Miller warning
By Damian Barrett
December 13, 2004
RICHMOND supporters have been warned against empowering Greg Miller with a board position by a Kangaroos director who claims Miller left the Roos in poor financial shape.
Kangaroos powerbroker Peter de Rauch said Miller's decision to join president Clinton Casey's board ticket was another example of him acting outside his job description.
"Don't take this as a comment on the Richmond board election, but I can not understand what Greg is carrying on with, given his track record at North," De Rauch said.
"When he left North we were in debt, and what he is doing now is a carbon copy of what he did at North.
"Casey gets up and says they are profitable three years ago; Miller gets there and what has happened since then?
"They have gone down the drain financially."
De Rauch, who has injected money into the struggling Kangaroos, said Miller's board push was all wrong.
"He is an employee. He might have a good football brain, but that is where he should stay, in football," De Rauch said.
"He shouldn't be going anywhere near the board. He did that at North, too, spent two years trying to get on the board."
However, Mark Dawson, a director of the Kangaroos during Miller's time as chief executive, said whatever problems the club might have encountered should not be attributed to Miller.
"The board runs the footy club, the board is responsible for what goes on and as far as I am concerned as a footy club, we did well during that time," Dawson said. "We were very successful, played in three Grand Finals, two premierships. Greg and Peter have problems with each other."
For his part, Miller would say only that De Rauch's comments should be ignored because they came from a long-time adversary.
"This election has got so low that they have picked out the one man in 34 years of football who has an axe to grind against me," Miller said.
De Rauch said Miller's attachment to Clinton Casey was similar to his working relationship with former Roos' chairman Ron Casey.
"He is not getting on the Richmond board because of his football nous; he is getting on there to help Casey and he thinks he is a board member and he can do everything terrific," De Rauch said.
"He already has the role of football manager. There is no need to do anything more."
De Rauch said Miller also owed it to the Kangaroos to refrain from seeking to join the board of a rival club.
"Greg was made a life member of North Melbourne," he said.
"Now, you don't mind if a life member goes somewhere else and works as an employee, that's fine, but you just don't go and try to get on the board.
"What is the use of him being a life member of North Melbourne for so-called services, and then he goes on to another club's board?"
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