Author Topic: Can the Tigers break the cycle? ....... Live chat on AFL website Thursday  (Read 2310 times)

Offline one-eyed

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Can the Tigers break the cycle?

Join AFL.com.au journalist Peter Ryan as he takes your questions on whether the Tigers can break the cycle of failure and return to the powerhouse era of the 60s and 70s.

 
Title: Richmond's long road to the top
 
Date: Thursday March 17, 2011
Time: 11:00AM AEDT

http://www.afl.com.au/features/richmondlivechat/tabid/17340/default.aspx

Offline one-eyed

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Breaking the cycle (afl)
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2011, 10:09:54 AM »
Breaking the cycle
By Peter Ryan
Thu 17 Mar, 2011


ACCOMPANYING Richmond's launch of its Fighting Tiger Fund in February was a message from the CEO, Brendon Gale: "We're not here just to compete; we're here to be the best."

Since the 244-game former Tiger rejoined the club 18 months ago as chief executive, a change in attitude - one less obvious than the change in personnel but just as significant - has been happening.

"We're here to be the best. That is not to say we're guaranteed to be the best, it's to say we have the socks to pull up if we get the right people, right plan and make the right decisions at the right times," the 42-year-old Gale said.

The club however is not about just making the right decisions to survive, bouncing along the bottom without challenging. The executive understands that to win a premiership, a club MUST be financially strong.

"At the moment, we're fighting with one hand behind the back," said Gale; so it has made a pitch to the corporate sector to invest in the football club to realise an on-field dividend.

It is asking the rank and file to make buying a membership its priority. Any contribution beyond that is up to them.

But the target audience is clear. On March 17, an invitation only dinner will rally support from those capable of putting a significant dent into the targeted $6 million.

The club did not make the decision to launch the appeal lightly. After all, the money is not required for survival. The bucks will provide financial muscle to push for a premiership.

This meant that before making such a pitch Gale had to be confident he had the right people in the right positions building the right foundations to create a successful culture.

Gale understands this requirement in both a commercial and an emotional sense: "We have to involve everyone, we have to be open, we have to level with the people."

The possibilities - and possibilities have dogged Richmond since its last flag 31 years ago - are energising a relatively new group of leaders: the CEO has been there 18 months; he was instrumental in appointing a new coach, and as is usual in any transitional phase, there are new and ambitious faces in administration.

They know this club has some socks to pull up, but they also know that working the right models will achieve success. Whether that success is a premiership depends on many imponderables, but the model is now clear: recruit well, manage resources well, provide the right resources - human and financial - rely on a little luck, and it will come.

In the last decade, Hawthorn did it, Geelong did it, Collingwood did it. It can be done.

There are two parts to the Richmond history. One is power and glory. The other is doom and gloom. This administration is not being misty eyed about either. It's examined what the club is about and what it stands for in forensic detail.

"I think you need to understand what's happened (in the past), have a really objective view and work towards having a shared understanding about the past. Then it is about having a shared view of the future, what the future looks like," said Gale.

The first point the CEO makes is that when the club is firing on all pistons as it was during the golden period from the mid-60s until the mid-70s it was the competition's superpower. Most wins, most premierships, biggest attendances, the greatest club in the land, despite what palaver might have wafted across Bridge Road from Collingwood.

The second is something of an admission although it's hardly a revelation. It relates to the post-1982 period when the club became, let's be honest, a laughing stock, appearing in two finals series in 28 seasons. "On the measure that matters most to Richmond we have failed because we are about winning premierships," he said.

'Benny' Gale can say that without putting noses out of joint. He was part of that collective failure. He won't say this himself but he proves the point that good people can be involved in football clubs yet failure, for a myriad of reasons, can still happen.

Gale is the right man for the moment. He is a proud Richmond man with a "yearning and a hunger" to see the club succeed.  But he is also a modern football executive with the right background to understand many of the game's administrative subtleties.

