Balme’s belief in building right environment richmondfc.com.au
15 December 2016
Richmond’s new General Manager of Football Neil Balme has used his speech at the Club’s 2016 Annual General Meeting, held last night (Wednesday) at Punt Road, to outline what he views is the immediate key focus for the Tigers’ football department. “It’s a very important part of our program to recognise talented kids, to trade them in, draft them, or whatever we have to do to make sure that keeps the program going. But, as it turns out, that probably won’t be the most important thing that we do,” Balme said.
“It won’t be the talent that we’ve got – it’s what kind of environment we actually provide for our blokes to just do their best . . .
“We’ve heard all this a million times before in footy, but that’s exactly what this group is going to try and do . . . just make sure that we provide an environment, so these kids can be as good as they can be.
“If we can be as good as we can be, we can be competitive with anyone, and that’s all that footy asks of you.
“The time that we’re disappointed is when we lose our way, we lose our concentration, we lose our belief in ourselves . . .
“The marvellous thing I’ve seen about this coaching group already, and the way Damien (Hardwick) has approached it, and the way the senior players, particularly, have approached pre-season so far, is there is a really strong belief that if we have a crack at it, we can really get somewhere.
“And it’s not just saying, well, the players need to do this – it’s everyone. It’s the coaches, it’s the staff, it’s all of us getting rid of the egos and making sure that we’re providing the best chance for these people to be the best they can be.
“It’s not all going to work, it’s not always going to be rosy, but if we keep at it, and we have belief in what we’re doing, we’ve got a decent chance of getting there . . .”
Balme also spoke about what it meant for him to return to Richmond, where he had such an impact as a player in the 1970s (member of two premiership sides), before embarking on a successful football career off-field (coaching and then administration).
“It’s great to be back with the Tigers. I’m very proud to be back in this place and to be officially the General Manager of Footy,” Balme said.
“Hopefully, it’s a long and glorious time together again.
“I’m really looking forward to it . . .”
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2016-12-15/balmes-belief-in-building-right-environment
