Terry Wallace never had a chance: Miller (Herald-Sun)

[one-eyed]

Terry Wallace never had a chance
   * Mike Sheahan
   * Herald Sun
   * March 06, 2010

REGARDED as an abject failure at Richmond, Terry Wallace was really the victim of penny-pinching and disunity, reveals the key behind-the-scenes figure of that bleak era.

TERRY Wallace and his failed five-year rescue plan for Richmond were doomed from the outset, the man behind the operation, Greg Miller, said this week.

Miller, the club's director of football for the bulk of the bleak Wallace era, blamed a chronic lack of resources in the early years and fractured unity within the administration for the spectacular failure.

"From year one, the biggest concern was (that) the board - and I was part of that board - made a decision not to finance the football division, and that was a mistake," Miller said.

"We were under-resourced in recruiting and under-resourced in development. Completely.

"We had to pull our head in (as a club), but the footy division suffered and, in the end, so did Terry's reputation. That was the unfortunate by-product of the decision to get the club back on its feet financially.

"If you think back to Terry's first year (2005), we had a $26,000 recruiting budget, no full-time recruiting staff and no development officers."

In terms of dollars and manpower, the Balwyn Tigers were far better-equipped than the AFL Tigers.

"That's a far cry from what the board has put in place for (new coach) Damien Hardwick, which is the right way to go," Miller said.

He also said Wallace was denied the level of support he needed and deserved.

"I never felt that Terry enjoyed the total support he needed to be a successful coach.

"Punt Rd, it's a unique place. I met some great people there and I certainly wish them the best.

"I certainly wish Damien Hardwick and (chief executive) Brendon Gale the opportunity that they can develop, with (president) Gary March and (director of football) Craig Cameron, a real force together, that they protect each other.

"I hope they can do it but there's a lot of outside influences at Punt Rd that make that difficult. Just people who want to have their say, ex-players, others. I didn't see that at the Kangaroos or at the Swans (where Miller worked previously).

"Let me say one thing about Richmond. I met some great people, but don't tell me that Terry Wallace, Danny Frawley, you can go right back to Kevin Bartlett, don't tell me they all can't coach. It's not the coach.

"It's the environment down there that needs all the people at the top to bind together and to become the impregnable force that Geelong has shown with the (Brian) Cooks and the (Frank) Costas and Neil Balme.

"That's what it needs to create and I hope it can achieve that.

"No, it wasn't as simple as lack of money. It's probably a lack of unity between the big four at a footy club - president, CEO, director of football and coach. I just reckon one of the key elements of success is that impregnable force you (can) create by looking after each other. I don't think that was there.

"If you're not confident in yourself, you start protecting yourself and by protecting yourself, you're not protecting each other. It's a survival thing.

"The Brendon Gale, Damien Hardwick, Craig Cameron, Gary March cartel has got to work. I don't know the dynamics of that group, just hope it can be strong. It needs to be strong."

Miller, 56 and refreshed after a 12-month, 35,000km road tour of Australia with his family, bears no malice towards March, who moved both him and Wallace on in yet more Richmond blood-letting.

Yet, it's apparent he preferred the management style of the late Ron Casey, president at North Melbourne when Miller was chief executive during the highly successful 1990s.

"At the Kangaroos, we were blessed with a real camaraderie at the top with people like Ron Casey and Bob Ansett, and good people round you like Denis Pagan and Mark Dawson and Geoff Walsh," Miller said.

"We looked after each other and that's vital to everyone's peace of mind, to each other's sanity.

"Ron would come in every day and ask, `What can I do for you, pal?'. That was the president's opening line, and I always knew he was in my corner, and that was comforting.

"There's no doubt I took on too many things (at Richmond). I probably did a lot of things OK, but I'll be the first to say I wasn't the best footy director.

"I certainly got involved in a lot of areas - coteries, 'selling' the football club, (VFL affiliate) Coburg, staff morale, too many things outside my most important role - running the football division.

