Brendan Schwab to be a President and Bryan Wood a football Director?

[Jackstar]

Rumor has it that the alternative ticket will have Schwab as President and Wood as Football Director.
This must be a joke surely.
Last I heard Bryan Wood was a Sales Respresentative and Brendan Schwab, well he is a great leader of men isnt he, he already walked out once when the going got tough and now he wants back. I think the RFC  has seen enough of the Schwab family,Brendan I have some words of advice pal,,go and join you doppy brother Cameron.
I remember Cameron being such a tosser back in the early 90,s
Even wanted to get in the coaches box with KB until KB told him to get lost.
And Woosha Welsh wants back in.You had your chance !

[mightytiges]

Go now, rebels demand of Casey
27 July 2004   
Herald Sun
Trevor Grant

THE long-awaited battle for power at Richmond ignited yesterday when former director Brendan Schwab demanded the resignation of current president Clinton Casey.

Schwab, 36, who plans to run for president, announced a rebel team of seven to challenge Casey, including former premiership players Bryan Wood and Peter Welsh.

As soon as Schwab announced his ticket to bring change to the embattled club, Welsh left a message on Casey's mobile phone late yesterday.

Schwab said he and his group wanted to meet Casey this week to ask him to go quietly.

If he doesn't, they plan to organise an extraordinary general meeting to force a full-scale election before the end of August.

"Our immediate objective is to have a short-term, very smooth transition to a new board," Schwab said.

"We need to act. The financial position is dire. I am genuinely concerned about the club's capacity to continue to trade as a going concern."

Casey immediately signalled he was digging in for a fight.

He said he was happy to meet Schwab's group but had not changed his belief, stated last weekend, that any election should wait until January.

"My reaction really hasn't changed, whether it's Brendan Schwab, Peter Welsh or Michael Pahoff, my view is it's not the right time for a spill of the board," Casey said.

"At the very least I'm pleased they are out in the open and talking about whatever it is they have to offer.

"We will listen to what they have to say but unless there is something compelling in what they have to offer, we would not be in favour of anything to do with board changes until the end of the year."

Schwab said there were a number of "important reasons" why his group would not wait until January.

"At the moment we have a football club that is haemorrhaging," he said.

"The worst-case scenario is a $2 million loss. By January the club's trading performance for 2005 will be pretty much settled. If we wait until then it would delay our capacity to address the financial problems not by six months but 18 months.

"We want to get in and administer the medicine as soon as we possibly can."

The rebel ticket contains three former board members – Michael Humphris, Schwab and Welsh – and four newcomers – Trevor Barrot, Robert Edgley, Colin Radford and Wood.

The club has a board of nine but Schwab said two places had been left open in anticipation of discussions with current board members and others.

If Casey decides to fight, the rebels will nominate two further candidates to fill a ticket for the elections.

Schwab, son of famous Richmond and AFL administrator, the late Alan Schwab, said it was a group decision that he stand for president.

"I have never coveted the presidency but I've always been prepared to play whatever role is needed to turn the club around," he said "The view of the group is that I'd be the appropriate person to be president."

Schwab said he would seek to have Wood, who is the nominated football director, and Welsh added to the coach selection panel of football boss Greg Miller and consultant David Parkin.

"What we will be suggesting to Clinton is that Peter and Bryan join the process. Peter has continued to have a terrific relationship with Greg," Schwab said.

"We have also been very deliberate in asking Bryan to become football director, having had the experience in a culture of success under Kevin Sheedy at Essendon for a number of years."

Schwab says his group would have no trouble working with the recently appointed chief executive, Steven Wright, who is due to start next month.

He also rejected the club's argument that his push was creating a difficult environment in which to search for a new coach.

"There's a suggestion there's an instability around the coaching appointment. What we need to understand is the cause of the instability. It is the trading performance of the club," he said.

"Richmond is a big club. We have a massive support base. So essentially we now have a business which is failing simply because it hasn't engaged that huge mass of people that support the club.

"That is the principal cause of our problems."

