Tigers welcome 'baggage-less' Free
Michael Gleeson | June 14, 2008
GREG Miller's decision to step down from the Richmond board brings to an end the era of self-assessment of the Tigers' football department.
The club has acknowledged that while there were benefits to off-field stability from Miller's decision to take a position on the board, ultimately it was an untenable situation.
The club agreed that the head of the football department should not be the football director on the board assessing the performance of the football department.
That Miller also remains a shareholder of a rival club, North Melbourne, only compounded the situation.
Former captain and best-and-fairest Tony Free arrives as a board member well-credentialled in football terms but also importantly, according to president Gary March, carrying no baggage.
"We have been looking for some time for a more contemporary player to join the board given we have a young list and we wanted someone who is independent," March said.
"He was a straight shooter as a player and captain and that is what we wanted. He will be good for us, he is not aligned with anyone and he just tells it how it is. We wanted an independent, uncompromising person with good football background and he has impeccable credentials as a former captain and best-and-fairest winner."
Despite his football pedigree, Free arrives in the position having been little more than an interested observer in recent years and consequently arrives without predisposition.
Regardless of that, or as a consequence, he believes that the second half of the season is crucial for the team in establishing what strides have been taken in its redevelopment over the past few years.
Having endured a difficult draw in the first half of the season, Richmond now confronts a run home including five games against sides currently below them on the ladder. Another is against the side sitting only one place above them.
"From an outsider's perspective, I think we have a talented young crew, a few stars in the middle-to-latter stages of their career. It is an exciting time for our list but it is critical we get things right and develop this talented young list into a consistently competitive team. I think that is the bottom line really," Free said yesterday.
"It is more a matter for Greg and (coach) Terry (Wallace) to assess but from an outsider's perspective I guess to me it is critically important the next six months and how the players develop together and the list develops.
"I think Terry and Greg would like to see some strong performances and good wins as the year goes on.
"I think the footy club would be looking to consistent competitive performances for the remainder of the year. It's an important six months for sure.
"Just from watching games as a supporter the performances to date have been inconsistent haven't they? They have had good strong performances and they have dropped off against some better teams and this is throughout games not just game by game. It is a developing group how long that takes I don't know but the club would be looking for those performances to be more consistent throughout games and game after game."
As a player, Free helped Richmond out of the grim days of the late 1980s and into a period of relative success in the mid-90s before he was forced by injury into early retirement at 27, while club captain.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/tigers-welcome-baggageless-free/2008/06/13/1213321624828.html