"In my footy career, I was a pretty ordinary player (52 games with South Melbourne). I reckon I was a very good recruiter (Swans and North Melbourne), I reckon I was a pretty good general manager because people got behind me, but I don't reckon I'm a great footy director.

"So as a player and a footy director, I'm probably not at the top of the tree."

That's why Miller is relishing a return to the role of talent identification, back at the wheel scouring country Victoria for the most promising teenagers. This time for a management company, Flying Start.

Miller is staunchly defensive of Wallace. Admittedly, he has a vested interest as the man who appointed him, but says the coach was poorly resourced and mishandled up to, and including, his mid-season sacking last year.

"I thought it (the sacking) was bad for the footy club. It was a disappointing view of Richmond again, which I didn't like. I thought everyone had worked hard to try and change that image," he said.

"I knew going into 2009 Terry was in a no-win situation, given the board didn't want to extend his contract."

After a disastrous Round 1 loss, it was only a matter of time.

Miller's career at Richmond also took its toll with a heart attack in 2007. Stress and a weight problem (he was 102kg at the time) might have killed him, but he is renewed - and 17kg lighter.

"The fundamental lesson (from his 12 months away) is that what really matters is the love and warmth of your family," he said.

"(In football) you can spend your whole time trying to be everything to all people.

"I don't have any regrets about it, I feel good about myself and I met some really good people at Richmond, and I wish them well."

Like so many well-intentioned plans of the past 25 years, it just didn't work out.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/terry-wallace-never-had-a-chance/story-e6frf9jf-1225837573555

[jackstar is back again]

ahhhhhhhhhhhh grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
No mention of the $600,000 a year that Terry earnt.
Not mention of the staff he burnt along the way.
Good people like Steve Alessio , Dave Wheadon he drove out of the place, just to have himself surrounded byfriends, eg Monhurst, Wayne Johnstone, Gordon Casey , Paul Armstrong, , I could go on and on.
And dont get me started about Miller either

[FNM]

Not mention of the staff he burnt along the way.
Good people like Steve Alessio , Dave Wheadon he drove out of the place, just to have himself surrounded byfriends, eg Monhurst, Wayne Johnstone, Gordon Casey , Paul Armstrong, , I could go on and on.

You forgot Wallace got rid of you as well
Oooops - oh sorry, you were talking about good people 

Good article and he's a nice man
If that's how he saw it, and hard to know where he got it wrong because it all sounds pretty plausible to me, then good on him for having a say
No doubt people will just say it's sour grapes
Maybe an element of both sour grapes and  truthfulness
Good timing as well, so the president and everyone else can pull their heads in and give each other unconditional support at the beginning of a new era 

[RollsRoyce]

What a load of self-serving rubbish! While disunity and penny-pinching have unfortunately long been a part of Richmond, Miller and Wallace should at least have the guts to put their own hands up for the mess they created in their time at the club.
Even a recruiting dept. run by monkeys could have recognized that Wallace and Miller's infatuation with scrawny, undersized sprinters with zero football skill and nous was doomed to failure.
I know many supporters,myself included,who used to literally BEG Wallace and Miller to recruit ruckmen and key position players. But by the patronizing "we know best" responses we got, it was obvious that we may as well have shared our concerns with a brick wall.
To have 5 picks in the top 20 in 2004, and muck up almost every single one of  them is an indictment on the reputation of the man who delivered Carey to North. It can be argued that the following year's draft was an even bigger stuff-up, if that's possible.
MT and I know a diehard fan who has suggested light-heartedly (?) that Miller was an enemy agent, planted to destroy the organization from within. While neither of us subscribe to such paranoid conspiracy theories, when you add up the litany of mistakes he made not just in recruiting, but in handing out lengthy contracts to proven duds, you can see what she means.

