sections of the Richmond board and administration were also believed to have been caught unawares by Miller's premature exit.
Richmond coach Terry Wallace, who first learned of Miller's fate late on Friday night, was informed by telephone by Miller on Saturday that he would not be attending that night's match with Brisbane at Telstra Dome.
Part of Miller's role was to sit on the bench at game days, co-ordinating opposition match-ups with players coming on and off the ground.
He was requested to resign as a director last month to allow former captain and best-and-fairest winner Tony Free to join the board as its director of football, in a transparent pointer to change.
"Tony is a new director and he's trying to learn and find out as much as he can," Miller said. "Certainly he's around in all of our departments, gathering information, but what that ultimately leads to or what his conclusions are will be interesting."
There were mixed messages yesterday over Free's recent assessment of the football department, including his role in Miller's standing.
Miller is understood to be shocked by the swiftness of his fall from grace.
Before the weekend, he described speculation about his removal as unfounded, saying he was unaware of any proposed football department shake-up at Punt Road.
After a long career at North Melbourne, which included a stint as chief executive, Miller was lured to the Tigers in October, 2002, by then-president Clinton Casey as director of football. He subsequently joined Casey's board, topping the voting poll when Casey fended off a board challenge from a rival group.
But, under new president March, who took over from Casey at the end of 2005, Miller's position has been constantly challenged and his power base gradually diminished, although he continued to raise funds with a coterie called the Richmond Executive.
His relationship with March has been described as "simmering" after much antagonism over the past 18 months.
According to Richmond sources yesterday, Miller had become a "jack-of-all-trades" but a master of few.
After "running the show" under Casey, Miller's latest position at Punt Road was described as being more involved in player welfare, where he was particularly popular with younger players.
Following the Tigers' three-point win over the Lions, their fifth in their past six games, Wallace said Miller's exit was more of a distraction for himself, rather than his players.
Wallace, who said he had been in regular contact with March, denied reports that he would lose one or more assistant coaches at the end of the season.
"I've had virtually a guarantee from Gary (March) and Tony Free that they're really pleased with the job that our assistant coaches are doing," he said yesterday on Melbourne radio.
"Whilst we're looking to bolster our assistant coaches, that doesn't necessarily mean that those that are there are in danger."
Wallace said the club would review all his staff at the end of the season.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24086352-2722,00.html