Newman has survived, thrived, as captain
Michael Gleeson | June 26, 2009
SINCE he played his last game of last season, Chris Newman has been appointed club captain, welcomed the circus that was the arrival of Ben Cousins, endured a season of losses, seen off one coach, welcomed another and dealt with a raft of veteran players being axed from the side. And he has played a bit of football.
"It has been a year I have really learnt a lot about myself, and in a way (it) has fast-tracked my development as a leader," he said.
"You would have to think it will get easier from here. But I do think I have grown from the experience. I guess I would rather have gone through what I have in the early stages so I am prepared for what is to come."
Significantly, Newman had to deal with the suspicion that he led a player revolt against former coach Terry Wallace. After snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against Port Adelaide, Newman had a forthright discussion with Wallace about what was going wrong.
"That meeting was nothing really that different to what we had discussed in previous meetings. It was a discussion I had with 'Plough' (Wallace) and the details are not really for public consumption, but it was a meeting more about the specifics of how we wanted to play.
"There were never any personal attacks either way and I guess we had won one game for the year, so clearly we needed to review what we were doing and what changes we needed to make on the ground.
"It was pretty difficult and one of the challenges you face when you become captain of a footy club, but it is probably the most important thing to be able to be the voice, to be able to bridge that gap between player and coach, and myself and Plough always had a good relationship.
"It was never a case of pointing fingers at any one individual, it was just a meeting, or series of meetings, that had to be had to get our season back on track … But no, I didn't say that I thought Terry should go."
Wallace might have confided in friends after that meeting that he expected to be sacked by the club the next morning, and indeed the next day it was reported (prematurely as it turned out) that he was out. Wallace remained in the job for another few weeks.
"It was a tough thing to deal with when Terry did go," Newman said. "We have some older players but we are really a young group and we had not experienced anything like this before and really got exposed to the political side of football.
"That was the biggest challenge for me, and the leadership group, to steer them away from that … and try to stay focused to get our next win."
The first decision of the new coach, Jade Rawlings, was a bold statement. Selecting the side for his first week in charge, he cut a swathe through the team, dropping five players with a combined tally of almost 800 games.
"It is the responsibility of any player … to take being dropped the right way. I think the comments about Jade — 'Jade the blade', that sort of thing — were a bit unfair for a guy that has stepped into the role brand new," Newman said.
"I don't think his intention was to make a statement with the selections. I think that was the way it worked out. Those guys have different reasons for why they were dropped."
It was just another issue to be confronted in a year of challenge and change, that began with the arrival of Cousins.
The recruitment of Cousins ensured the circus was coming to town, but Richmond was happy to pitch the tent. "I think if we want to go anywhere as a club — and when we do have the success that I think is just around the corner — I think we are going to have to deal with those pressures anyway," he said.
"I didn't think a few extra cameras and us being in the papers each week would impact the group too much, and to be honest I think it would be a bit of a cop-out to say that it did affect the group.
"For me, the attention on Ben was a bit of an eye-opener, because I hadn't seen that sort of attention on any player. But I definitely think it is a good thing that Ben is here."
Against the Bulldogs in round 11, as Richmond pressed hard in the second half, Cousins jumped from his seat on the interchange bench and began to implore his teammates. It was irresistibly inspiring. It was leadership from the man considered a risk. It was galvanising from the man thought likely to be destabilising.
"He has been great for me as a leader," Newman said. "When he first got to the club all his focus was on getting his body right to be able to get himself to a stage where he could contribute on the field. There were no expectations on him to take a leadership role … but as he has got to know the playing group and started to play more football, he has really come out of himself and shown his leadership qualities.
"He is a charismatic figure. He has been really influential in a lot of our games … on and off the field."
Newman has gradually come to terms with his own idea of leadership and how best he leads. What has been more difficult to understand is why the team he leads has gone so poorly, believing that the side has underachieved this year and that pre-season expectations, although high, were not outrageously so.
"Obviously there was a huge build-up pre-season and with the recruiting of Ben a lot of supporters got very excited and thought he was coming here to take us to the finals. He was brought here to add to the group, not to necessarily take us to the finals," Newman said.
"We still feel as though we have a strong group and a really good playing list. We have played under our ability throughout the year and that is the most disappointing thing, because I know that we have the talent here to be able to mix it with any club on any given day.
"For the players now, there is no choice but to get on with what is in front of us and salvage something out of the next part of the season. As Jade has said, we are starting a new season, what has happened in the past has happened, and that is where it stays."
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