[TigerTimeII]

miller a nice man lol, he is a snake and can slither with wallace

wallace had plenty of time, too much time to be honest

he was a total failure, was not hands on enough and his game plan changed every 2 weeks

its easy for miller to write this crap and potect the only person to ever please him on their knees
we are much better without these two tools

spoke to benny gale and hardwick yesterday, we are in good hands finally

[FNM]

What a load of self-serving rubbish! While disunity and penny-pinching have unfortunately long been a part of Richmond, Miller and Wallace should at least have the guts to put their own hands up for the mess they created in their time at the club.
Even a recruiting dept. run by monkeys could have recognized that Wallace and Miller's infatuation with scrawny, undersized sprinters with zero football skill and nous was doomed to failure.
I know many supporters,myself included,who used to literally BEG Wallace and Miller to recruit ruckmen and key position players. But by the patronizing "we know best" responses we got, it was obvious that we may as well have shared our concerns with a brick wall.
To have 5 picks in the top 20 in 2004, and muck up almost every single one of  them is an indictment on the reputation of the man who delivered Carey to North. It can be argued that the following year's draft was an even bigger stuff-up, if that's possible.
MT and I know a diehard fan who has suggested light-heartedly (?) that Miller was an enemy agent, planted to destroy the organization from within. While neither of us subscribe to such paranoid conspiracy theories, when you add up the litany of mistakes he made not just in recruiting, but in handing out lengthy contracts to proven duds, you can see what she means.

Hey, someone at the club appointed Miller, when do they put their hands up?
Put him on the board as well FFS
When do people around here stop finger pointing and move on?

[TigerTimeII]

What a load of self-serving rubbish! While disunity and penny-pinching have unfortunately long been a part of Richmond, Miller and Wallace should at least have the guts to put their own hands up for the mess they created in their time at the club.
Even a recruiting dept. run by monkeys could have recognized that Wallace and Miller's infatuation with scrawny, undersized sprinters with zero football skill and nous was doomed to failure.
I know many supporters,myself included,who used to literally BEG Wallace and Miller to recruit ruckmen and key position players. But by the patronizing "we know best" responses we got, it was obvious that we may as well have shared our concerns with a brick wall.
To have 5 picks in the top 20 in 2004, and muck up almost every single one of  them is an indictment on the reputation of the man who delivered Carey to North. It can be argued that the following year's draft was an even bigger stuff-up, if that's possible.
MT and I know a diehard fan who has suggested light-heartedly (?) that Miller was an enemy agent, planted to destroy the organization from within. While neither of us subscribe to such paranoid conspiracy theories, when you add up the litany of mistakes he made not just in recruiting, but in handing out lengthy contracts to proven duds, you can see what she means.

she is right!!!

[TigerTimeII]

What a load of self-serving rubbish! While disunity and penny-pinching have unfortunately long been a part of Richmond, Miller and Wallace should at least have the guts to put their own hands up for the mess they created in their time at the club.
Even a recruiting dept. run by monkeys could have recognized that Wallace and Miller's infatuation with scrawny, undersized sprinters with zero football skill and nous was doomed to failure.
I know many supporters,myself included,who used to literally BEG Wallace and Miller to recruit ruckmen and key position players. But by the patronizing "we know best" responses we got, it was obvious that we may as well have shared our concerns with a brick wall.
To have 5 picks in the top 20 in 2004, and muck up almost every single one of  them is an indictment on the reputation of the man who delivered Carey to North. It can be argued that the following year's draft was an even bigger stuff-up, if that's possible.
MT and I know a diehard fan who has suggested light-heartedly (?) that Miller was an enemy agent, planted to destroy the organization from within. While neither of us subscribe to such paranoid conspiracy theories, when you add up the litany of mistakes he made not just in recruiting, but in handing out lengthy contracts to proven duds, you can see what she means.

