Reflections of a year of big change at Tigerland
4:09:38 PM Fri 7 October, 2005
By Richmond coach Terry Wallace
richmondfc.com.au
Well, today I take off for a two-week break with my family, after my first 12 months back at Punt Road. My children, who are aged 14, 12 and 11, will be looking forward to having their dad’s undivided attention for a fortnight. Realistically, however, I think they are just rapt they only had to go back to school for four days before getting more holidays. Fortunately, they are still at the age where family time is more important, and I’m sure my wife Keryn will gladly hand over the reins to me for a while.
Reflecting on my first full year at Richmond, there has been massive change in a short time . . . The starting point after season 2004 was to cull an underachieving playing list. Thirteen changes to our list was the most made by any AFL club. But in reality, I do not think we have been hurt by any of these changes.
Once Brad Ottens made his decision to move on, I saw an opportunity present itself to rejuvenate our list. I remember one day in September last year ringing Greg Miller and saying, “If we can get Troy Simmonds from Fremantle, plus two first-round draft picks (which was Greg’s idea), not only will we not lose ground for today, but we will be better served for the future. The arrival of Simmonds, Knobel and Graham added immediate hope to the group, while five top-20 draft selections meant we had relaunched ourselves for the future.
Next step was staffing the football department. Similar to the playing group, I thought there was a need for change. Paul Armstrong (Football Operations Manager) is a class act. He has been in the game for a couple of decades, starting with the AFL, before moving back to his true love – club footy. Paul’s a behind-the-scenes man, who doesn’t search for the spotlight at all. He’s a genuine “people’s person”, who already has made his mark at Richmond with both the staff and players. If I want something done, I need to go no further than Paul . . .
Then came an exhaustive interview process with assistant coaches. I must have met about 40 candidates. Finally, this pathway brought me to Brian Royal. Although we had been together years before at the Western Bulldogs, the nature of this industry had us both so busy that our paths had virtually never crossed since. On meeting with Brian, I was stunned how much advancement he had made as a coach since working at both Melbourne and the Kangaroos. He was a stand-out candidate for an assistant coach’s role at the Richmond Football Club, who needed someone of his experience and expertise. It was no surprise that at the end of his first season at Tigerland, he was voted the football division’s MVP (Most Valuable Person) for his overall contribution to the Club.
We then needed some successful people from other clubs, as well as some Richmond people back around Tigerland.
For those “outsiders” with successful league football backgrounds, I sounded out David King (assistant coach) and Steven Alessio (ruck coach) to add to our team. They are young, vibrant, and can teach the playing group the attitudes necessary to build a truly successful club. These guys already have had a huge impact, particularly David, who I think has moved residence to Punt Road, such is the time he has put into his role.
The Richmond influence was equally important . . . We all know that Tiger icons such as Dale Weightman and Neville Crowe have been regular fixtures at Punt Road, but this year we were able to coax Brian Taylor (forward line advisor) back to the Club, while triple Richmond premiership player, Merv Keane, also kindly gave up his time to assist with the future direction of our playing list. You may also have noticed former Tiger player Phil Egan in the capacity of runner for the team throughout the season.
As well as having these Tigers back around the place, we initiated our player-mentor program. It was great to see some of the Tiger greats, and those who simply love the Club, passing on their experience to the current playing squad.
I also brought Gordon Casey with me as a member of our match committee and backline coach. Gordon has a huge amount of league football experience as a player and coach, and spent his long-service leave from work putting time into our playing group last summer.
When you add David Wheadon (assistant coach), who has done a magnificent job and Greg Miller (Director of Football), who was one of the key reasons I took on the coaching job at Richmond, I firmly believe we have the most experienced football division in the AFL, sprinkled with some youthful vibrancy.
Getting the Punt Road training facility up to scratch was a huge job, and I laugh now when I think back to last October with the coaching staff in overalls, painting, carting rubbish and sweeping up possum poo, which was inches deep. I just wonder what the more senior AFL coaches, such as Pagan, Malthouse, Matthews and Sheedy, would have thought . . . The upshot is that the Graeme Richmond Room has never looked so good!
