JUSTIN RIDGE - TIGERLAND.COM.AU
I've always felt proud of the RFC slogan' and on the 8th day God created Richmond' because after God and family, Richmond is my next love. I think the reality of Richmond is that we have so many outstanding natural advantages that only the pride of RFC's constituents stand in the way of success at Tigerland.
Are you tired of the pre election slugging match of some candidates who hold or seek power at our club? I am. In my view each 'ticket' is flawed so you have to select each Board member carefully. This election is for individual candidates - do not vote for a 'ticket' in its entirety!
If all was working perfectly at Tigerland, this is how I hope the RFC board composition would be:
1. President C Casey or C Macek
2. Vice President C Macek or C Casey
3. Marketing/media Rex Hunt *
4. Football/Honorary Kevin Bartlett *
5. Football/Employee Greg Miller
6. Legal/Secretarial Benny Gale *
7. FinanciaVStrategy Justin Ridge ACA
8. Jack Dyer Foundation D Lord
9. Female representative *
* At time of writing, not available for election
Unfortunately, this optimal board remains a future scenario at best. I hope you share my optimism that it would be great if we one day got our best off field team together in the magnificent RFC Boardroom. We need unison and leadership at the top rather than the unnecessary politics and mud slinging that has in my opinion become an epidemic at RFC.
I don't have an allegiance to either 'ticket', but I do have views on the 2 'tickets' as follows:
1. It is my impression that the current Board has recently found good 'form'. Having said that, only a financial turnaround will restore the reputation of this Board. Please consider me as an alternative to one of the persons on the Casey or Macek 'ticket' for my strong financial background.
2. The Rex Hunt Board nomination setback for RFC will hopefully be short lived. It is my strong preference that Rex is on our Board. He would be an outstanding appointment. Please consider me as a 'Yes!' for Rex Hunt.
3. It is essential that you vote for Greg Miller.
4. I thought the attitude displayed over the Rex Hunt membership oversight reflected poorly on the Macek 'ticket' when it is obvious that the due diligence could have been better. Don't you agree that all Richmond people should be working to get Rex onto the Board? Unfortunately, the
rules sometimes cause unfortunate results and Rex is no longer in the running. Please
consider me as a person who works without pride or prejudice for RFC, believes in
'substance over form' and treats all of its constituents with respect.
5. The Macek 'ticket' is also tarnished by the 03/04 loss recently announced as Brendan
Schwab was a Board member during most of the financial year in question. My view is you
can't have your cake and eat it too. The loss was a major setback and I think both
'tickets' will be better offfor the knowledge and amended approaches to financial
management that a setback like this represents.
Who am I?
I am 35 years of age, married and have a 10-year-old daughter.
Nobody loves Richmond more than I do - I treat it as I would a son or daughter, win lose or draw.
Professionally, I'm a Chartered Accountant. My key strengths are in finance, project management and finding creative solutions.
My most recent employers were WMC (currently under take over), Ashton Mining (taken over by Rio Tinto) and Duesburys (taken over by Deloitte). By good fortune, I have only ever worked for successful businesses.
I have been a board member of Australian Diamond Exploration NL (taken over by Ashton) and held honorary Council positions on Good Shepherd Lutheran Primary School and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. I have served on numerous Board sub committees including Ashton's Finance Committee and Audit Committee.
I have started a number of businesses including Rookies & Legends (Sports card/memorabilia) and Portfolio Resources (investment) - these two businesses have been sold. I am soon to launch Tigerland.com.au.
Why vote for Justin Ridge?
1. It would be a great honour to represent you on the RFC Board. I would bring great energy and professionalism to the Board as well as bring plenty of ideas. I expect that in the initial3-month period, I would seek to commit up to 3 honorary days per week to make a real impact.
2. On Rex Hunt, it is my view that nearly every person running for election should be prepared to make way for Rex ifhe was available to join the RFC Board. To demonstrate that I am serious on this issue, it is my pledge that if elected, 1 will seek to hand over my position to Rex ifno other Board member has done so by 28 February 2005. This would be a great honour as Rex would be an outstanding officer of the Club. To achieve this, Rex would obviously need to agree, and the newly elected board, would also have to agree to appoint Rex in my place as a casual vacancy.
3. I am not aligned to either 'ticket' and am not interested in power or politics. I want to serve the Club to the best of my ability.
4. I will work hard to develop our sponsor relationships. Having recently holidayed at the magnificent Laguna Whitsundays, I can see great opportunities for this relationship to become an outstanding one.
5. We are a great club - our history, our emblem, our supporter base all point to the success wheel turning in our favour. As success starts off the field, I look forward to the challenge of helping move RFC forward.
The genesis of this document (on the 8th day..) are familiar words to diehard supporters. Interestingly, my closure to this document provides further evidence, tongue in cheek, of why Richmond's claim to royalty has merit.
For further understanding, please read the book of Revelation from the Bible (Revelation 1:13 and 15:6) this Christmas to discover you're in good company when you wear the golden sash!
Season's greetings
Justin Ridge Tigerland.com.au
