Rawlings named as caretaker coach
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen 11:39 AM Sat 06 June, 2009
JADE Rawlings has been named as Richmond's caretaker coach, and he says it's the start of a new season for the team.
The 31-year-old, who coaches Richmond's VFL affiliate side Coburg, is by far the youngest senior coach in the AFL.
Rawlings was chosen ahead of other Tigers' assistant coaches Wayne Campbell, Brian Royal, David King and Craig McRae to take the helm in place of Terry Wallace.
Rawlings said he was thrilled to be appointed to the position.
"I'm very humbled and extremely excited," Rawlings said at Punt Rd on Saturday afternoon.
"The club's shown they've gone through a process and stuck to it – I was only notified this morning.
"A couple of the guys are probably a bit disappointed, but geez, the support I've had already from the assistant coaches is outstanding.
"The main thing I want to get out is that one season's gone and a new one's starting, and we really want to get some life into the second half of the year."
Rawling's first match in charge of the Tigers will be against West Coast at Docklands on Saturday night.
But he admitted that, with the season at 2-9, finals were unlikely.
"This place is a fantastic footy club, and I'm lucky to be part of it – I think the fundamentals are pretty good.
"I know that hasn't shown in wins and losses, but we'll get a style that we think is sustainable for the future – finals footy this year might be a bit hard – but we'll play a sustainable brand that's going to stack up in the finals for whoever takes over, whatever happens in the future."
In the meantime, Rawlings will be off to Ballarat tomorrow to coach Coburg for the last time this year.
The Tasmanian, who is the brother-in-law of fellow Taswegian Matthew Richardson, played 148 games for Hawthorn, the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne in his 10 year AFL career before ongoing knee problems forced him out.
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