Terry Wallace welcomes biggest challenge of career
Mark Robinson | March 20, 2008
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has conceded tonight starts the most challenging year in his 30-year AFL career.
"I think that's an absolute fair enough comment, absolutely the case," Wallace said.
"It's not scary, really, it's not scary at all.
"I'm feeling excited about the challenge ahead."
Wallace enters the fourth year of a five-year deal and knows a repeat of 2007, when the Tigers won the wooden spoon, would likely see his fifth year terminated.
Tigers president Gary March told the Herald Sun the blowtorch was on Wallace, but quickly added the blowtorch was on everyone including himself, football director Greg Miller and the players.
"The pressure is on everyone right now," March said.
Wallace understands the urgency. "No excuses, we've got to step up and play some good footy," he said.
The Tigers confront a Chris Judd-led Carlton at the MCG tonight in the highly anticipated season-opener.
With just 24 wins from 66 games at Punt Rd, headlined by a disastrous 3-18 (one draw) from 2007, Wallace said the time for talking was over.
He said his team was tired of constant criticism, not just for performances in his realm, but for two decades before that.
"Us as a group, as a family, the Tiger family, we've been an easy hit," he said.
"We're an easy hit at the moment, based on the back of 16th, based on the back of 20 years. What a player who's been there two years to four years has got to do with a 20-year history is basically nothing.
"But that's what the Richmond family have had to put up with for a long time and it's time for it to stop."
The Tigers last night included ex-Bulldog Jordan McMahon in their side, naming former Eagle Mitch Morton as an emergency.
An upbeat Wallace was confident his personnel changes and draftees would turnaround the most unsuccessful period in the club's 100-year history.
He even said his enthusiasm for job, which now enters the fourth of a five-year deal, was bursting.
"I'm hungry for it," he said.
"Those closest to me and those around the footy club would probably say I've had a little bit more zest in the lead-in to this season than what I've had for the last couple of years.
"I think we're now closer to taking those steps that are required. I go back two years and you could say we've got young kids, but the young kids were 19.
"They're not going to have impact, but some of those guys are now four or five years in.
"So I'm expecting them to step up. That's my belief and that excites me. If some of those boys can't step up, I take responsibility for that.
"I think that's a great challenge for all of us.
He defended the decision to "lie low" over the summer and in fact revealed the move began halfway through last year.
"People say we shut up shop over summer but I reckon we shut up shop halfway through last year after all that 2011 bit came out," he said.
"Every time I spoke to somebody, whether it be a media interview or whoever else, it kept heading back to 2011.
"It just got to the stage where you were better off saying nothing because every time you opened your mouth it just seemed liked you were making excuses for something that was already past."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23405737-19742,00.html
