Time for Frawley to go
By Robert Walls
realfooty.theage.com.au
June 22, 2004
For everyone's sake, but in particular his own, Richmond coach Danny Frawley should make it public knowledge that the next nine games will be his last at Tigerland.
It is obvious Frawley won't coach the Tigers next year. He has been given plenty of time (five years) to prove his worth, and it just hasn't happened. In fact, the past three years have been a constant downward spiral, with only five wins coming from the past 27 games. It is time to go. It is time to give the club a chance to get out and about to secure a new coach, and it is time to take pressure off every player, staff and board member at Tigerland who must be sick to death of being asked about what is happening with the coaching situation.
Over the past 12 months, Frawley has aged 10 years. He is respected for giving the job all he has got. But it has got the better of him. His cliches wear thin. He hasn't got any answers. He hasn't got enough A-grade players. The desperation of the Tigers' plight was shown in the face and actions of captain Wayne Campbell. Against Carlton on Saturday, the frustration was obvious. Campbell knows he will soon play under his seventh coach.
If Frawley announced that he was leaving at season's end, a huge weight would be lifted from all involved at Punt Road. It would be a new beginning. It would bring hope to a club that desperately needs some. Selections would be made for the future. Frawley could leave as something like a sacrificial hero who put the interests of the club up front.
It happened to me nine years ago at Brisbane. I was in my fifth season. At the halfway mark of the year, I had decided that I'd had enough up north. Strong family reasons meant I'd be returning to Melbourne. At the time, the team was in the bottom four on the ladder. It had been a tough and tiring five years. With the announcement that I'd be going, a breath of fresh air swept through the club. I lightened up. The focus turned directly to developing a team for the future. Youth got the nod over age every time. The desperate need to win games disappeared and, amazingly, with frankness and direction being given to players and supporters, the team rallied. We won six of our last seven games to sneak into the finals. A loss to Carlton by two goals in the first final of '95 was probably the Brisbane Bears' finest moment to that point.
Did finishing on a high make me want to change my mind and stay? Not at all. My time was up. I knew it and did the right thing by the club. Adelaide knew that Gary Ayres' time was up and yesterday acted in the best interests of the football club.
I hope Frawley acknowledges that his time is up and does the right thing, too.
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