Tigers can't afford another blunder: Hafey
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen 3:59 PM Thu 04 June, 2009
RICHMOND'S greatest coach, 'T-shirt' Tommy Hafey, says the club cannot afford to get the appointment of its next coach wrong.
The Tigers will be coached by Terry Wallace for the last time on Friday night and will announce a caretaker for the second half of the season on Saturday.
They have already begun the search for a new senior coach for 2010 and beyond.
Hafey, who took the Tigers to the 1967, 1969, 1973 and 1974 flags and is revered among the Richmond faithful, said the club simply had to get it right this time after "30-odd years of failures".
"It's too important, and where we've finished in recent times is not good enough," Hafey said on Thursday.
"With the draft system, you should be up there, so not only the coach but other people have to make right decisions, because I think we've been criticised badly for some of the decisions the Tigers have made."
Hafey said he liked the romantic notion that the next coach would be a 'Richmond person', but it was far more important that they chose the right person for the job.
"They could do that (look at a former player), but they have to make certain they get the best, and that could be Nathan Buckley or James Hird as well, so they'd be names that will come up that haven't actually coached at this stage," he said.
"But there are so many assistant coaches – we've got a new profession now, haven't we? – so they've all got their eye on a senior job, and I'm certain there'd be good coaches among them as well.
"They've still got to get the best person available, and when they look at all the candidates, it may not be a Richmond person."
Hafey suggested a couple of older stagers, but then said the younger brigade could also do the business.
"It will be interesting, of course, because there's quite a lot of names being brought up, but I would have thought Leigh Matthews or Michael Malthouse would have been two of the main candidates,” he said.
"But whether that's going to happen, I'm not quite certain.
"Then you see Wayne Campbell, who's got a bit of experience and he's got a terrific name down there (at Punt Rd), I would say he's got to be some sort of a chance.
"But there's so many other people in the mixture as well, as we've seen."
Hafey said winning provided supporters other benefits besides just premiership points.
"It is sad, and when I take my grandchildren, we never ever sing the club song, and they're dying to do that."
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