Money more important than finals: GaleBy Laura Gardiner
Sports News First
17 July 2011 RICHMOND chief executive Brendan Gale has defended his board’s decision to sell two home games, saying the Tigers are not looking for a short-term fix.
The Tigers lost their Round 17 home fixture against Gold Coast by 15 points in Cairns, after letting slip a 36-point quarter time lead, to hand the Suns just their third win in their short history in the AFL.
In what was Richmond’s second sold home game of the season, after suffering a demoralising 15-point loss to Port Adelaide at Darwin’s TIO Stadium in Round 10, the Tigers’ forward line was stifled by the surging Suns, with exciting key forward Jack Riewoldt managing just one goal.
But club chief Gale defended his and the board’s decision to force the young Tigers to travel north for two home games, saying he would rather the club have long-term financial stability than wins in the short term.
“Look, we made a decision about 18 months ago for our club to become competitive, on a sustained basis we have to build our financial strength,” Gale told Melbourne radio 3AW.
“Within that context, a decision was made to sell, what can only be described as, a low-value game in terms of Gold Coast more likely at Etihad Stadium – to sell that game for a reasonable return.
“And there were other factors too, we just thought with an extremely young, developing list, that we need to fast-track their development as soon as possible.
“We thought, putting a team on the road, building resilience and mental toughness – that was an important part of the decision as well.”
Going down to their fourth loss in a row on Saturday, the Tigers now face a mammoth month of football, hosting second-placed Geelong at Etihad Stadium next Sunday and then after the bye in Round 19 they must travel to Perth to face much-improved West Coast at Paterson Stadium.
Making the finals now seems an impossible task for the Tigers, who sit on five wins, 10 losses and a draw, but Gale says the finals were never a priority this season.
“To us, (the finals) is a short-term view of things. We’ll get to the finals when we get there on merit,” Gale said.
“We’ve, I think, taken too many short-term decisions as a footy club. We’re about taking a long-term view about building the financial strength and competitiveness of this football club.
“Unfortunately you don’t get handed it overnight.
“You don’t get handed it in five minutes. And I’m absolutely confident we’ll get to the finals on merit when we deserve to get there.”
http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2011/07/17/money-more-important-than-finals-gale/