Wallace regrets Dogs controversy
By Michael Gleeson
The Age
August 11, 2005
Richmond coach Terry Wallace considers his controversial departure from the Western Bulldogs the lowest point of his career and wishes he could have his time again.
That bleak 48 hours when Wallace turned from Bulldog messiah to pariah remains the single most critical moment defining the public view of him, Wallace says.
While the man who led the Bulldogs to two preliminary finals in seven years at the helm, maintains he made the right decision in leaving Whitten Oval nearly three years ago, he admits he handled the departure badly.
Fans were stunned that he announced his resignation mid-way through a four-year deal with a round to go and amid a backdrop of speculation that he was set to take over from Rodney Eade as coach of Sydney.
"I would like to have the 48 hours again," he said this week.
"No doubt, it was the low point of my career. Certainly, without any doubt, just how pear-shaped it all went at the time, I have no doubt it was the low point. I have always said all parties didn't handle it well, not just me. I didn't think all parties handled it as well as perhaps they could have."
Although now coaching Richmond, Wallace admits the manner of his departure and the bitterness that followed are more significant in the public perception of him than his coaching.
"Absolutely. I mean it was front page, back page, all the talkback, not just footy talkback, was about it, day-time talkback, it was everywhere and everyone had an opinion on it and on me. I have no doubt that was the case (that it was the defining moment of his career).
"But like anything that happens in this world, people only know one side of the story and I just let people judge it as they want to."
While he claims to harbour no animosity toward his former employer, the suspicion is he feels he has worn all the blame, yet the reasons for his departure — which he now feels have been vindicated — have been overlooked.
"Do you reckon I would have been there? They have had one coach go since," Wallace said, implying he, too, would have been sacked had he stayed at the Dogs and, with limited resources, been forced to allow the club to bottom out.
"It happened, with the resources they had, they bottomed out. They did, it's a fact. That bottoming out has allowed them to continue the restructuring process similar to St Kilda. Everyone talks about St Kilda, but the Bulldogs have had a fair whack at it now with players they have got.
"My contract, in effect, would have finished at the end of last year."
Wallace's candid assessment of that tumultuous period comes as a backdrop to Sunday's pivotal match between Richmond and the Bulldogs, with both clubs still in finals contention.
He rejects the suggestion that he harbours any ill-feeling towards the club.
"I have no issues at all with the Bulldogs, I am not sure if it is the same the other way."
The uneasy relationship between Wallace and the Bulldogs threatened to become acrimonious when in the pre-season the Dogs felt Richmond was trying to poach players and staff.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/08/10/1123353384558.html
