The Honesty About Dishonesty (Split from Nth Match Day thread)

[yellowandback]

"But when it's all said and done the person that I am most angry at is the CEO Benny Gale. He's the one I reckon has played us as fools the most. Smart man is Benny, IMV he has known from the day he started that people would believe him and follow him and above all not question him. He was the great off field hope that we needed. Maybe it is time we started to question him. He stood in front of me at the FTF launch and said it would only be around 2 years at the most, it continues today and the Club's reliance on it is well scary. He gave us the 75-0-3 plan that has failed with the irony of it being the only part that has been successful is the zero debt thanks to the members. He implored people to vote in favour of the constitutional changes that gave the Board the power to appoint their own directors and allow him to sit on the board. The very thing people are now sooking about."

While I get the emotion, it's never going to aid the discussion but there are some cold hard facts in this part of WP's post which the club cannot escape and should be answered at this years AGM.

3-0-75, not successful but how do you make the club accountable when the board isn't accountable to its members?
Gary March left BEFORE the job was done but carried on like the turnaround was complete.
So did Craig Cameron - who, unless he was pushed - also just p155ed off all of a sudden.
Benny, didn't he interview for the top job at the AFL?

These are the leaders of our club and they don't even want to stick around until the job is finished?

What kind of example does that set for everyone else?

It true when they say the fish rots at the head.

While I understand while posters blame coach and players, I wonder about the motives, integrity and capability of the blokes running the club.
I really hope they can find a way through this because it's been a disheartening chapter in 2014.

[Phillip]

YBB,

You've got it all wrong. Zooks was not appointed captain before the issue of his number was resolved. He was not appointed captain then demanded they let him wear #9. It was handled well before that. He made no demands and you look like a goose for saying he did mate. Retract your comments, they are ridiculous. At the end of the day it is a stuffing number.

The tail was not wagging the dog when Dan Richardson disrespected Matthew White

[Mr Magic]

Great post WP.

Nail. Head.

BTW..

Cotch signs for 2 years and Benny applies for the head of the AFL without finishing the job he started.

Fish. Head.

[YellowandBlackBlood]

YBB,

You've got it all wrong. Zooks was not appointed captain before the issue of his number was resolved. He was not appointed captain then demanded they let him wear #9. It was handled well before that. He made no demands and you look like a goose for saying he did mate. Retract your comments, they are ridiculous. At the end of the day it is a stuffing number.

The tail was not wagging the dog when Dan Richardson disrespected Matthew White

Behind closed doors they told Trent he would be given the Captain's position.  He told them he would take it but he wanted the number 9 jumper.  The club backed down.  That's how it happened.  That is the tail wagging the dog whichever way you like to disguise it.
He should have been so honoured that he should have accepted the position and the number.

If you read my post carefully you would have seen that I said it was the PRINCIPLE that was the problem.  Sure it is just a "stuffing number" but a lone player should not tell the club what to do with its traditions.  Especially one that was only 22 at the time!

[Phillip]

Tradition please. Two captains played in #17 during a woeful period for the club. Understand your point but it was time to move on which is why Trent made the decision he did. There was no push from the club to make him wear #17. They respected his decision and so they should. As should you & WilliamPowell. Fair dinkum, Zookahead Cotchin is not a selfish kid. He's a great kid, always has been. Needs some help with the captaincy but he ain't getting it because NO ONE at Richmond has any stuffing idea what they're doing. I feel for him.

[Gigantor]

For me its really quite simple
If failure continues then messrs Hardwicke,Gale,haines will be challenged and will no doubt lose their jobs

[Jackstar is back!!!]

No issue with Trent
Great kid Great player but he doesn't come across as a leader by the way of acts on the field that count
Didn't kick that goal last night on the run and isn't inspirational
I look at Ivan kicking that goal on the run in last years final and that was inspirational
We need team lifting acts like most captains do
Maybe the club bites the bullet at years end
Every non Richmond supporter think he is a great player but very average captain

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Tradition please. Two captains played in #17 during a woeful period for the club. Understand your point but it was time to move on which is why Trent made the decision he did. There was no push from the club to make him wear #17. They respected his decision and so they should. As should you & WilliamPowell. Fair dinkum, Zookahead Cotchin is not a selfish kid. He's a great kid, always has been. Needs some help with the captaincy but he ain't getting it because NO ONE at Richmond has any stuffing idea what they're doing. I feel for him.