His grandfather, Jack Gale, came from Northern Tasmania to play three games for the Tigers in 1924. His father Don was a champion Tasmanian player, one of the state’s finest.

Gale grew up in Penguin, near Burnie, and Richmond drafted him with pick No. 27 in the 1987 AFL National Draft. His older brother Michael started at Fitzroy in 1986 before playing for the Tigers from 1994.

Any initial disappointment that he was not joining his brother at Fitzroy was assuaged when his father told him that at least he'd be playing in Grand Finals at Richmond. "The sense I was coming to a great club was not lost on me," said Gale.

'Benny' arrived in 1988, club legend Kevin Bartlett’s first year as coach, and was excited, talented and smart.

During the week he studied law at Melbourne University, his long legs dangling across tutorial rooms, his mind ticking underneath dangling locks.

He worked hard at the law, but even harder on his football, and the community of football. Before he had even played a senior game he was the players' delegate with the AFL Players' Association.

Brendan Bower (92 games for Richmond from 1986-1991) had noticed his young teammate studied law so was quick to hand over the responsibility.

In 1990, Gale played his first senior game, after 18 games in the reserves. In that same year he, along with his more renowned teammates, was rattling tins in order to save the club.  It was the year of Save Our Skins.

What an irony it is that two decades later, Gale, in his second season as CEO is leading another campaign, this time to reduce the debt strangling the club.
 
Through his career, Gale hated losing, even though it was the inevitable result in 133 of those 244 games.

Those around the club remember the looks on the faces of Gale, and Wayne Campbell, and Matthew Knights, and Paul Broderick after games, and understood how desperately they wanted to be part of the winning culture that was then in recent memory.

They played in a preliminary final in 1995 before circumstances derailed well-placed hopes for success.

In 2001, they were again part of a team that made a preliminary final. At the end of that season Gale, spent, and no longer a first pick, retired.

The club has not played a final since.

Despite the losing experience Gale’s love for the game and the club that nurtured him remained strong. He was CEO of the AFL Players' Association from 2004 until 2009, following on from Rob Kerr.

The job, once the domain of current AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou, exposed him to the cultures of many other clubs, as well as the responsibility of the players beyond the game.

He saw what made 16 clubs tick, the good and the bad. It was a formative time.

In August 2009 he surprised the football world, and left a relatively simple job to become Richmond CEO. The team was sitting near the bottom of the ladder. A new coach was being sought. Five years of optimism descending to despair under Terry Wallace had finished.

It was a situation familiar to any Richmond supporter, and certainly known back to front by Gale.

The CEO however was not looking at the failures that preceded him, not seeking scapegoats.

Even though he knew that everything and everyone had become a target for blame, he was not blaming anyone: he was looking to the future, and how to create another golden era for Richmond.

The past was the past, and only relevant for what it could teach, what could be learned from it.

The list of negatives was impressive, if failure is impressive:

Bad recruiting.
Personality clashes.
Nobody to replace Graeme Richmond, that is 'GR' the club icon.
Graeme Richmond was the reason for the long-term failure, that is 'GR' the polemic figure.
Recruiting John Pitura, and trading the spirit of the club.
The trade wars with Collingwood.
Not paying players enough.
Paying them too much.
Quick fixes.
Five year plans.
Coaches axed ruthlessly.
Choosing the wrong coach.
Being ruthless rather than smart.
Not welcoming past players, then blaming them for having too much influence.

Board members rode in with big ideas like the Road Runner and some rode out with no idea, like the coyote.

Coaches and players were being asked to appear at shopping centres to spruik for members such was the club’s financial desperation.

The administration - many administrations - toiled but could not work out what was required or swim past the tide of negativity.

With money an ongoing issue the sense of doom had become an entrenched helplessness.

When the team kept losing panic prevailed.

Even the 1982 Grand Final streaker, Helen D'Amico, was to blame - 'we would have won if not for her!'

In case you've forgotten, in 1987 for three months Alan Bond was club president.

Richmond became a laughing stock, footy talkback's fall back topic.

