It's no lone March: Tigers get together to shed the quick fix
Caroline Wilson | June 24, 2007 | The Age
THE Richmond Football Club, as has been statistically demonstrated and repeated during a dark recent past, remains the worst-performed club in the AFL over the past two decades.
One quarter of a century has passed since its last grand final and, over that time, many men have donned the famous yellow and black claiming ownership and a blueprint for success.
Some deserved to make that ownership claim. Neville Crowe was one, so, too, was Wayne Campbell and, of course, the unique and spectacular if occasionally flawed champion, Matthew Richardson.
Richmond's reliance on Richo and his football genius was demonstrated again at the MCG two nights ago. And surely his legacy is now assured.
One of the saddest sights in the club's recent past was its narrow defeat against Geelong at Skilled Stadium in round 22 two seasons ago — Campbell's last game and the closest he ever came to a victory against the Cats at Geelong. That the Tigers were not quite able to get there for him really said it all.
Others have come and gone and never quite shaken the impression that the colours they wore were no more than a disguise — convenient robes to adorn their latest football gig or power play.
Many underestimated the task that lay ahead at Tigerland. Many thought they had the answers. Many have failed and, as the years have passed, the club has been forced to delve further into the past to rediscover that winning tradition — or compromise and celebrate less than true success. Never was that more profoundly demonstrated than at Jack Dyer's funeral and wake four years ago.
Now the club stands again at the crossroads.
Having invested heavily in Terry Wallace, who finds himself midway through his five-year plan enduring his toughest season, the Tigers have recognised that they must take one further step towards the AFL's professional new world. They must bolster the set-up around the coach, namely the areas in which they have struggled for so long — list management and recruiting.
The signs are good for the Tigers, and we are in no way basing that assertion on Friday night's emphatic victory over Melbourne, the club's first win in 2007.
Despite Richmond's recent public denial, Greg Miller's power base at the club has been diminished. It has been a slow process that began with Clinton Casey's departure, but the club now sees recruiting as a full-time business requiring a full-time boss and several able assistants. There is no doubt the quick-fix mentality, which began well before Miller joined the club but for which he also must take some responsibility, has gone.
Just who the Tigers employ to oversee their technically flawed list remains the club's greatest pressing challenge and one that should not be decided by politics or friendships. To echo the sentiments of businessman and Carlton president Dick Pratt, the best man available is not necessarily the best man for the job.
President Gary March deserves much credit for the manner in which he has taken charge at Richmond, particularly given his relatively poor start, which smacked of a deal with Casey to save his predecessor's face and was then briefly hurt by March's own business problems with Concept Sports.
Not only has he steered the club back into profit via his hard-working and prudent chief executive Steve Wright, but March has also demonstrated an ability to make tough decisions and deliver them quietly with a low-key respect not often associated with Richmond in the past.
He seems to be at ease with the media, but not given to outlandish political statements, mindful of the club's financial problems and has a desire for an ongoing generous AFL fixture.
March stepped in and took control after the club's disastrous crash against Geelong and somehow minimised the damage, despite Miller's somewhat hysterical email to supporters and Wallace's attempts to spin some of the responsibility away from himself. Like Kane Johnson — a Tigers supporter from birth, as is March — March assumed ownership of the situation.
Unusually for Richmond, the board seems united, too. And even those who doubted the new president have come around.
And Wallace? People ask frequently why he is not scrutinised more harshly, but the truth is that he not only has a long-term deal and will not be sacked any time soon, but he also can coach and most of the media, and even Wallace's critics, believe so.
Yes, he is a spin doctor who occasionally overplays his hand — as he did at the start of the season — but Wallace is not alone there among AFL coaches. And while he might publicly refuse to admit his mistakes, the coach has privately been prepared in his time at Tigerland to rewrite his game plan and philosophies and has clearly done that in the past month as Richmond edged closer to victory.
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