From what I can remember Wayne Campbell suggested that the captain wear the number 17.  The players all took a vote and agreed that it was a good idea.  The club agreed and took it on board.
It's not up to one single player to decide when a club tradition, whether it be one hundred years or just 3 years old, needs to change.  The club did want to keep the tradition going but Trent pleaded with them and they meekly gave in.  I am not saying that Trent is not a good man. I'm blaming the club for not being strong.

[tony_montana]

See the point ybb and WP are making but I never agreed with this 'tradition' from the beginning.

[Diocletian]

See the point ybb and WP are making but I never agreed with this 'tradition' from the beginning.

It was stupid. Not surprised it was Cancer Campbell's idea.

[Chuck17]

See the point ybb and WP are making but I never agreed with this 'tradition' from the beginning.

It was stupid. Not surprised it was Cancer Campbell's idea.

Didn't know that, makes it all the worse than Sugars captaincy era

[WilliamPowell]

See the point ybb and WP are making but I never agreed with this 'tradition' from the beginning.

It was stupid. Not surprised it was Cancer Campbell's idea.

it was actually an idea from the Board and they went to players to get their feedback on it and the players group of the day supported it. It was one of the reason it was introduced.

As I said originally it isn't about whether you agree with the concept or not it was the fact it was another example of the lack of leadership that seems to cripple our club. The Board bowed to the wishes of an individual for whatever reason and as a result showed a lack of leadership to entire club.

We complain about the lack of leadership that we seem to be surrounded by and we wonder why. If people at the top fail in the leadership stakes how the hell can we expect anything else at other levels throughout the place?

Behind closed doors they told Trent he would be given the Captain's position.  He told them he would take it but he wanted the number 9 jumper.  The club backed down.  That's how it happened. 

Correct

[Chuck17]

Class players make their own way and don't bludge off some half assed tradition

[the claw]

great post mr fiski, now put yourself in some of us older supporters and we have been exactly where you are for 15 yrs longer.

there is no joy in following the club, for me its become a disspassionte dissection of what we continually do wrong. im lucky though i can be disspassionate from 3. 5k and dont have to go thru the at the ground humiliations.

im actually on me last legs with them. what happens at the end of this yr, if some of that honesty is not displayed and we admit what we have got wrong well there will be no more claw giving a toss about em.

i refused to take out membership this yr and i refused to make any sort of donation to the club. why, because i saw they were kidding themselves again and the only protest i could make was not join up or give.

i think what annoys me more than anything nowdays is those supporters who defend em no matter what they do. its like we are incapable of keeping our eye on the bigger long term picture.
howmany times do supporters have to be kicked in the guts by the same things over and over only to lose sight of those things as soon as a few meaningless wins happen.
to be honest im over both the club and its supporters, in many ways we deserve each other.

[unplugged]

i think what annoys me more than anything nowdays is those supporters who defend em no matter what they do. its like we are incapable of keeping our eye on the bigger long term picture.

I think that might be more reflective of some of the boards you post on.  You get the impression some of them are run by the club or sycophants, such are the delusions and the careful censorship of anything negative.  We have our fair share of stupid supporter just like any club but we also have a lot of astute supporters who have grown apathetic.

The thing I find with this club is constant dread.

Dread at the season end because I know we are about to recruit a bunch of slow recycled duds that we don't need.
Dread after the names are read out in each draft, as each player is overshadowed by better players that we should have picked.
Dread after watching the draftees highlights reels and wondering why they were selected?
Dread at seeing other clubs recruit players that you know would have an immediate and long term positive impact on our list.
Dread at the ending of the preseason after another poor campaign.
Dread at the unending excuses and the "its only the preseason comments"
Dread at the anticipation of the season proper and being beaten by Carlton again.
Dread at the excuses for why we are so bad and the positive spin as the season drags on.
Dread at seeing the next batch of recruits fail and having them talked up by loyalists.
Dread as we play too many talls, because quantity makes up for quality.
Dread as the same players that have failed us year in year out continue to get senior games whilst junior players languish in the reserves.
Dread at the prospect that the coach, recruiters, fitness teams will get through another season unscathed despite abominable performances.
Dread that the next coach will be just as bad as the previous one.

Rinse and repeat.