One board member even told an incoming committeeman in the mid-'90s, 'this club is terminal'.

All this added up to a culture in decline. One where expectations were low, self-preservation became the overriding theme and the senior leadership fell short.

cont.

Offline one-eyed

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This is not news to Gale. His team has spent time looking into that period and then pushed beyond it.

"There is a view that you don't go back in the past, you completely disregard everything that has been done and that is the way to improve. But the future and the past are not mutually exclusive. You can't forget about the past. There have been great contributors," said Gale.

"Of course, in the absence of a real clear plan for the future and a clear vision you might be at risk of pulling on the past too much but I think you should be proud of what you achieved. But you have your foot to the floor and be focused on the future."

The charismatic Graeme Richmond recruited a multitude of talented youngsters to form the 1967 flag winning team, the club's first for 24 years. Fourteen of the 20 premiership players that season had joined the club after 1963, many from Catholic schools, many well educated.

Richmond began an era of success built on a tight bond.

Coach Tom Hafey had them fitter then any other team. They socialised together at Carson's Garage (Ron Carson was a committeeman) or at the decrepit clubrooms.

They felt as though the club cared about them both as footballers and people - an important characteristic of the Richmond winning culture that many who played during this period believe is overlooked by commentators who simply focus on the "ruthless" cliché when attempting to define the era.

Lifelong friendships were formed while the club fostered an 'us against them' mentality.

Barry Richardson was a key part of the golden period. He played in three premierships, missing the 1973 flag through injury. He coached the club in 1977 and 1978, replacing Tom Hafey and was president in 1985. "As a group we seemed to perpetuate that myth as the struggling Tigers. It was a strength but it gradually became a weakness," said Richardson.

It took time for the weakness to emerge. The Tigers won 135 of 185 games between 1967 and 1974 and put four premiership cups in the cabinet.

Richmond was a dynamic, powerful, focused football club.

Graeme Richmond ran the show and Ian Wilson and Alan Schwab ably assisted him. If they needed something they persisted until it went their way.

Those who were around at the time - many who would prefer to remain in the background - say things began to fray once John Pitura was recruited in exchange for Brian Roberts, Francis Jackson (now the club's recruiting manager) and Graham Teasdale.

Some luck with the zone yielding Geoff Raines (who was enticed from Footscray), Mark Lee, Dale Weightman and others stretched the successful era out until 1980, when the Tigers smashed Collingwood by a record 81-point margin.

But the foundations of success - development - were crumbling.

In 1978 Ian Wilson summed up the attitude emerging among the administration when, after Richardson was sacked, he told The Age: "Step on one Richmond toe and you step on the lot. We are still ruthless. If you don’t measure up, you go."

Tony Jewell's public response when he too was sacked as coach four years later showed what impact such an attitude could have: "I suppose it is difficult to criticise in view of the success the club has had while he (Graeme Richmond) has been there. But there is a total disregard for people and for loyalty."

An adversarial relationship between players and administration had begun to open up, and became a bigger issue during Francis Bourke's reign as coach. Many say the club was a superpower in denial. It was showing all the signs of a dynasty destined to implode.

By the time Richardson became president in 1985, with the competition on the verge of the most sweeping changes in its history - the draft and the salary cap - the club was miles away from what it took to run a successful football club.

He only lasted one year, leaving in despair as he'd given his word to the coach, former premiership player Paul Sproule, that he would be given two years. He was powerless to stop the board sacking the coach after one.

Financially the club was on the path to destruction. The reasons are detailed and varied but General Manager Kevin Dixon's comment, expressed in The Age in 1983 when asked about recruiting, gives an indication as to the mentality: "Cost is a secondary consideration. It is as important as that."

The revolving door of coaches would begin. In such a climate it is no surprise the biggest football names used their footy smarts at other organisations: Kevin Sheedy, Mick Malthouse, Neil Balme, Richardson, Brian Taylor and eventually Kevin Bartlett becoming significant players in coaching, recruiting and the media.

