Richmond club board backs coach Terry Wallace
Jon Ralph | May 11, 2009
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has the support of the club board and administration despite the Tigers' season sinking further into the mire. Wallace's description of Saturday's Alex Rance-Troy Selwood collision as a "fair dinkum car crash" could easily be applied to Richmond's season.
Despite the disappointment of Richmond's loss to the Brisbane Lions at the MCG - in which the Tigers conceded 12 of the last 15 goals - there appears to be no groundswell to remove Wallace as coach.
Instead, he will continue this year until the Tigers win-loss record becomes so intolerable it forces the club's hand, or he walks from the job.
The view from Richmond's hierarchy is that there is no benefit in sacking Wallace after just two months of the season.
"We are still planning for Terry to be our senior coach this year," one official said yesterday.
No side has made the finals in a 16-team competition from 1-6, which means he has no chance of coaching next year.
But the uneven AFL ladder - the Tigers are two games and percentage from seventh spot - means the club can argue the season is not yet over.
If anything, the heat is set to be turned on the players this week.
After using lock-down tactics in the third quarter against Brisbane, Wallace told his players to take risks.
The response: Brisbane kicked six goals to wipe the floor with Richmond.
President Gary March's pre-match comments on Saturday revealed the club had started thinking ahead.
"This speculation (about Mick Malthouse) is going to go on and on . . . but we'll be reviewing our coaching position in due course," he said. "We won't be making handshake agreements with anyone and when we do get around to appointing our coach, we'll go through a proper process."
Richmond yesterday clarified the nature of its June board meeting, where it has been reported it will decide Wallace's future. Instead, it said that meeting is more about the conclusion of its year-long football department review.
Wallace spoke of personnel changes after his players won the hard ball against Brisbane but were let down again by turnovers.
The good news is that star midfielder Trent Cotchin is nearly ready after three weeks of match practice.
He got through a Coburg scratch match - a glorified competitive training session - on Friday night.
Andrew Raines could return and Andrew Collins continues to impress in the seniors, but elsewhere the future looks bleak.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25458566-19771,00.html
