Tigers task's a drug to me
11 August 2004
Herald Sun
Terry Wallace, Richmond coach 2005
THE positive force that lured me to Punt Rd was the fairytale that is Richmond.
It's like a drug, the challenge of turning a club around. I've been there before with the Bulldogs and it was bloody exciting to see people get revved up when it started to swing upwards.
The Tigers have been down and broken for a long time, but if you could fix it, how sensational would that be?
I'm not a comfort-zone person. There's something in me that likes the razor's edge. The hunger was still there for it.
Some people who have gone from coaching into the media or are in the media, won't take the jump because they don't want to risk their reputation or the stress and work levels.
I don't mind that. I had this hunger and desire, and another job may not have ever eventuated if I didn't bite it off now.
The way it finished last time was also a factor. I still have massive regrets about the way it finished at the Bulldogs.
I copped my bit and I was willing enough to say: "I've worn the flak of that, I'll get on with life." But I just didn't want it to finish that way.
So many things attracted me to Tigerland - the history, the famous location of Punt Rd and the ability to have a bursting membership base.
I'm hoping that the members will see this as their opportunity to create future stability from now on. Let's get some solidarity about the place.
If the Tiger army has got this magical ability to roar and be as one, let's see it. Let's get some positivity into the place -- let's generate it.
My fairytale is to get it so right at Punt Rd that I end up a Richmond life member - just as I did at my other two clubs.
Sure, people will talk about the five-year term, but most coaches have had their five years.
It's working very well for Mark Thompson at Geelong now, but if it hadn't worked he still would've got five. Danny Frawley got five . . . have a look at most of the coaches - they get five.
I am pleased with the compromise reached politically at Richmond. Both the Clinton Casey and Brendan Schwab factions have backed me - of course that was a major factor in the decision, too.
The final call was made about 3.30pm on Monday. I was sitting in my loungeroom listening to Neil Young.
When my wife Kerryn returned from picking up the kids from school, I passed on the news.
I knew where I was headed as I did my usual spot on 3AW on Monday night but did not ring the Tigers and Hawks until 9pm to let them know of my decision.
And that is exactly how it happened. I was just really disappointed with the so-called leak coming out in The Australian about me being a done-and-dusted deal at Richmond.
It was so disappointing to have people in the media believing I was going through a charade by making a presentation to Hawthorn.
The same people expect everyone to believe everything they say on their particular shows or when they write in the papers -- on the other hand they're not prepared to take you on face value when I've gone on every outlet I've been on telling it the way it is.
I found it offensive that people thought I would go back to my old club Hawthorn and waste their time.
Until Monday evening, it was exactly how it stood.
So why didn't I go to the Hawks, the club I loved and played with for so long?
Of course, I'd love to coach Hawthorn, but I wasn't prepared to step in with political uncertainty.
When it came to the crunch last Thursday during the meeting with the Hawks' board, they asked me whether I wanted to coach them and I couldn't give a definitive answer.
There were questions about political instability that hadn't been answered for me.
There were doubts about the stability of the board, whether there was going to be an EGM and where the other ticket involving Don Scott stood with me. Those things could not be answered.
The Hawks have now come out and said I couldn't give them a definitive answer so I was no longer their No. 1 option.
I have no problem with that, but they couldn't give me a definitive answer on my key question.
I couldn't commit. I had been given sufficient answers at Punt Rd, but not at Glenferrie.
I could confidently step into the job at Richmond knowing there was no danger of falling into a snake pit a couple of months into the job. That couldn't be guaranteed at Hawthorn.
Two years ago it became a political minefield at Sydney when the push was on for caretaker Paul Roos to keep his job. I didn't want to be stepping into a minefield with my very next major decision.
It was tough telling my old teammate Jason Dunstall of my choice.
I think he ought to be the CEO. Whether he wants that position or not, I don't know.
I believe that the Hawthorn Football Club needs him and it's one of the major appointments it needs to get right.
The support of Hawthorn greats like Ron Cook and John Kennedy was also fantastic. Cook phoned with his support, passing on Kennedy's support as well. I was rapt with that.
Basically, I ruled out Adelaide simply for the interstate factor. It was nothing against the Crows - I just didn't want to uproot my family.
In the end, it had to be Richmond.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,10407560%255E19771,00.html
