ANDREW BEWS: Just like the Tigers of old
Geelong Advertiser
July 30th, 2008
ISN'T it amazing how as soon as Richmond looks like it's stable, along comes some sort of destabilising force.
This time it has come in the shape of the sacking of director of football Greg Miller.
You had to have been Blind Freddy not to see it coming.
Only a month ago, Greg was moved sideways, so the writing was on the wall that the club was clearly not happy with what he was doing around the place.
Miller is probably guilty of trying to wear too many hats and he's not the first one in the history of football to attempt to take on too many roles and appease too many people.
Even Bomber Thompson was criticised in 2006 for trying to do too many things. It's that old adage, you can't be all things to all people.
Richmond Football Club has got itself into quite a comfortable groove in recent weeks on the field.
Terry Wallace had also been criticised for not being able to get the best out of a list that he was responsible for constructing.
But the team is now starting to gel and has done the work in the gym to prepare the bodies to be able to compete competitively within the AFL.
The skill and execution of playing the game, which has been Terry's strong suit, is also being understood and implemented by his group.
When so much is all heading in the right direction, it comes as no surprise that the Tigers have again found a way to derail all that good work.
For Greg Miller now, where does he go as a football administrator? He's had stints with the Kangaroos, the Hammerheads (Channel 7's reality show of a few years back) and now the Tigers.
Many would have said he was lucky to get a gig at the Tigers, if not for persuasive friends.
Is there a club out there searching for a man of his talents, or could it be the Gold Coast calling?
Miller may well find himself on a shortlist from the AFL and could be a viable option for at least the first couple of years, while the fledgling AFL licence gets itself up, running the TAC Cup.
The timing couldn't have been worse for Greg, as I understand North Melbourne requires its shareholding to be redistributed - Miller is one of those shareholders - and he's now suddenly unemployed. When it rains it pours.
Whatever the future holds, we wish him all the best. With Wallace well into his contract, now completing his fourth year with one to go, he would want to be seeing results from this squad that he's put together piece by piece.
There are few players who were recruited to the club by any former regime or coaching panel.
Matthew Richardson, Chris Newman, Kane Johnson, Joel Bowden, Kayne Pettifer and Greg Tivendale are the survivors who Wallace has chosen to keep and work with. The rest are all Wallace proteges.
Many have had huge question marks put against their names - Jay Schulz, Troy Simmonds, Richard Tambling, Pettifer, Tivendale, Newman and Danny Meyer have all struggled throughout Wallace's reign.
Wallace also had the unfortunate scenario of having a couple of his stars in Mark Coughlan and Nathan Brown suffering long-term injuries, which haven't helped bring the young players through the system.
The new breed Wallace is drawing on now consists of some young, strong, exciting footballers.
Will Thursfield is a key for them in defence, Tambling is beginning to play a defensive half-back role, Jack Riewoldt is a target throughout the forward line and Andrew Raines, when fit, is an outstanding player.
And you can throw any of these players through the midfield and they could match it with most other teams: Dean Polo, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Daniel Jackson, Brett Deledio, Nathan Foley and Trent Cotchin.
These young players are the future of the Richmond footy club and have to be played consistently, even to the point that they should be played when their form doesn't always warrant it.
There are a couple of outsiders who might make the cut, players like Luke McGuane, Mitch Morton, Shane Edwards and maybe even Jake King could possibly make a fist of it at Tigerland.
The Tigers' faithful have got so much to look forward to and would no doubt be devastated at the latest administrative botch of leaking internal information to the media before even Miller had been informed.
It must crush them and they would possibly be wondering where the next clanger is going to come from.
The Tigers have just announced another great initiative by re-developing their Punt Road facility.
Gary March, the el supremo at the Tigers, would be very embarrassed, and as much as he was trying to put a positive spin on the outcome, he left with more egg on his face than he would have bargained for about the Miller saga.
Even as late as yesterday, Greg Miller was still listed on the Tigers' website as director of football at the Richmond Football Club, outlining his role and responsibility as a member of the football sub-committee.
It amazes me that a club so desperate to get him out of the picture is quite happy to still have him listed there.
If the Tigers thought they had it tough with a little off-field turmoil filling the pages of the media this week, they must feel like they're going from the frying pan straight into the fire.
They take on an unrelenting Geelong footy club this week, but may have the luxury of getting back a couple of their young players in Cleve Hughes, Daniel Connors and maybe Travis Casserly.
Graham Polak won't be considered for the rest of the season after his horrific accident a few weeks back.
But the Cats will be looking forward to this one in particular. There may be a couple of inclusions, with the word on the street that Gary Ablett is keen to play, Cameron Ling is also very keen to play and Darren Milburn is over the virus he contracted last week.
After coming off a mighty win against the Hawks last Friday, the Cats will enjoy an extra day's break over the Tigers, who will have to pull out a Herculean effort to overcome the Cats as they mount a challenge for a 2008 finals campaign.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/07/30/16684_gfc.html
