Wallace adds lustre to the eye of the Tiger
Patrick Smith
The Australian
August 02, 2004
IN a season of desperate disappointment for Nathan Brown, some good news at last. His mentor and good friend Terry Wallace has accepted the coaching position at Richmond.
Brown left the Bulldogs at the end of last season. Wallace left at the end of the season before. From next year the two will be reunited. They were a potent force at the Bulldogs, expect them to be a potent force at Richmond.
In a season of desperate disappointment for president Clinton Casey, some good news at last. The appointment of Wallace is a coup for his board. They had been under pressure from supporters and former board member Brendan Schwab after another grim loss had been forecast, and Danny Frawley could deliver them just four wins so far this season.
Casey and his men have snared the best credentialled coach available. Wallace's record at the Bulldogs was impressive, if not outstanding.
He was innovative at the Bulldogs and has not had his eye off the game since he left. His newspaper column is challenging, his commentary on television insightful.
In a season of desperate disappointment for football operations manager Greg Miller, some good news at last. Miller had put his faith in Frawley to turn around two poor seasons when the club could only manage a collective 14 wins. After a bright start against Collingwood the Tigers returned to type. Plodding, predictable. Lacking skill and passion.
Miller also watched Daniel Wells blossom into one of the most exciting young players in the competition. Wells went to the Kangaroos when Miller gave up the second pick at the national draft to secure mid-fielder Kane Johnson at the end of season 2002. Johnson has been serviceable, Wells mouth-watering.
In a season of desperate disappointment for Brendan Schwab, more bad news. The pending appointment of Wallace has left his challenge without meaning or momentum. Schwab quit the board at the beginning of the year and had pulled together a ticket to take on Casey. With him was another board member Peter Welsh, who like Schwab quit the board stating he did not have the time to devote to club matters.
Schwab appears to have been utterly outmanoeuvred in the past week. Last Wednesday, he settled on a compromise with Casey that left the incumbent president well placed.
Casey agreed that Schwab's would-be football director Bryan Wood could sit with the sub-committee organised to find Frawley's replacement. Clearly, Wallace had all but signed and Wood attended just one briefing with Miller before news that Wallace had agreed to become Tiger coach.
Casey's other concession was to allow former Tiger treasurer and Schwab candidate Mike Humphris to look at Richmond's books.
It was a concession of no account, for Richmond's books have been more widely read than the Da Vinci Code.
Casey has now delivered a new chief executive officer, the highly regarded Steven Wright. Wallace, the best option for the club, is the new coach. And the club has a business plan that has the AFL salivating it appears so well measured and researched. As well, Casey has the unofficial support of the AFL heavies. Schwab does not. Nothing like it.
Schwab had been rumbling about a potential challenge for months. It looks now that there was too much rumbling and not nearly enough action.
Wallace and Miller have much work to do nonetheless. Richmond's list must be revitalised. They will have the opportunity through the draft and may well have a priority pick if the Tigers cannot win two more games.
They have players that would bring some fierce bidding at trade time as well. They need to think long and hard about some of the club's big names like Matthew Richardson and Brad Ottens. A new captain would be a priority.
In a season of desperate disappointment for Richmond members and fans some good news at last. Suddenly, Richmond is shaping as an exciting club to follow.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10314512%255E12270,00.html