The group says plans were well under way to secure the necessary 100 signatures from members to initiate an extraordinary general meeting. Even though they have had discussions with lone dissenter, Michael Pahoff, they do not plan to use the petition he has assembled.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,10256506%255E19742,00.html

[mightytiges]

Richmond rebels
27 July 2004   
Herald Sun

The men behind the challenge to Clinton Casey.
 
BRENDAN SCHWAB, president. A lawyer who specialises in sports, entertainment and industrial law. CEO of the Australian Entertainment Industry Association. Richmond board member from 1998 to 2004.

MICHAEL HUMPHRIS, treasurer. A financial insolvency expert. Club director and treasurer from 1986-1993. Instrumental in club's Save Our Skins campaign in 1990. Life member since 1997.

BRYAN WOOD, football director. Premiership wingman in 1973, 1974 and 1980. Worked at Essendon under Kevin Sheedy from 1992-96.

TREVOR BARROT; Runs $70 million transport business. Founding member of Richmond's President's Club. Cousin of club legend Billy Barrot.

ROBERT EDGLEY: Managing director for the Asia Pacific region of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Lifetime Tigers supporter.

COLIN RADFORD: Trained journalist and former media adviser to Victorian premier. Senior executive at the Transport Accident Commission, a key Richmond sponsor.

PETER WELSH: Runs successful sporting goods business. Premiership wingman in 1980. Life member and former director.

[Ox]

Radford,Welsh and Wood seem comical against the main 4s CV.

Is it a mercinary job or is it a competitive challenge.

[mightytiges]

Challenge a one-way ticket to trouble
Mike Sheahan
27 July 2004   
Herald Sun

WHEN I was young and more inclined to listen, a wise old journo told me: "Never take sides in club politics."

It was sound advice. I learnt exactly what he meant when Carlton tipped out the president and the coach only a couple of months after the 1979 premiership win.

George Harris and Alex Jesaulenko were invincible at Carlton. Or so it seemed. Yet, they took a stand, walked out in the belief they would ride back to power in an election, but, when the votes were counted, they remained out.

So, to Richmond and the power struggle that has been threatening for months.

Brendan Schwab finally has produced his ticket – he could have produced War and Peace in the time – guaranteeing an election campaign of at least 10 weeks' duration.

At least the Richmond supporters will have a contest to watch, but that's the only upside.

You don't have to be a Richmond supporter to have your doubts about the Casey regime. After all, the Tigers will finish in the bottom four for the third year running, and will lose at least $2 million, continuing the financial haemorrhaging of the past two or three years.

But, the Schwab ticket includes people who must accept part of the blame for the current predicament.

Schwab and Peter Welsh were board members, and senior board members at that, until the eve of the 2004 season, while Mike Humphris was a board member during a previous bleak period in the club's wretched modern history.

Schwab and Welsh will argue they talked to deaf ears at the board table, that they had to get off and get back to have an impact.

Yet they can't plausibly argue Casey was responsible for all the bum decisions. Was it Casey alone who engaged the chief executives, who signed off on budgets, who agreed to the ridiculous notion of outsourcing corporate activities?

Schwab didn't seem to have the time or the money to tackle the presidency during his term as a director; Welsh said several times he left the board because of the demands of his business.

Things obviously continue to change in a hurry in football.

The inevitable consequence of a power battle is the impact it will have on the search for a new coach, and, to a lesser extent, key players at other clubs who might become available as soon as the home-and-away season ends.

These blokes need to get together to see if they can work out a solution; to minimise the potential damage.

Casey has shown his good faith by offering to stand for election next summer, 12 months early.

Schwab and Co should show their good faith by sitting across the board table with the Casey group in search of a compromise.

Richmond has a list that doesn't suffer by comparison with Hawthorn. Yet, it might be political instability that ultimately swings the decision for Terry Wallace, Rodney Eade, Gary Ayres, Mark Harvey or whoever.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,10256504%255E20123,00.html

[mightytiges]

Richmond rebels issue challenge to president
By Greg Denham
The Australian
July 27, 2004

RICHMOND president Clinton Casey refused to step aside yesterday following an ultimatum from rebel leader Brendan Schwab, who released his ticket to challenge the present board.

