Summary
* Gary March was away at the Olympics, had a good time there at a great event and caught up with Eddie and Gillon McLachlan. He was in London for business though.
* Off-field - another fantastic year. Benny Gale and his team have done a great job and will deliver a club record profit on the back of 6 straight profits, 53k members, 2nd/3rd highest attendance in the AFL and now the punt rd oval surface being renovated.
* On-field - frustrating year with all the close losses. Frustrating that we've been competitive all year but we've not there yet and we should be there. Good to see the players angry, coaches angry, board angry as it means we've gone past the "hope we do well" stage. We believe we belong there and everyone is angry we're not which is a good sign.
* How's the 3-0-75 tracking?
We had a 3-0-75 review prior to the Essendon game with Benny Gale going over where we plan to be at the end of the 5 years. Some things we are ahead of schedule while others such as the 3 finals we won't achieve but we're confident we'll get two of the three and should have got there this year. We now expect to be close to debt free by the end of next year. So we'll completely eradicate our debt within the 5-year schedule. 75k members seemed a real stretch but to get to 53k this year was a great effort and we're aiming for 60k next year. So 75k may be achievable if we can play sustainable finals footy. In terms of where we sit I think a big tick and we'll go close to acheiving all those goals.
* 53k members says a lot about the resilience of the Tiger supporters. We've all been waiting a long time but it also demonstrates they have bought into the fact that we are rebuilding this club - we've got a young list, 5-6 emerging superstars with one one of the favourites for the Brownlow, another in Lids who is consistently playing breaktaking footy and should be All-Australian, and another that's won the Coleman. There's a lot to like about the players at the Richmond Football Club.
* FTF - when we first sat around the Board table setting the goal of $6m, we were thinking is this another stretched target we won't be able to achieve. Well now we have happily achieved it. Fantastic effort by all the Richmond people who donated. The result is this fantastic oval. Ever since March joined the Board in 2000 the state of the oval was always a bug bear of Frawley then Wallace and now Hardwick. And by 2014 we are going to have our own reserves side. So the FTF is going to give the Football Dept. the best chance to be successful.
* You'll see a major investment in football next year. We've signed off on another significant increase. You'll see a full-time coach for Coburg; additional coaches coming on board; exciting announcements in a week or two about some of the people coming to the club. We are going to give the Football Dept. every chance and it's over to them to deliver.
* March spoke about the Indigenous institute. Paid tribute to former CEO Steven Wright and Belinda Duarte. A feather in the Club's cap to have the PM down at the Club opening the institute.
* What do you want to see in 2013?
March in comedian mode says he wants a few things:
(1) Craig Cameron has stitched Gary up about 7 times giving him the wrong side and then Gary standing up at the President's luncheon pre-game congratulating a player on getting a game when he's not playing lol.
(2) Wants the "Chief" (I'm presuming Benny Gale) to put his hand in his pocket; the worst since Cambo. Richo replied that ain't going to happen.
(3) To get Craig Cameron to give him his wish of trading Jakey King. Perhaps for a bag of chips and a can of fanta (laughs). "He's been a pest for my whole tenure - steals my car parking space, annoys me and this year he's even started to come around to my place. Be glad to get rid of him"
Back to serious mode:
It's a really important year for us to set ourselves up to play finals. It's non-negotiable next year. We've got a good group; we need a bit of luck with injuries and it would be nice if the AFL gave us a half-decent draw next year. We just to win those [close] games we lost this year. 5-6 games lost by under a kick - we need to turn those into wins next year. If we do that we'll be playing finals footy in September. Who knows with the list we've got once we get there we know we are going to be competitive for the next years and give it a real shake.
* With Cotch's rise this year, Lids has gone underneath the radar. He really deserves to be All-Australian. He's won two Jack Dyer B&F medal and consistently finished in the top 3 each year. He's deserves some due recognition as he's been outstanding for the Club.
