Frawley's uphill battle

[mightytiges]

Frawley's uphill battle
03 June 2004   
Herald Sun

RICHMOND president Clinton Casey said yesterday his board needed to appoint an experienced coach to help rebuild the troubled club.

Casey said his research of the AFL's most successful clubs has convinced him the club cannot afford to gamble with a novice team boss.

"My personal view is that we need an experienced coach," he said.

Casey's view, expressed yesterday in a wide-ranging interview, is a clear message that Danny Frawley's time is up at Punt Road and that the club will pursue former successful AFL coaches, such as Rodney Eade and Terry Wallace, for the job next year.

Casey also declined to snuff out the perennial hope of luring Kevin Sheedy back to the club.

"Kevin Sheedy is currently under contract at Essendon. If that situation changed in the future and he was available, and we didn't have a coach, he would be fantastic," he said.

A full review of the football department is about to begin at Punt Rd.

It will include recommendations on Frawley's performance and whether a new coach is needed.

"It won't be my decision. It will be made by a group of people who are a lot more experienced than I am," Casey said. "But if you are asking me, the Richmond footy club needs someone who has coached before and understands the environment.

"I think at the stage we are with our list and the management needed, we need someone with good experience.

"I've gone back and had a look at all the successful clubs in the past 20 years. They have had the right coach for the right environment.

"Richmond can be a difficult environment, too, so you need a coach to suit that."

Casey did not rule out Frawley getting a contract extension and paid tribute to the ex-St Kilda captain, who joined the club at the end of 1999 after working as an assistant coach under Tony Shaw at Collingwood.

"Danny has got some outstanding qualities; his leadership, his work ethic, his guidance of our young talent. When I look back I see that his outstanding qualities were the best thing that happened to this football club," he said.

But he agreed there was too little experience in the coaching set-up when Frawley arrived.

"When Danny Frawley arrived at our footy club, he arrived as a novice with novices all around him. In hindsight it wasn't the right thing to do," he said.

Casey agreed that the vast experience of Denis Pagan had been the perfect fit for Carlton as it struggles through the biggest crisis in its history.

"The way he conducts himself shows he's not about to panic, that he's in control. To be able to get through the tough times a club needs a person like that," he said.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,9729102%255E20322,00.html

[Ox]

"Danny has got some outstanding qualities; his leadership, his work ethic, his guidance of our young talent.

BUT NOT HIS COACHING !!!

Worst winning record ever as a player
Worst winning record ever as assistant coach
Worst winning record ever as coach

GO FIGURE !!!

Sack him NOW.

[WilliamPowell]

Sack him NOW.

Unfortuantely, Ox we cannot afford too.

[Jackstar]

If we did sack him NOW, we would have an interim coach maybe ? And we know who that could be  ? Britain !  Stick with Spud till end of year as the alternative is worse,

[WilliamPowell]

If we did sack him NOW, we would have an interim coach maybe ? And we know who that could be  ? Britain !  Stick with Spud till end of year as the alternative is worse,

Funny I was talking to some people about this yesterday - if we sacked Danny now and appointed Brittain I have only one word:

Gieschen
 

[Ox]

I know we cant afford to MT but
it feels really good just writing  it.

I was on a high for at least 2hours after penning that thought.

BTW,If he died would we still have to pay him out

[Puntroadroar]

"Casey did not rule out Frawley getting a contract extension"

If RFC gave Danny a contract extension that would be the end of the club and casey knows it, would result in about 1,000 PRE members and thats it. 

Well I guess that rules out Garry O'donnell, another big mistake made by Casey IMO.

Really only means its Wallace or Eade now doesnt it?

Wallace ... Yes
Eade......No
Sheedy ....... Dreaming

I dont think Richmond should be limiting their options

[Tigertailz]

A total rebuild is what we need.Problem is that its about 10 years too late.
I have my sights set on our recruiting manager at this point.
Has he had ten years of wayward recruiting and missed opportunities?
Someone correct me if this is wrong ???

[WilliamPowell]

It is pretty close to 10 years - I think it maybe 8 or 9 but who's counting?

Yep we all are

 

[JohnF]

"Casey did not rule out Frawley getting a contract extension"

The only extension Frawley should get is a nob extension, and he should promptly be told to go f*** himself!

[Tiger Spirit]

"Danny has got some outstanding qualities; his leadership, his work ethic, his guidance of our young talent. When I look back I see that his outstanding qualities were the best thing that happened to this football club," he said.

But he agreed there was too little experience in the coaching set-up when Frawley arrived.

I’m happy to support whoever the Coach is at Richmond, but I need to be convinced that Danny would be the man to take us forward.

In five years, I haven’t seen or heard anything that would give me confidence to know that Danny would continue on as our Coach.

He may well be a good bloke and have outstanding qualities as a person, but nothing he has done as Coach has me convinced that he has put into practice anything he may have learned over almost five seasons.  At least it hasn’t shown up in our results on the field.

He still talks the same, coaches the same and his team still produces the same stunted results as in the past.

On the other hand, I was convinced about what Grant Thomas could do when everyone was still criticising him and felt that he had the ability to change the culture at the Saints. And as long as they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot, thought that they could develop a very good team.  Because in previous seasons, even though they were inconsistent as a team and weren’t winning games they were in a position to win, they still played some attacking and exciting football, which made me believe that they could develop into a pretty good team.  They seem to be on their way.

Similarly at Geelong, even though they haven’t done as well as the Saints, at least you can see the direction they have taken with their list and the camaraderie and spirit that has developed amongst their players.  And this would be reason to give their supporters hope for the future.  You’d have to ask Geelong supporters I suppose, but I expect they would be able to tell you of the difference between Geelong now and when Mark Thompson first started.

I don’t feel that the same could be said of us. Yes, RFC is a tough gig and maybe a little different to some other Clubs and allowances do need to be made for that.

But after this amount of time, as a supporter, you would at least like to see some discernible difference in the team from when Danny first started to now.  He says he has faith in his ability, but doesn’t demonstrate that on match day in any convincing fashion.  Because if he had faith in himself he would show more faith in his players.  Instead, he shows little faith in some players and way too much in others.  Not a healthy way to go about things.  And, as good as Danny might be at developing young players, results on the field are what coaches are measured by.

In his time throughout, I have not seen or heard anything that gives me real hope that he can deliver a real team.  Whether the weakness is around him is hard to judge unless you are on the inside, but it’s hard not to believe that there is a definite weakness there.  Some serious convincing of Danny’s ability to do the job will need to take place, if he is re-appointed as Coach.

Maybe Danny deserves better than what he might get at season’s end and there’s no guarantee of success under any other Coach, so I guess it comes down to who wants the job and who is the best credentialed.

[Tigertailz]

Yes Tiger Spirit I couldnt agree more with your well written piece there, but I also feel that perhaps if Danny had experienced more success as a player and had been at Collingwood when it was more productive then that would have helped him enormously as well.He has done well to last this long at Tigerland thats for sure .

[Struggletown]

A total rebuild is what we need.Problem is that its about 10 years too late.
I have my sights set on our recruiting manager at this point.
Has he had ten years of wayward recruiting and missed opportunities?
Someone correct me if this is wrong ???

I agree with you tailsman, our recruiting has been shoddy at best.
While coaches and coaching staff are first in line for criticism,the recruiting manager still has his job and is seeming immune from being removed,even after a ratio of producing 10 duds to 1 player of value.
Beck has to be given the bullet at seasons end along with the 10-12 chumps HE is responsible for drafting along with whole coaching staff who can all walk the plank as well.