Casey earns kudos as Terry's time out ends
Patrick Smith
The Australian
August 11, 2004
TERRY WALLACE has done the media round these past nine days. His best work was on the David Letterman Show. He was as relaxed with Jay Leno as he was with Parkinson. And the chemistry between Andrew Denton and Wallace was excellent on Enough Rope.
And his interview with the Prime Minister John Howard on Wallace's new show Timeout With Terry put Kerry O'Brien to shame. A canny mix of humour and gravitas.
It has been a gruelling schedule but he was able to keep his best to last when he fronted the media in his new role as Richmond coach last night. Smooth and measured.
There is no doubt Richmond president Clinton Casey and his right-hand man Greg Miller got the best coach available for their club.
This has been a masterful month for Casey. He has been able to expertly diffuse a challenge by dissidents led by former board member Brendan Schwab.
His compromise with Schwab was brilliant negotiation. The annual election was brought forward one month from January to December, Schwab supporter Bryan Wood was added to the sub-committee selecting the new club coach and Mike Humphris was given access to the books.
Casey's handling of this challenge was critical in securing Wallace's signature. The would-be coach was after stability. The fact that Casey had convinced Schwab not to push on for an extraordinary general meeting -- invariably ugly, explosive and destabilising -- meant that if there was to be a transfer of power at board level, it would be controlled and civil.
It would be after the draft and trade periods, yet it would be all done by Christmas. Wallace could live with that.
It was when Wood met Miller to discuss the coaching position on July 30 that Wood would have realised that Schwab's push for power was doomed.
Miller outlined to Wood the criteria the sub-committee had been working to -- a proven senior coach with the ability to sell the club. Wallace had been identified as that man and had been offered the job for five years.
When news broke in The Australian on August 2 that Wallace would coach the Tigers his media employer, The Herald Sun, was livid that it had been scooped and Hawthorn moved to make one last desperate bid to win Wallace over.
It was a nonsensical week. However, at a meeting with the Hawthorn board on August 5 the club could again not convince Wallace that the Scott situation could be stabilised. Scott, a horseman, was still building his posse.
In a very short time Casey has rebuilt Richmond, a club that was failing on the field and losing millions off it.
He has delivered the best coach available. He has employed the highly regarded Steve Wright to be the club's chief executive. He starts next week.
Casey has been able to retain generous sponsorships in a difficult climate. He has had the club's business plan rewritten. The AFL has seen the new financial document and endorsed it. And Casey has shown that the Tigers can go head-to-head with the Hawthorn board and beat it hopelessly.
Casey's work is hardly done, though. He must find new revenues, cut costs and continue to improve the brand. He now appears to have the right executive to do it.
Wallace must work just as diligently, enthusiastically and with flair. His record shows that is precisely his modus operandi. Wallace took the Bulldogs to two preliminary finals and lifted the profile of the club as if by crane.
What was grim and gloomy at Punt Road six weeks ago is now exciting. Fresh and vibrant. The Tigers of old.
Timeout With Terry promises to be the next big thing.
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