Past players would remain friends and retain a deep love for the yellow and black but the involvement of many - contrary to popular perception - would be minimal. As former player and president Neville Crowe says quietly, "We've lost a few Richmond people along the way."

All successful cultures are dependent on respect for those who have toiled before them. They keep the foundations steady.

You don't have to hear Gale to understand the club has learned some lessons from these experiences. Every former Richmond person contacted for this story, whether willing to talk, be on the record or off the record, says with conviction that Gale and Hardwick look to be on the right track.

The club is involving such people in a respectful manner. Bartlett's support for the Tiger Fighting Fund is the most notable example of the restoration of faith among the faithful, a game of golf alongside Matthew Knights (another favourite son supporting the campaign) cementing Bartlett's support.

Bartlett of course was sacked as coach in 1991, another coach to become the scapegoat for many problems bedevilling the club. He never stopped loving the club but he refused to attend official functions until four years ago.

On March 17, the five-time premiership player will deliver the keynote address at the Fighting Tiger Fund function. "I thought it was a pretty courageous move for Brendon to say 'we are not going off the landscape. We are going to survive, but are we ever going to be winners again?'" said Bartlett.

"I think that is a very important thing for Richmond people to consider. Are we going to be winners again?"

That's the question the club has not had the audacity to ask itself since it fought back from the brink.

When Crowe was forced in August 1990 to declare the club finished unless it raised $1 million in 10 weeks it was on the precipice. The last dollar rolled in on the last of the 70 days of tin rattling. Relief was palpable but the emotional toll of the campaign was high.

The near death experience of 1990 created a club under Leon Daphne's presidency that could not smash the ceiling of nearly but not quite. Daphne was a prudent manager and a man of great integrity. The club looked to be on track on field in 1995 but John Northey left, his decision inexplicable to many.
 
The official (and truthful) reason was that Northey wanted to extend his contract that had one year remaining to two years. Although the board did not want Northey to leave, they thought one year was enough guarantee. The board did not consider any proposal for an extension.
 
Compounding matters was the fact sections of the administration clashed with the coach, an issue Daphne could not resolve.
 
The possible loss of Stuart Maxfield to the Swans (where later he became captain) through Sydney's special concession pick rankled some even with compensation coming in the form of highly rated No.1 draft pick Darren Gaspar.
 
Such issues were causing consternation. The sense of on-field unity that existed was missing from in the club's corridors.
 
Northey left for Brisbane and any momentum the club had was lost.

Robert Walls and Jeff Gieschen tried to overcome a dysfunctional culture and failed. Close to the finals but not quite was their tale, assistant coaches Ross Lyon and Brendan McCartney an indication of the quality of the coaching group at that time.

Daphne persisted, managing to get the club into sound enough financial position to make a play for Sheedy. But Sheedy was on track for his fourth premiership with Essendon. He was not leaving the Bombers. Daphne also understood that constant change was damaging the club. He tied his tenure to Gieschen so when he decided to dump Gieschen at the end of 1999, Daphne's reign was over.

The negative effect of shuffling and sacking was obvious to everyone. But when a team is losing it takes a strong club to hold their nerve and believe in their plan. Any attempt to go backwards in order to go forwards was stymied because the club was not able to manage the dips.

Football understands the effects of such action better now. While Gale won't talk specifics he makes a general point about continuity that demonstrates the lessons learned, although he admits such insight only crystallised after he stopping playing.

"What (stability and continuity) allows is it gives players the platform and security to develop and grow and take risks without fear of failure. It allows them to be as good as they can be," he said.

"When you're playing you don't think about it. I loved my coaches and took something different out of all of them. Looking back now though that stability is not something we have been able to deliver."

The club fell just short many times during that period. But the precariousness of its financial status meant it was always handicapped. The best decision was not always the decision that was possible. Good men had tried hard to no avail.

This generation of Tigers does not want to repeat that valiant period of mediocrity.

Another sad trend emerged during the barren period as people looked to saviours.

