Sigh of the Tiger MARTIN BLAKE
May 6, 2010 The Tigers are hurting, but they have a plan. It just takes time."I'VE had a gutful of representing an era of failure."
BRENDON GALE, Richmond chief executive, to players, staff and backers, March 2010BENNY Gale is an optimist, and he is straight-faced when he says that he travelled to Geelong last Sunday believing Richmond could beat the mighty Geelong. ''Footy teaches you resilience,'' he says. ''But people who play footy have a predisposition to optimism and confidence.''
As the record shows, the Tigers were brutalised by 108 points, departing unloved with a 0-6 record, a percentage of 49 and last place on the ladder. On the biggest AFL internet fan forum this week, a gloating opposition supporter started a post about whether Richmond deserved to remain in the competition.
Another burst into print about a potential Richmond move to Tasmania. Yet another speculated about games that the Tigers might have a chance of winning, with the West Coast encounter in round 12 being a favourite.
All this at a time when the consensus in the industry suggests it is disastrous to ''bottom out'' now that Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney are to join the competition, with draft concessions underpinning them.
If Richmond finishes last in 2010, as most expect, it will not have a selection until pick four in the national draft and not again until the 20s, comparing poorly with Melbourne's two priority picks at the end of 2009.
Yet Gale insists the mood around Punt Road is ''buoyant''. He provides two reasons for this: one, that the club is moving forward off the field, away from the shop window; two, that expectations of on-field success were kept in check. Observers might have added that he has to be buoyant, but that's another story.
Off the field, the picture is rosier than you might expect. Richmond's supporters have hung tough, and there have been no infamous dumpings of manure at club headquarters. When Gale checked on his computer at 8.50 yesterday morning, the Tigers had sold 40,771 memberships. The figure includes non-ticketed members, such as people in remote areas who want to keep in touch with the club's comings and goings, but don't attend games. While it is about 5000 down on the figure for the same time last year, that was in the midst of the Ben Cousins silliness that engulfed Punt Road.
Realistically, it is a good number. ''What that tells me is that Richmond supporters are extremely loyal and passionate and they care about their club,'' says Gale. ''The second thing is, we've been transparent from day one about where we are as a club and what's required to go forward. We've been open with our plans and that tells me they're endorsing the direction we've taken.
''We've got to take our medicine for a little while. But there's excitement off the field and some excitement on the field, which will become apparent as time goes on.''
Corporate support is up on 2009 in real terms, but still in the bottom quartile of AFL clubs by Gale's estimation. He sees this as a potential growth area, particularly if and when the team rallies.
The $20 million redevelopment project that will bring the Punt Road facilities up to speed with other clubs is on budget and on time for completion in November. The Tigers have also opened their training and community facility at Craigieburn with the City of Hume, which will be used extensively in the pre-seasons.
But the most overwhelming project is to rebuild the playing list as quickly as possible. The question is how, in this environment of compromised drafts?
Richmond has three full-time recruiters, headed by Francis Jackson, with two having been added in 2009. In December the club also hired a list analysis manager and opposition analysis specialist, Blair Hartley, who was previously national recruiting manager for Port Adelaide, and has four staff in development, working with existing players, trying to make them better in a way that other clubs stole the march on Richmond.
The club's general manager football, Craig Cameron, says the process began more than a year ago. ''But there's always a lag between the recruiting cycle and what happens on the premiership ladder,'' he says.
''From a superficial view, it looks like we're bottoming out this year. But we already started to bring other players in and some of them will reach maturity in the next couple of years. Plus the way things are going, we'll have a good selection in this year's draft. Any selection in the top 10 generally produces a good-quality player.''
Cameron does not see the task as impossible; merely difficult.
''It was only last year that Fremantle only kicked one goal in a game [against Adelaide]. The thing that's important for us is that we don't look at our improvement as a week-to-week thing. We have to look at it over a cycle. If you measure it week-to-week, you'd slit your wrists after last weekend.''
Jackson and his staff are watching youth in far-flung places. Hartley is watching the bottom end of other club's lists, trawling for lost talent. Richmond waved away 12 players at the end of 2009, including stars like Matthew Richardson, Nathan Brown and Kane Johnson, with new coach Damien Hardwick cutting hard and early to augment the retirements. At the national draft, the Tigers went for youth.
It will continue, says Cameron, but with some tweaking. ''We'll continue to draft young players but we'll also look at the second-tier competitions as we did last year.''
The success of the mature-aged recruits such as Michael Barlow at Fremantle and James Podsiadly at Geelong has not gone unnoticed; Richmond has its own example in Ben Nason, from Central District, who has played every game this season. ''Obviously with the restrictions on the young talent, we're going to have to do a little bit more of it. That's why the recruiting [department] has been bolstered.''
The goal is to create a playing list that is more experienced, and even. Richmond has just five 100-game players; Geelong sent 15 out in the 2009 grand final. ''Not many premierships are won by young teams, are they?'' says Cameron. ''We need a band of players within a five-year age bracket who come through at the same time.''
Cameron says that for the football department, it is about patience and resolve. He believes Richmond's supporters will cop the pain, provided the direction is clear. ''If we go away from what we're trying to do and go for some short-term gains, I think they've got every right to call us to order.''
As for Gale, he's dreaming large. Recently he launched a strategic plan for the club that would see it play finals three times in the next five years; win three premierships by 2020 and become the competition's No. 1 power.
While he copped some predictable whacks at the time he said this, he has no qualms. ''Plans should always be ambitious to start with and this one is,'' he says.
''But at various stages of our history we've set the benchmark on and off the field. That doesn't guarantee that you'll be successful in the future, but what it demonstrates is you've actually got the capacity if you execute the plan.''
Four things Richmond has to do1. Rebuild the playing listNot an easy task, with pick four the best available in this year's draft, and the Gold Coast already having access to a dozen 17-year-olds. The good news is the process started last year. The bad news is it's a slow, painstaking job. "I think if we continue to do what we're doing and don't get distracted, it'll turn around, says
Craig Cameron." I just can't give a time on that.
2. Hold firmFootball is littered with clubs who fudged on good intentions. Richmond is talking a good game; the judgment will come if the Tigers are no further advanced on the field 12 months from now. Emotion is their enemy in this sense. "They [supporters] have got every right to call us to order if we deviate," says Cameron.
3. Nail down a game planDamien Hardwick wants a more accountable game. But he has declined flooding, which might have reduced the losing margins but is not considered ideal for teaching. "We want to build from defence and midfield, get that
right and then focus on offensive ball movement. We have to do a bit of both," says Cameron.
4. Keep the faithEmotion is their friend in this category. Selling a bottom-of-the-ladder team as a corporate entity is not easy. Inevitably a few members lose patience and drop off. For Brendon Gale and his team, there is a huge challenge
to retain that supporter base and round them up. But with half a million supporters nationwide, Richmond remains a latent superpower.
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