Hey, someone at the club appointed Miller, when do they put their hands up?
Put him on the board as well FFS
When do people around here stop finger pointing and move on?

when they are both dead or admit they are fuckups

[FNM]

when they are both dead or admit they are effups

Then enjoy your ulcers lol 

[bojangles17]

What a load of self-serving rubbish! While disunity and penny-pinching have unfortunately long been a part of Richmond, Miller and Wallace should at least have the guts to put their own hands up for the mess they created in their time at the club.
Even a recruiting dept. run by monkeys could have recognized that Wallace and Miller's infatuation with scrawny, undersized sprinters with zero football skill and nous was doomed to failure.

well said RR, that plan was no-one elses, time for a little accountability...why would Miller overlook the likes of Mitch Clark in favour of JON...I have nothing personally against either of them, but the truth is neither were much good at anything but the blame game

[jackstar is back again]

Whats a funny about all this is the fail to tell the truth.
Miller was in charge of recruiting and he searched the country side for talent.
He was assisted by no fewer than 13 people across Australia.
FACT
They made decisions and recruited the wrong players, they should put there hand and say, we didnt do our job, instead of the media trying to paint the good picture of Wallace and Miller.
The RFC had access to ALL under 18 tapes and were at NO disadvantage to other clubs, they just picked the wrong players.
There recruiters in other states went to games and reported back .
Money doesnt make success, hard work and correct decisions do

[RollsRoyce]

What a load of self-serving rubbish! While disunity and penny-pinching have unfortunately long been a part of Richmond, Miller and Wallace should at least have the guts to put their own hands up for the mess they created in their time at the club.
Even a recruiting dept. run by monkeys could have recognized that Wallace and Miller's infatuation with scrawny, undersized sprinters with zero football skill and nous was doomed to failure.
I know many supporters,myself included,who used to literally BEG Wallace and Miller to recruit ruckmen and key position players. But by the patronizing "we know best" responses we got, it was obvious that we may as well have shared our concerns with a brick wall.
To have 5 picks in the top 20 in 2004, and muck up almost every single one of  them is an indictment on the reputation of the man who delivered Carey to North. It can be argued that the following year's draft was an even bigger stuff-up, if that's possible.
MT and I know a diehard fan who has suggested light-heartedly (?) that Miller was an enemy agent, planted to destroy the organization from within. While neither of us subscribe to such paranoid conspiracy theories, when you add up the litany of mistakes he made not just in recruiting, but in handing out lengthy contracts to proven duds, you can see what she means.

Hey, someone at the club appointed Miller, when do they put their hands up?
Put him on the board as well FFS
When do people around here stop finger pointing and move on?

Hey, I have forgotten it and moved on. I'm absolutely happy with Benny Gale, Hardwick, and our new recruits. It's just when these old ghosts pop out of the woodwork with their revisionism, and their excuses that I feel compelled to reply. Particularly when the Herald-Scum salivates at the opportunity to once again trundle out the old "Tigers eat their own" clich'e for the thousandth time.  

[tony_montana]

There are always 2 sides to a story and wallace/Miler are very responsibe for their actions in my mind, nobody should deny this, but all bias aside, that's a good article. Unfortunately the truth hurts for some supporters

[jackstar is back again]

Not mention of the staff he burnt along the way.
Good people like Steve Alessio , Dave Wheadon he drove out of the place, just to have himself surrounded byfriends, eg Monhurst, Wayne Johnstone, Gordon Casey , Paul Armstrong, , I could go on and on.

You forgot Wallace got rid of you as well
Oooops - oh sorry, you were talking about good people 

Good article and he's a nice man
If that's how he saw it, and hard to know where he got it wrong because it all sounds pretty plausible to me, then good on him for having a say
No doubt people will just say it's sour grapes
Maybe an element of both sour grapes and  truthfulness
Good timing as well, so the president and everyone else can pull their heads in and give each other unconditional support at the beginning of a new era 

Dont let the truth get in the way of a good story there.
I left over $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Nothing more , nothing less.
Not going to spend 20 hours a week and only get half paid from previous years. WTF
While Wallace reaps $600,000
On this matter, and interesting point is that most coaches put aside money from there own pocket to employ the staff they want.
Eg Runners are poorly paid or not paid, the coach for example would give them $5000 for the year.  say $200 a week to pay for there time and expenses
Its happens and most clubs

[RollsRoyce]

There are always 2 sides to a story and wallace/Miler are very responsibe for their actions in my mind, nobody should deny this, but all bias aside, that's a good article. Unfortunately the truth hurts for some supporters
/quote]

Or a highly distorted version of the truth