Psychologically Richmond had linked its success to the impact of one-man bands such as Graeme Richmond who dragged the club to success. An almost messianic status, whether wanted or not, was attached to names such as Bartlett, Allan Jeans, Alan Bond, Terry Wallace and Greg Miller when they arrived at the club.

Whether their tactic was a new broom or more gradual the football environment had moved far beyond any one person being capable of leading the club to the mythical promised land. Premiership clubs of the era such as the West Coast Eagles, Essendon, North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions were characterised by stability in coaching and the executive.

This executive team knows the path to success is about having good decisions being made by good people, by discussing, debating and being rational. "This is not rocket science," said Gale. "It's just modern business administration."

It's why "Winning Together" is the motto of their strategic plan that states an aim to play in three finals series by 2014, reduce the debt to zero and have 75,000 members.

It's why when Gale made a speech to the whole club in March 2010 he said: "This room holds the future of the Richmond Football Club in its hand. This room is not our present; this room is our future - all of us, board members, administration, football department, players."

Gale retired in 2001 after a preliminary final appearance where the Tigers were 68 points off the eventual premier, the Brisbane Lions. But the list - which included Broderick, Knights, Gale, Campbell, Matthew Richardson, Duncan Kellaway, Joel Bowden and Leon Cameron - was spent. However the board did not see the writing on the wall and pushed hard for an immediate flag.

A competent but inexperienced coach Danny Frawley found the impetus difficult to resist.

When sober reflection and a long-term assessment of the list should have been undertaken, impatience ruled. It is difficult in hindsight to imagine how Frawley could have prospered in such an environment.

He was given five years and the president Clinton Casey supported him but the CEO and football manager kept changing. Rarely did they come together to ensure everyone was on the same page.

The fragmented approach was costly. If the club had regenerated from the bottom of the list in 2001 rather then trying to patch up from the top, Frawley's record may have been different. To his credit, Frawley left with the respect of the football world and dignity.

Then Terry Wallace repeated the mistakes of Frawley's reign. The theories of rebuild that worked for him at the Bulldogs collapsed under the weight of debt, few resources and recruiting decisions with early picks that earn a fail mark.

Everyone could see what was happening but by then the Richmond story was too far-gone. Wallace's departure was unedifying, again a coach gone mid-season - 10 of the 11 Tiger coaches since Bourke have not coached again - and the club back to square one with debt remaining an issue.

The current administration will not let lack of communication be an issue. It will debate and argue and respect expertise but it will always talk.

This is not easy: the challenge inherent in finding the right balance between urgency and patience remains a reality.

Hardwick knows better than most the right balance to strike. He was clearly a man used to success, having played in two premierships (Essendon 2000, Port Adelaide 2004) and sat in the coach's box at Hawthorn when it won the flag in 2008.

But he is no saviour. He is tough, honest and a team player.

The first step Hardwick took was to cut the playing list deep and introduce new blood. He respected servants such as Matthew Richardson, Joel Bowden, Graham Polak, Troy Simmonds and even Ben Cousins, while making a hard decision on Nathan Brown.

Eleven players made their debut in his first season as coach. The coach stated ambition was to get 500 games experience into players aged under 22 during 2010 and 2011. He managed to get 218 games into that group in 2010, a handy start.

In the first 11 rounds the Tigers conceded 1207 points, in the final 11 rounds it conceded only 1141 points. More detailed signals of defensive trends headed in the right direction too with opposition goals from stoppages and kick-ins declining as the season progressed.

Their No.1 draft pick Dustin Martin performed well but when he returned to pre-season in 2011 out of shape he was left in no uncertain terms that slackness was not acceptable.

They now have six first round draft selections on their list with the addition of Reece Conca in 2011. They won six of their last 12 games in 2010.

Captain Chris Newman's comments at the end of last year signified the coach's impact: "He provides a forum for those (young) guys to be able to ask questions," said Newman. "It really was a learning year for all of us."

