Woman lawyer on Tiger ticket
By Caroline Wilson
realfooty.theage.com.au
September 7, 2004
Brendan Schwab's push to unseat Clinton Casey as president of Richmond has received a boost in the form of 31-year-old lawyer Sharon Hall, who, if successful, would become the first woman board member in the club's history.
And the Schwab challenge looks certain to further expand again by one tomorrow to give his ticket the required nine members to overthrow Casey, as the two camps head towards a bruising election battle.
Hall, who specialises in sporting, corporate and litigation law, is in partnership with Kevin Sheedy's long-time lawyer Brian Ward. Among her more celebrated cases was the Pakistan cricket inquiry into Shane Warne and Mark Waugh over the betting scandal.
A former Victorian representative softballer who was recruited to the challengers' ticket by Schwab and his alternative treasurer and liquidation expert Michael Humphris, she told The Age: "With the best will in the world, the current administration cannot say that the club is at the front of the queue.
"In my view, it's time for an amicable handing over of the baton to another group to try to achieve that. It's in the best interests of the club.
"If people find it interesting that I'm also female, then that's good. I believe I have something different to offer."
Hall is a coup for Schwab, given Casey's six-month search for a woman director. Among the high-profile Tiger supporters he has unsuccessfully approached is the club's No. 1 ticket-holder Diana Jones, wife of the Melbourne Cricket Club chairman David Jones.
The Casey board boasts eight members but would require nine to form a new board following the spill, which is still expected to take place in the second week of December, though the board believes the full election should take place at the annual meeting that month, saving the club the $60,000 it would cost for an extraordinary general meeting.
Having lost former premiership players Tony Jewell and Peter Welsh from the board at the start of the year, Richmond is the only Victorian AFL club without a former player as a director.
Director of football Greg Miller has offered to fill the breach for Casey and remains a staunch Casey supporter.
Schwab and his group has lost patience with Casey, believing the beleaguered president has failed to honour the compromise reached in order to allow the club to secure a new coach.
Not only has Casey refused to unconditionally make the Richmond books available to Humphris, he has cancelled at least two meetings with the challengers.
With the Richmond board meeting tonight for the last time before Casey heads overseas on Thursday for a month, Schwab and his ticket now regard a total spill as the inevitable conclusion to the club's political, financial and football crisis, which has led to three board members resigning this year, the sacking of CEO Ian Campbell, a projected loss of $2.4 million and a wooden spoon.
Casey is believed to have made the books available only if the challengers sign a confidentiality agreement. Schwab was still pushing for a meeting with Casey before tonight's board meeting.
Casey will also address tomorrow night's best and fairest count for the Jack Dyer Medal, to be attended by former coach Danny Frawley. Although Frawley had offered to stand aside for incoming coach Terry Wallace, Miller is believed to have insisted that Frawley attend.
A full election appears certain following the breakdown in negotiations between the opposing camps, with the only question being whether it will be held in December at the annual meeting - as agreed to during the "ceasefire" - or earlier.
The board believes Schwab's request for an "smooth transition" is actually a request for a complete surrender.
Schwab said last night that the refusal to hand over the financial information unless there was a signed confidentiality agreement was "ridiculous."
He said the financial position of the club was "the issue at the heart of any election for a new board".
But a board source last night countered that Schwab was interested in the financial details for "political reasons," while the club had been upfront in its detailing the club's financial position throughout the year.
- with Jake Niall
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/09/06/1094322716333.html