The seven-member challenge group has installed Schwab as president-in-waiting and includes Peter Welsh -- like Schwab, a former board member who resigned earlier this year.

The other members are Michael Humphris, Bryan Wood, Trevor Barrot, Robert Edgley and Colin Radford.

Casey was adamant that there would not be a spill of the board. "Unless they have something to offer, we'll be rejecting their demands to resign," Casey said. "Any change to the board will go to the members at the appropriate time and that's at the January general meeting."

Schwab, the brother of Fremantle chief executive Cameron and son of highly regarded former Richmond and AFL administrator Alan, called on Casey immediately to appoint Wood and Welsh to the current coaching sub-committee of football director Greg Miller and consultant David Parkin.

Casey said he would convene a special board meeting this week to discuss some of the requests of the alternate board, including altering the process to identify a replacement for outgoing coach Danny Frawley.

Schwab said if the board refused to step down, his group would gather the necessary 100 member signatures and force an extraordinary general meeting.

"We want a smooth transition; we want to do it with dignity and respect," Schwab said. "But Clinton should put his hand up and go."

The rebels want nothing to do with a 100-name members' petition gathered in May but not yet presented by disgruntled member Michael Pahoff.

And in another twist, an emotional and inflammatory letter written by Miller to Pahoff on Sunday night was published yesterday on a Richmond supporter website.

In pleading with Pahoff for boardroom peace, Miller said in part: "The club is the laughing stock of the supporters of all other AFL clubs, the media and even, to an extent, the AFL hierarchy.

"It is fundamentally wrong to use 100 signatures to put the club back in the headlines. It is most damaging to the needs of the club. I can assure you that, should this continue, we will miss out on the best coach again."

The alternate board has been kept to seven to allow the possibility of up to two new directors to be elected, including at least one current board member. The present board consists of eight members.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10255501%255E2722,00.html

[mightytiges]

You don't have to be a Richmond supporter to have your doubts about the Casey regime. After all, the Tigers will finish in the bottom four for the third year running, and will lose at least $2 million, continuing the financial haemorrhaging of the past two or three years.

But, the Schwab ticket includes people who must accept part of the blame for the current predicament.

Schwab and Peter Welsh were board members, and senior board members at that, until the eve of the 2004 season, while Mike Humphris was a board member during a previous bleak period in the club's wretched modern history.

Schwab and Welsh will argue they talked to deaf ears at the board table, that they had to get off and get back to have an impact.

Yet they can't plausibly argue Casey was responsible for all the bum decisions. Was it Casey alone who engaged the chief executives, who signed off on budgets, who agreed to the ridiculous notion of outsourcing corporate activities?

Schwab didn't seem to have the time or the money to tackle the presidency during his term as a director; Welsh said several times he left the board because of the demands of his business.

Schwab and Co should show their good faith by sitting across the board table with the Casey group in search of a compromise.

Don't normally agree with Sheahan but IMO he's spot on the money this time around. If Schwab and Welsh were only on the board for a short period of time before walking out then they may have a case. However after 5-6 years on the board you can't claim immunity from being aparty to our current woes. A ticket of mostly former board members doesn't give me one ounce of confidence. Nor does Casey I might add. Neither of these people have demonstrated what it takes to take Richmond forward and towards success both on and off field. In fact the opposite is true for all of them. It has come down to a vote between twiddledee and twiddledum. I can understand your anger and frustration Miller towards egos and selfish interests. Same old same old for the last 20 #%& years.

Can 27,000 members vote informal 

[WilliamPowell]

Mike Sheahan
But, the Schwab ticket includes people who must accept part of the blame for the current predicament.

Schwab and Peter Welsh were board members, and senior board members at that, until the eve of the 2004 season, while Mike Humphris was a board member during a previous bleak period in the club's wretched modern history.

Schwab and Welsh will argue they talked to deaf ears at the board table, that they had to get off and get back to have an impact.