This is the Hardwick way, a similar uncompromising approach that took Hawthorn to the flag two years ago. No wonder the skipper is on the record this year as saying the group has never been tighter in his 10 seasons at the club.

The bright spots are there wherever you look. The doom is lifting.

The club, led by Gale, has analysed its past. Not only has it accepted the lessons, it is proud of the successes.

Hope has returned. Hard work lies ahead. Some financial muscle is needed to push through. The Tiger Fighting Fund is the first step.

"When this club is going all pistons and is working in a common direction it is a very powerful club," said Gale.

Bartlett represents that power better than anyone. His belief is a huge vote of confidence in the administration.

"I think a nerve has been struck that this club was once a powerful club," said Bartlett. "This is a call to arms to say to people do we want to be winners or do we want to be merely survivors?

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/109402/default.aspx

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Here's the live chat questions and responses.......

[Comment From Guest: ]
Peter, do you think Brendan Gale is a good man to lead the tigers out of the doldrums?
   
Peter Ryan:
Gale is the perfect choice. His grandfather Jack played with the Tigers, he has played 244 games for the Tigers. He knows all the reasons why the club collectively failed in the past 28 years but he doesn't play the blame game. He has a vision and the ability to harness support behind him.


   
   
[Comment From Sam: ]
Why do the Tigers keep repeating the same financial mistakes?

Peter Ryan:
They were burdened by debt from some bad decisions in the early 80s and have been in survival mode ever since. This plan from Gale and the footy club is to eliminate the debt and push beyond survival mode to a position where they have the financial muscle to contend for a premiership. They are daring to win not just survive.




[Comment From TIGA: ]
Do you think the tigers will improve from last season ?

Peter Ryan:
It's going to be all about improvement. Whether or not that means more then six wins is irrelevant. They are bringing together a group with an understood gameplan, like Hawthorn and Geelong and Collingwood before them. Real success is a few years away but they will improve. Hardwick is a good coach.


   
   
[Comment From Craig: ]
How important is the Fighting Future Fund to the future of the Tigers and on-field success?

Peter Ryan:
Critical. Without the financial muscle to pay 100 percent salary cap, engage in free agency recruiting, plan their list and having coaching infrastructure they will bounce along the bottom, surviving but not succeeding.


   
   
[Comment From Stephen: ]
In your opinion, who are the 3 most valuable players at the club ?
   
Peter Ryan:
Trent Cotchin, talent and leadership, Dustin Martin, hope, and Chris Newman is humble and a good leader.


   
   
[Comment From Allen: ]
Where will the tigers finish this year on the ladder ?

Peter Ryan:
In some ways it's irrelevant if the club is united and holds its nerve and has a vision. It could be anywhere from 11th to 17th. My prediction is 12th. They have a good draw after first six rounds.



   
[Comment From James: ]
Who was responsible for the Tiges getting so far into the financial mire in the past?
   
Peter Ryan:
A combination of things. Did not adjust to a commercial model quickly enough and then recruited poorly in the early 80s after losing Raines, Wood and Cloke. The famous Collingwood wars. No one person was responsible but the system failed.


   
   
[Comment From LaffyChaffeyDaffy: ]
Hi Peter, what do you think Brett Deledio's best position is? He should have been All Australian last season but for some crazy reason Harry O'Brien fluked the spot.
   
Peter Ryan:
I would like to see him in the midfield and with the interchange restrictions he'll be rotating through half back. Could move into elite category this year which is funny to say when he has already won a couple of B and Fs


   
   
[Comment From tigerlad: ]
would you say the culture at the club changed during the last season?

Peter Ryan:
Definitely, this is what Gale's administration is about, restoring a winning culture that is proud of past successes, acknowledges past failures then has foot to the floor looking to the future. United and proud.


   
   
[Comment From Joel: ]
Apart from D Martin what young kids should Richmond be focusing on to take them to the next level ?
   
