RIP Yabbie

[FNM]

Allan Jeans has passed away

[Dubstep Dookie]

RIP Yabbie

[one-eyed]

RFC via Cambo and Benny Gale pay tribute to Allan Jeans...


Wayne Campbell has vivid memories of his initial meeting with his new Richmond coach in late 1991.

“I still remember the spot where he came up and shook my hand and said, ‘I’ve watched your tape and I really think you can play’.  I’d only played 12 games in my first season and I didn’t know whether I could play or not, but when ‘Yabby’ said that, I thought, gee, he’s smart, so I must be a player,” Campbell said.

“That gave me a real lift and I reckon from that moment on, I was on the right track . . .

“He said, ‘I’m not about wins and losses, you’re just going to play in the middle with Stewie Maxfield all year and we’re going to develop you as players.  Then, hopefully, we’ll get some good players down the track and build a side’.

“So, for the whole year, he backed me in, even when I played some bad games.
 
“I remember I had the flu one week, so he said, ‘Right, you’re not playing’.  I started to argue, but he just said, ‘You’re not playing and that’s that!’  So, I quickly retreated.”

The famous Allan Jeans coaching mantra of “either we’ve got it, they’ve (the opposition’s) got it, or it’s in dispute” was drummed into the Richmond players throughout the 1992 season . . .

“Yabby kept going on about that, along with ‘the side that wins in most positions on the ground, and makes the last number of mistakes, wins the game’.  Unfortunately, however, when he was with us, we were making more mistakes and we were beaten in most positions,” Campbell said.

“It was just a shame that we didn’t have him for longer . . .”

...

Richmond’s CEO, Brendon Gale, who also spent the 1992 season under Jeans’ astute coaching guidance, reinforced Campbell’s comments about the man . . .

“Although Allan had only one year here at the Club, he certainly influenced a lot of people,” Gale said.

“He was highly respected and we all had a great deal of affection for him.

“Over the years, he retained a keen interest in our club’s development and when I spoke to him last week, he was eager to talk about Damien’s progression as a coach and the progress of our playing group.

“Allan was a great football person and we are all saddened by his passing.

“On behalf of the Club, deepest sympathy to Allan’s wife, Mary, the rest of his family and the many friends he made throughout his wonderful football life.”

As a mark of respect for Allan Jeans, the Richmond team will wear black armbands in Saturday’s Round 17 match against the Gold Coast Suns at Cazaly’s Stadium.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/118473/default.aspx

[Hellenic Tiger]

So we should wear black armbands on Saturday.
I am glad someone senior from the RFC spoke on behalf of the club and in being Benny and Campo who played under him was apt. I am also glad that the club was respectful and spoke after St Kilda and Hawthorn had their chances to pay tribute to him first.
An ornament to the game and a legendary coach from a bygone era of football.
RIP Yabbie.

[mightytiges]

Jeans gave up the Richmond job after one year due to illness IIRC. There was talk at the time of Jeans and Northey being a repeat of the Len Smith -  Hafey situation we had in the mid-60s. I also remember Jeans trying to bring professionalism into the Club or at least trying to make the Club look professional with all coaching staff wearing suits during games and when addressing 1/4 and 3/4 time breaks.

[Penelope]

from memory he had a stroke of a benign brain tumor, or something along those lines? some sort of follow up to the problem he had a hawthorne a few years earlier?

[one-eyed]

Cameron Schwab telling a story about Jeans giving Tim Powell a reality check when they were at Richmond....


Melbourne CEO Cameron Schwab, representing Richmond, where he was general manager during Jeans' year as Tigers coach in 1992, told of a similar reality check delivered to young half-back Tim Powell.

Powell had won praise from Jeans for playing an excellent match against Collingwood, to which Powell responded by asking why he wasn't given a go at manning Magpies forward Peter Daicos, who had bagged seven goals in a best on ground display.

"You're a car salesman, aren't you son?" Schwab recalled Jeans as telling Powell.

"Well, let me put this in terms you'll understand.

"You are a Holden, and Daicos is a Mercedes Benz.

"Do you understand now, son?"

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/119014/default.aspx