Yet they can't plausibly argue Casey was responsible for all the bum decisions. Was it Casey alone who engaged the chief executives, who signed off on budgets, who agreed to the ridiculous notion of outsourcing corporate activities?

Schwab didn't seem to have the time or the money to tackle the presidency during his term as a director; Welsh said several times he left the board because of the demands of his business.
Things obviously continue to change in a hurry in football.

Well Mike - have you been reading OER. Exactly what I have been saying.

Scary thought - Mike is spot on here

[Tiger Spirit]

Schwab was on SEN this morning.  He went through the reasons why he left the Board.

What I want to know is who would want him as President when he couldn’t enrol the other Directors of the Club in believing that it was on the verge of being unviable? 

What does that say about his ability to be President of anything, let alone an AFL Club and especially one that has such a history of instability?

I actually wrote a letter to the Club in about 1999, to the then President, Leon Daphne, saying that the Club was stagnating.

One of the other members of this ticket, Peter Welsh, came out in the press some time later saying that the Club wasn’t stagnating at all.  ???

The reason I wrote the letter was because I felt that the Club was just sitting back waiting for the team to be successful in order for the Club to become successful.

Schwab now comes out, several years later, and says that’s how the Club is being run now.

Fair dinkum, if any of these people know what they’re getting themselves into, or what they’re doing, I’d be surprised.

Naïve is as naïve does.  If Schwab can’t convince people of the dire situation the Club is in then God help Richmond if he's the one dealing with all the egos that go on at a footy club. 

Casey’s not exactly squeaky clean in all of this, but unless someone can guarantee, in writing, that this new regime can bring success then why go down this divisive track?  Because our footy club has just been running around in circles, for years, trying to be successful, by going down this track in the past. 

[WilliamPowell]

You know things are crook when you a news story on the ABC.

So polite too "Mr this" and "Mr that". 
=======================
League watching Richmond rebels

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says the league is keeping an eye on developments at Richmond.

A rival ticket, led by former board member Brendan Schwab, has called for the current board to negotiate a take-over.

Demetriou says it is too easy for rivals to force a spill of the board at AFL clubs and has suggested they change their constitutions.

"You get the opportunity at an AGM to appoint new board members and remove people you may be dissatisfied with. I think that's the appropriate forum," he said.

Mr Schwab earlier today announced his plans to lead a rival ticket against Richmond president Clinton Casey and the current board.

He said he was aware of the need for stability at the club during its search for a new senior coach and was seeking to have two members of the seven-member rival ticket placed on the selection panel.

Mr Schwab wants to negotiate the new board's structure to ensure the transition is smooth but said he was willing to run a full ticket at an election.

"The performance of the club under the current presidency over a long period of time shows the need for change," he said.

"There's overwhelming consensus within the Richmond football family of the need for change and our objective, of course, is to achieve that through negotiation in the smoothest and most effective way possible.

"Our initial plan is to achieve stability around the coaching appointment and it's our suggestion that key members of our group, Brian Wood and Peter Welsh - both former Richmond premiership players - be added to the coaching appointment panel with Greg Miller and David Parkin to ensure that the best possible coach for the Richmond Football Club is secured."

For his part, Clinton Casey said he was preparing to call an emergency board meeting to discuss the challenge.

He said the board would like to hear the rival ticket's suggestions but would dismiss any proposal to completely replace the current board.

The challenge, led by Mr Schwab, is separate to another challenge from disgruntled member Michael Pahoff, who has made public a letter written by Richmond football director Greg Miller, warning that the club would not attract a new coach and get through the trade period without peace.

Mr Pahoff has also collected the 100 signatures necessary to force an election, though Mr Schwab has asked him to hold off on his plans to call for a spill of the board.

Mr Miller said he was disappointed in the manner Mr Pahoff and Mr Schwab had gone about addressing the issues at Richmond.

"Unfortunately not only Michael decided to do it that way, but it looks like Brendan Schwab and his team are wanting to do the same," he said.