Increasing fitness levels, match-hardening the group, teaching new playing structures and styles, improving skill levels and developing the team’s football knowledge, were all key on-field challenges.
Off-field, working with CEO Steven Wright, who has done a remarkable job to turn around the finances, we focused on developing and promoting our Club. Greg Miller formed a large, new coterie group – the “Richmond Executive” – while we tried to ensure all other support groups within the Club became more vibrant than ever.
“Tuesdays with Terry” was an initiative to put Richmond at the forefront of all issues with a regular, lengthy Press conference at the same time and place each week. On match days we were the first club to initiate a big thank-you to our supporters by giving away signed footies after wins. By the end of the season, many other clubs had followed the Tigers’ lead . . . I could go on about so many other changes that have taken place at Tigerland over the past 12 months, but we are all now focused on the next step.
Today, the trade period has just been completed and we have picked up Patrick Bowden from the Western Bulldogs in exchange for our fourth-round draft choice (No. 56 overall).
I’m really pleased to have secured the services of Patrick, who I coached at the Bulldogs because I believe he has the potential to play some pretty good footy for us. From a family history viewpoint, it’s great to have Patrick join his older brother Joel at Tigerland, and for him to now be at the club where his father Michael played in a premiership back in 1969.
Joel has been something of a late developer in his league career, hitting his straps in the past couple of seasons with back-to-back Jack Dyer Medals. Patrick is only 24 years of age, and clearly his best football is still ahead of him.
The family traits aspect certainly was a reason why I was keen to keep Shane Tuck on our playing list around this time last year, as I knew his father Michael had been a late developer in his career at Hawthorn. Given Joel Bowden’s significant development these past two seasons, it’s also why I believe Patrick was well worth picking up for a late draft pick . . .
Overall, it was a very quiet trade period this year and I think that had a lot to do with the financial situation of clubs. It all boils down to the availability of space in your salary cap and budget. As much as supporters may want you to grab certain players – or get rid of other ones in trade week – money is the key criteria. The contractual situation of players makes trading a particularly complex business.
Obviously, last year we were in a much stronger position trade-wise, due to Brad Ottens’ decision to leave Tigerland. This year, it was quite a different story altogether . . .
There were a couple of key rules that we took into this year’s trade period. The first one was that we didn’t want to trade away the future of the Club under any circumstances. Our picks 8 and 24 in the National Draft were extremely important to us and, even though we were prepared to look at the Brendan Fevola situation at Carlton, the reality was that was always going to be a difficult deal to do.
The second key rule we had was not to “fall in love” with players during trade week. It’s like buying your first home . . . you don’t want to fall in love with a house you’ve seen to the point where you’ll pay much more than it’s worth. You just have to be very careful in your dealings . . .
We had set plans that we took into the trade period. If they worked out, well and good, but if they didn’t, we certainly weren’t going to be too concerned. Our priority was to try to get some more high picks in the November draft, rather than give them away. It didn’t pan out that way, so now we move on. We will still have at least one pick in the pre-season draft, and we’ll position ourselves to bring a senior-bodied player into the Club.
When the players return to pre-season training in late October, we have some other initiatives in place, such as Richmond T@FE (Tigers at Football Education), which I will explain to you further on my return.
AFL football is simply measured by your position on the ladder, but I hope this provides Tiger supporters with some insight into how we have taken our Club on its first steps. Stats and recruiting have gone from crayons to computers, while we are better placed both on and off the field.
Well, that’s enough for now . . . I’m dreaming of the sun on my face (which you all know I love), some quiet dinners with my lovely wife and splashing in the pool with my kids. Everyone needs to recharge the batteries at some stage, but you can rest assured that I will be sitting on a secluded beach somewhere, thinking how the Richmond Football Club can gain an advantage over the rest of the competition.
Yellow and Black is now well and truly in my blood . . .
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=233749
