Casey must go to revive Tigers
Comment
By Caroline Wilson
June 4, 2004
As the Richmond Football Club lurches from crisis to crisis and the frenzied debate regarding Danny Frawley's position rages, the truth is that the football public and the media are avoiding the most obvious conclusion. Which is that it is the president, Clinton Casey, who must go.
Frawley's card was marked long ago. Even when the Tigers flogged Collingwood in that deceptive round-one fixture at the MCG back in March, no one really expected the coach to survive beyond his fifth season.
That victory took the heat off Casey, whose board had been depleted when three directors walked out and who had promised substantial new blood but who has still failed to deliver.
Back then, The Age revealed the Tigers would lose $2 million, a prediction Casey rejected as a worst-case scenario but which now appears optimistic. This is the third consecutive - and the worst - financial loss by the club, which has hidden poor performances in recent years by adding fund-raising dollars on to its bottom line.
While true Tigers never doubted Casey's work ethic or physical commitment to the cause from the time he replaced Leon Daphne - and inherited Frawley and chief executive Mark Brayshaw - they questioned his emotional links to the club. He has admitted that the yellow and black does not occupy his heart the way it did that of his father, a diehard Tigers supporter, but that is not the worst of his misdemeanours - not by any means.
In recent days, Casey has hit the campaign trail. He has granted in-depth interviews with most newspapers and yet in doing so he has broken pledges, blamed pretty much everyone but himself for Richmond's current basket-case state and caused further damage along the way.
On Wednesday, Casey told The Australian that the Tigers would announce new three-year deals with the Transport Accident Commission and Motorola next month - agreements that would reap the club an extra annual $400,000.
Wrong! Motorola only ever agrees to one-year deals, although the company's managing director, Alan Nicklos, was invited to join the Tigers' board yesterday and is believed to have accepted. The TAC was so angry with Casey's inaccurate boast that it seems likely to be the final straw in its deliberations over renewing its relationship with AFL clubs. So, in a desperate bid to shore up members' support, Casey potentially has cost the club at least $600,000 a year.
The TAC is not the only unhappy stakeholder. Casey subtly blamed the AFL when he sacked Ian Campbell as chief executive last week, a move that has angered the AFL, which is questioning the difference between the president's public and private declarations.
Clearly, Richmond requires a financial lifeline. The club was so desperate for money at the start of the year that it ditched an agreement with Collingwood to share round-one gate takings - via email with only several days' notice. The Magpies have taken their business and massive crowds elsewhere.
One reason director Brendan Schwab resigned was Casey's move to push through last year's club accounts without the full approval of the board.
Casey also has spoken in recent days about Frawley's future and the need for an experienced coach. This despite his pledge at the start of the year not to discuss the coaching position until after round 22.
He has mentioned both Brayshaw's and Campbell's shortcomings without taking responsibility for the disaster that now engulfs the club. He has neglected to mention the fact that he himself was acting chief executive for more than six months until May last year.
Yet he is trying to force through another quick appointment in Leighton Wood. Casey has been president for almost five years and still in recent days he blames the past.
It is not good enough to say there is no heir apparent. Casey, clearly, can attract no one to the board at this stage and should announce as soon as possible a spill of all positions.
For the good of a club that Casey never truly understood - for all that he tried - the president must depart as quickly and cleanly as possible.
http://realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/06/03/1086203569565.html