"I'm not casting aspersions on them as people but I think their timing should have been a lot better and they should have put Richmond first."

Mr Miller said he would consider resigning from his position if the board changed.

"I'm certainly loyal to my employer, which is Clinton Casey and the board, but I understand that boards change and you work with new boards," he said.

"But my concern, and I've been pretty vocal about it, is this public brawl that Richmond continues to have and the timing of it all is unfortunate.

"I'm not sure that it's ever going to get any better, that's what worries me."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1162685.htm

[Tiger Spirit]

 

"You get the opportunity at an AGM to appoint new board members and remove people you may be dissatisfied with. I think that's the appropriate forum," he said.

Casey has put himself up for re-election, let member’s vote on it at the appropriate time.

Because, over time, it’s become the Richmond mentality that the next person will fix things for us that makes us want to keep going down this track. There is no certainty that things will get better, whichever way we go with this.  So why can’t people just support who is there now and, at the appropriate time, make changes?

On the evidence provided so far, Schwab is no President.  If members vote him in we will get rolled by every other Club on just about any issue we’re involved in.  I can just see it now.  Since at least July 2003 he tried to convince the other Board members of the seriousness of our situation.  If he couldn’t do that then how could anyone expect that he could convince anyone of anything?

He might have the best business plan set and ready to go, but can he carry it out?  Where’s the past history that suggests he can?  He’s got people supporting him now, but what happens when the honeymoon’s over and things start to fall apart?  How’s he gonna handle things then?  Same way he did last time?  Just up and leave?  And if he does, it won’t be the second time either, apparently.

Lots of people in the past have come in promising this and detailing that and we’re still a joke.

I'm not interested in change just for the sake of change.  Put it in writing that he’s gonna assure us success and I’ll start to believe that this new ticket is the way to go.

[WilliamPowell]

Demetriou says it is too easy for rivals to force a spill of the board at AFL clubs and has suggested they change their constitutions.

I don't think Andrew Demetriou is the only one who thinks that consitutions need changing.

I reckon there maybe a few thousand Tiger members calling for that as well. I can see it now - 10,000 motions calling for a change to our current constitution. 

5%-10% of members signatures would seem a fairer figure than 100.

[Tiger Spirit]

"There's overwhelming consensus within the Richmond football family of the need for change …"

Who are these select few who give themselves the right to know and say what the members want?  How do they know what our views are and whose opinions did they canvass?  Did anyone here get asked, I know I didn’t?

"…it's our suggestion that key members of our group, Brian Wood and Peter Welsh - both former Richmond premiership players - be added to the coaching appointment panel …"

Who says members want Welsh and Wood being involved in such decisions?

No wonder we’re a joke.  You don’t need to be a Board member to make vital decisions at RFC.  Anyone can wander in, invited or not, preferably not, and make half assed decisions, based on how big an ego they have.

As members, if we don’t wake up to how this works to keep us on mediocrity street then we’re never gonna get ourselves of this situation.  We never get a say, because a select few generally get to say it for us.  No more rebel individuals/groups telling us what we want.  We deserve the right to have a say and vote on matters.  Absolutely sick to death of these ego driven maniacs wandering in whenever they feel like it, because they’ve had they’re noses put out of joint, and destroying our Club, time after time.

If they want to get on the Board, go through the proper channels, or why do we even bother with elections?

[mightytiges]

Well said TS. Wholeheartedly agree with you. We've had the same clowns big-noting themselves at our Club for a large proportion of the past 20 years. Time us as members were finally given the opportunity to tell them they are no longer wanted at OUR Club. That means Casey, Schwab, Welsh and whoever else who has had a major say at our Club and failed in that time should sod off! We don't want you and your destructive influences anywhere near our Club any more  .

[1980]

WTF? This guy's had like since February to get ppl together and this is the best he could do?

Where's Crazy John? And for that matter, where's Humphrey B Bear?

They better get naked girls with large pom poms to do the half time entertainment if they want us to go to anymore games.

It cant get any worse, so I say the board should be replaced with naked cheerleaders. Richo will play better.