Finding caretaker coach will be a tough sell
Jon Ralph | April 20, 2009
THIS was not just another loss for Terry Wallace.
This was the kind of horrific spectacle that is likely to get an already restless board thinking it simply must act. And now.
In the space of four horrendous quarters, the debate at Richmond shifted significantly.
It went from Tiger fans wondering whether their season could be salvaged to pondering whether Round 4 was too early to sack a coach.
It is a question that will weigh heavily on the minds of the club's brains trust, and it was already being debated in dark corners of the Tigers change rooms last night.
President Gary March was interstate at a wedding - shocking timing, Gary, no matter how close the connection - but the mood for change had starting snowballing.
When general manager of football Craig Cameron was called on to play a typical administrative straight bat, even he could not guarantee Wallace would coach against the Kangaroos on Saturday.
He was "pretty confident that Terry Wallace will coach next week".
But when told that was far short of a rock-solid guarantee, he could only offer up that reply again, with an umm, and ahhh, and a significant pause in between.
It is a very slippery slope from the "full support of the board" to "pretty confident", to a coach receiving his marching orders.
If Wallace wasn't a dead man walking last week, he is now.
He seemed eerily resigned in his post-match conference.
He reiterated he would not walk away, but with wife and daughter witnessing the interrogation from the back row, it was hard not to think the fight had gone out of him.
Yes, he said, he would try to get the players up for next week.
But Wallace knows the measuring stick he will be judged by - finals - is out of the question.
If Richmond had bumbled its way through the season just one or two games out of the final eight, it would be easy for Gary March and Co to sit on their hands.
At 0-4, Wallace cannot last out the year. And maybe not the month.
Sacking coaches after a month of football is usually crazy. Despite Wallace's protests last night, the players clearly have lost interest in playing for him.
Is that a total indictment on the players? Yes.
But the Tigers board might reason that putting Wayne Campbell in charge for 18 rounds could serve two purposes.
Firstly, it gives the Tigers a chance to build for next year, and secondly, it gives them a chance to assess Campbell against the likely contenders such as Nathan Buckley.
Giving him the reins for 4-6 weeks late in the year would achieve neither of those goals.
That is exactly what board members will debate at tonight's meeting.
What of the players who are expected to be Richmond's next generation?
Yesterday all they were doing was scaring away prospective coaches assessing which list to choose in the non-draft-pick generation we soon face.
The statistics and available evidence show Brett Deledio is a stuff bully. Despite his Jack Dyer medal last year, he cannot find a way to make an impact in big games.
The forward line still has no succession plan, with Jack Riewoldt yet to show he can be the star forward.
Jordan McMahon, brought back to bolster skill, yesterday handballed to opponent Neville Jetta with the young midfielder 25m in space.
Then, when the Tigers were trying to rally, he picked out Demon Matthew Warnock among three teammates after failing to get on to his left foot despite ample time.
Of the other members of the fab five from the 2004 draft, Richard Tambling was dropped, Dean Polo committed a costly late howler when caught with the ball, Adam Pattison is not playing, and Danny Meyer is not at the club.
The first quarter may have been the worst quarter of football we will see in many a year.
In pristine conditions, the Tigers had 18 clangers and Melbourne 12.
The 40,000 fans who came to the football found themselves at a comedy festival show.
Unfortunately for Wallace, the day soon turned to black farce.
Now his fate will be decided by a board that has given him five years and seen no return.
It might seem ruthless and unfair, but that is football.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25356572-19771,00.html