Peter Ryan:
Astbury and Griffiths are talented talls, Conca is a high draft pick that will take time but there are high hopes. Connors is also a talent that showed signs last season he had turned the corner.


   
   
[Comment From Charles: ]
How soon before Tiger fans see a return on their investment? Will they be satisfied with 12th in 2011, and will they cough up more cash in 2012?   
   
Peter Ryan:
Three or four years, They have set themselves a target of appearing in a couple of finals series. With luck and good management it is not unrealistic to see them in the top eight in 2012 or 2013 then pushing forward from there.


   
   
[Comment From WereNoGood: ]
Peter, who do you think will be the big improvers will be for the TIgers this year? I went to Visy park on Friday and the only improvement were the waterboys seemed quicker to get the drinks to the players.

Peter Ryan:
Trent Cotchin is a star but with a full preseason under his belt he will be even better. Nathan Foley will bring improvement, I like what I have seen of Astbury and Vickery is a chance up forward. He will need to improve but he is looking capable of doing so.


   
   
[Comment From Jim: ]
Why has the club been so poor at list management/draft picks over the last few years?

Peter Ryan:
It's a combination of a lack of resources, mistakes in some choices that are more apparent in hindsight then at the time and also they have had no luck in that players they missed, Franklin and Pavlich went on to be superstars, But mainly lack of coordinated decision making in recruiting. They are getting better in recent years.


   
   
[Comment From List Manager: ]
How much is Terry 'the self-proclaimed expert in list management' Wallace to blame?
   
Peter Ryan:
I think Terry gets a raw deal in many ways. He delegated his recruiting in the same manner as he did at the Bulldogs where he got good results, yet at Richmond he did not get good results at all and suffered for it. Made some mistakes topping up the list but Richmond supporters need to get over the fact anything that happened was one person's fault.


   
   
[Comment From Avid Reader: ]
Peter, you spent a season following Collingwood Football Club and the following season they won a premiership. Is there any chance you will be doing the same thing this year for the Tigers?

Peter Ryan:
Nice one. If the Tigers think I could be magic formula I'd be happy to follow them around. Don't think it would be a wise investment though.


   
   
[Comment From Bring Back Banik: ]
Are the Tigers any hope of beating the Blues in Round 1?

Peter Ryan:
Some hope but clearly outsiders. I think they're dampening expectations because they have a tough start to the year. Ride the first five rounds out and they will be well in contention to win a few of the next five.


   
   
[Comment From Callum: ]
What are the clubs the Tigers would be hoping to emulate in the structure to become a powerhouse club again?

Peter Ryan:
Hawthorn, Geelong and Collingwood are obvious. They had a plan. They were patient. They invested in the right people and they stuck with them. They won a flag. You need financial muscle to create the environment to do that.


   
   
[Comment From Warren: ]
Maybe moving home games back to Punt Road Oval could bring back the glory days?

Peter Ryan:
That would be worth seeing. It won't happen though. The next best thing is the Punt Road End at a Richmond home game. It's mad down there.



   
[Comment From Chris: ]
Why do you think Richmond is considered to have the biggest untapped supporter base?

Peter Ryan:
They were a powerhouse in the 70s. They were the first club to get one million people through the gate in a season in the early 70s. Their roar is the loudest. They already have 38,000 members this season and they have not played a final since 2001.



   
[Comment From Bryan: ]
Could the club do better at involving its past heroes in these campaigns?
   
Peter Ryan:
That is what Gale is doing. Bartlett, Bourke and Richo will be there tonight,. Those people are embracing the club and the club is embracing them. It's going to be a real feature of Gale's administration harnessing those people.


   
   
[Comment From Guest: ]
What are the expectations of tonight, how much do they really expect to raise in one night?

Peter Ryan:
Aiming for $6 million, but it's a great unknown. They hope to make a significant dent around 3-4 million. Obviously it's been a tough start to the year for many people so they understand it's one step, but an important one.



   
[Comment From Jeff Hogg: ]
Did you know that since 1982 Fitzroy has made the finals more times than Richmond? And the Roys have been out of the comp since 1996!!!!
      
