Tigers on the prowlMichael Gleeson
The Age
May 19, 2012JUST 2½ years ago lowly Richmond was ridiculed for its breathtakingly ambitious five-year plan to play finals three times, wipe out its large, growing debt and double its membership to 75,000. It was called the 3-0-75 plan.
If Richmond wins tonight, it could, depending on other results, be out of the eight on percentage alone, with a persuasive argument to play finals this year. So nearing the halfway mark of the five-year plan, it could be on track to achieve all three goals.
The Richmond membership stands at 49,100 - more even than its opponent tonight, Essendon, and bitter cross-town rival Carlton - and is expected to soon break 50,000 with the launch of a three-game membership.
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The debt, which began at $4.5 million, is $3.5 million. When the Fighting Tiger Fund was launched with a dinner that raised about $2 million, the club used half to retire debt and the other half was invested in football.
The continued membership rise has helped the club exceed its forecasts so it will make a profit this year that could hit seven figures.
The club has front-ended some player contracts and therefore is in a position to buy a player when free agency begins this year. It has also invested significantly in development and recruiting.
In 2009, the season before the plan was launched, Richmond won 5½ games and finished second-last. It had a new coach and had cleaned out its playing list. Richmond will host another dinner on June 2 to renew the impetus to the Fighting Tiger Fund.
President Gary March has said he wants to cut the debt to $2 million this year.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou yesterday lauded the change at Richmond and lavished praise on chief executive Brendon Gale for the turnaround, which he said was incomplete but showed signs of a trend to financial and football health.
"I can remember when Brendon Gale put out that five-year plan and how he was ridiculed about the aspirational aspects of the targets, with people saying they were far-fetched," Demetriou told The Saturday Age.
''He has done a remarkable job, make no mistake, in what he has done at Richmond. He has been a great appointment by Gary and the board.
''Everyone has always assumed that Richmond has this great underlying supporter base that will come out of the woodwork if they are successful and maybe that is true but … what they have achieved in this period has been extraordinary.
"Last year they received a large amount in equalisation from the AFL but prior to that they had not received much from the AFL and neither had they asked for it. They wanted to be self-sufficient.''
The 3-0-75 plan was for finals in three years and beyond that for three premierships in 10 years. It shows Richmond is seeking not just to be good but wants once more to be great.
It may not make the finals this year and so be unable to get to three finals appearances in five years.
It may also fall short of 75,000 members but on both counts it seems likely to be close. The sense of change and growth is clear.
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