Toothless Tigers close to the edge
Patrick Smith | April 04, 2009 | The Australian
THE timidity of the Richmond board has begun to hurt the club already. And we are one round and one game old.
Last year, the board members had a chance to make a decision on coach Terry Wallace - get rid of him or rehire him past this season, his last in a five-year contract.
The board froze, opting to have a look at the progress of the team about the half-way mark of the year. That is not a bad strategy for most occasions, but one fraught with danger at Richmond because of the dynamics between Wallace and his president Gary March.
Late last year, the relationship between the two senior Richmond figures became all but dysfunctional. If it has improved at all in the new season, it is because both men have bitten their tongues and not their bullets.
An incalculable was thrown into the uneasy equation when the club, goaded by Kevin Sheedy, made a late run for Ben Cousins. Sheedy did not stop there, rather he lit another bonfire when he suggested Richmond was good enough to win the premiership. These are burdens of expectation that have made Wallace's job even more difficult.
When the tension between coach and president is so palpable as it is between Wallace and March, then any setbacks are multiplied out. That's why as a show of unity Richmond had to reappoint Wallace, or ask him to move on. As it is now, Richmond is one match away from a bonfire.
Wallace has been preparing his list now for four years. He has sorted this from that, looked for the ideal mix of youth, professional 100-game players and what quality veterans he could rely on. Cousins has come and gone, his hamstring more likely to keep him from the park for six weeks rather than three. Wallace's wonder midfielder Trent Cotchin is only warming up now and his past skipper Kane Johnson is a long-term injury. On top of that he lost the cool head of Andrew Raines to a knee injury.
Today he meets Geelong, one of the three hottest teams in the league. On Easter Monday, Richmond plays another of the top-three teams, the Western Bulldogs. If Richmond is to repeat the anaemic performance of round one against Carlton, then the club will be 0-3 and expect March to look even more suicidal than he did as he watched the Blues rip the Tigers apart in the season-opener.
That is a scenario that prompted Eddie McGuire, in his role as commentator and broadcaster with SEN radio, to predict that the media and supporters would be calling for Wallace's head. He suggested Sheedy, possibly panting for a chance to coach again, was waiting by the boundary line.
McGuire has been criticised for his prediction because he is also president of Collingwood. A conflict of interest. But AFL football is a funny dude and presidents have carved out a unique role for themselves. At Hawthorn, Cappuccino Kennett - kill me if you catch me talking to the media - has taken it upon himself to become the unofficial league relocator. Already he has sent Melbourne to the Gold Coast. But only after North Melbourne rejected an earlier suggestion.
As quickly as the pressure has swamped Wallace, it might yet settle quickly on Matthew Knights, in his second year as coach of Essendon.......
Full article at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25285991-21147,00.html