[Comment From Allan: ]
Do fans get complacent about club finances knowing the AFL has been ok to bailout clubs in debt in recent years?
   
Peter Ryan:
They can but fans have been pretty generous to Richmond over time. The reason however I think they should get behind Gale and his team here is that they are doing it without ego, with a plan and with an understanding of the supporter base and the club. They are working together.
   
Peter Ryan:
Thanks for joining us today. We'll be following Richmond closely. They have put their cards on the table. If they can restore financial muscle tonight, they are a chance to deliver on their vision. It will be worth watching.


http://www.afl.com.au/features/richmondlivechat/tabid/17340/default.aspx

Offline Bernie

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Thanks for posting all that.  It was one of the best reads I've seen on the Club for many a year!

tony_montana

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great work OE, thanks  :gotigers

Offline Penelope

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good read  :thumbsup

Quote
...despite what palaver might have wafted across Bridge Road from Collingwood.

Is palaver another word for "stench of poo"
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord.
 
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts."

Yahweh? or the great Clawski?

yaw rehto eht dellorcs ti fi daer ot reisae eb dluow tI

Offline tdy

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I like how the article mentions the "messiah" cult we have had in the past.  I had noticed it but hadn't consciously realised how debilitating it was to the club, even Ben Cousins was laughingly the new Messiah.

Even the return of Sheedy was hailed a few times and when he returned 2 years ago to make a few speeches it was lauded.  But that's just silly really.  Its about getting the system right these days, not superior efforts or super individuals.  The collective whole has to work.

I heard the other day the entire Collingwood gym is a hyberbaric chamber, so they develop higher lung capacity.  A friend of mine was going to use it for mountain climbing training.  He used another low oxygen training facility and it really worked, he was fitter than he'd ever been before he scaled above 7000m.

The point is that is where money is a massive advantage.

This is one of the best articles Ive read about Richmond for many years.

Offline Penelope

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Quote
I like how the article mentions the "messiah" cult we have had in the past.  I had noticed it but hadn't consciously realised how debilitating it was to the club, even Ben Cousins was laughingly the new Messiah.

I wonder if this is the legacy of Graeme Richmond, being such a sole pillar of power. Even now around the traps people are comparing Benny to him - still looking for that Messiah? - yet there is not much in common between the way Benny is going about things and the way GR did, thankfully i think.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord.
 
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts."

Yahweh? or the great Clawski?

yaw rehto eht dellorcs ti fi daer ot reisae eb dluow tI

Offline Smokey

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Quote
I like how the article mentions the "messiah" cult we have had in the past.  I had noticed it but hadn't consciously realised how debilitating it was to the club, even Ben Cousins was laughingly the new Messiah.

I wonder if this is the legacy of Graeme Richmond, being such a sole pillar of power. Even now around the traps people are comparing Benny to him - still looking for that Messiah? - yet there is not much in common between the way Benny is going about things and the way GR did, thankfully i think.

Very, very true Al.  Poles apart in the way they do/did business.  Although I agree we are placing the same "messiah" tag on Benny.

Offline Infamy

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I heard the other day the entire Collingwood gym is a hyberbaric chamber, so they develop higher lung capacity.  A friend of mine was going to use it for mountain climbing training.  He used another low oxygen training facility and it really worked, he was fitter than he'd ever been before he scaled above 7000m.
Not quite true and almost not possible as everytime someone would open the door the pressure would be equalised. They'd need a staging area to walk between high and low pressure environments.
However, they do have a room on the premises that can simulate the high altitude training that they do over preseason which they use to maintain the benefits. Otherwise the benefits would wear off before the season started.

Offline mat073

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That Fitzroy statistic is a real slap in the face.
Unleash the tornado

Offline Tigeritis™©®

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That Fitzroy statistic is a real slap in the face.

was that really Jeff hogg? I wonder if he's been back
The club that keeps giving.