Hardwick, Gale urge fans to signrichmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen Thu 11 February, 2010RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick and CEO Brendon Gale are urging club supporters to become members and experience the excitement to come.
Fans have so far been reluctant to sign up after a horror 2009 season where the club was touted as a potential finalist before the season but saw them finish 15th. But Gale says there is cause for optimism and is asking supporters to get back on board.
The club also doesn't have all the hype that surrounded the signing of Ben Cousins, which drew huge publicity along with quite a few members from the West who were glad to see a club give the Brownlow Medallist another chance.
Membership is lower than hoped given last year's stellar numbers, but new CEO Gale said the club was working hard to get numbers up.
"Our goals are very aggressive - we expect to hold our membership numbers," Gale told richmondfc.com.au. "We had 46,000 last year all up, and we're working our butts off to get to 46.
"Are we there yet? No we're not, we're a little over halfway, but we've got a new coach with a really clear game plan, a plan for the future, and that's really exciting, and we've got some really exciting new players who are extremely talented and many of who will form the basis of our 11th premiership team.
"Our members can come and see the genesis of that."
With a $20 million facility being built at Punt Rd, the Tigers are on the way to having a competition-leading training base in the shadows of the MCG.
Gale said the money generated by memberships would allow the Tigers to match the wealthier clubs' off-field advantages.
"A thousand more members is about $200,000, which could be invested in recruiting - we've increased our recruiting this year, but Collingwood outspend us two to one," Gale said.
"We could get another assistant coach, bolster our community program, send our guys on a really good empowering camp rather than the Wye River caravan park, maybe Arizona."
Hardwick said with a strong president in Gary March and new CEO Gale, the whole Richmond team were ready to embrace a new plan that would return the club to the success of previous years.
"We feel we've got a blueprint for success, and we're not going to shortcut or deviate from that blueprint," Hardwick said.
"So whether I'm the bloke or Brendon's the bloke to finish the job, we don't know, but we're going to start it.
"There'll be no shortcuts from here on in, there are no quick fixes - as harsh as it is, the greatest measure of success is hard work and discipline, and that's something we're looking to instil in this club."
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