I'm presuming this is another crybaby Barrett piece... 
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A bizarre way to run your club
December 17, 2008
NO. Yes. Highly unlikely. Not absolutely impossible. Yes.
It could have been the voice of 1980s Australian cricketer Graeme Wood, an opening batsman who regularly ran out teammates because of mid-pitch indecision.
But, no, it was a bizarre sequence of messages sent by Richmond Football Club between November 27 and yesterday, as it tormented itself to the point of turmoil over Ben Cousins.
The behind-scenes play that yesterday resulted in Cousins becoming a Tiger was dysfunctional, amateurish even.
It saw a long held and previously hard fought for edict of drafting youth to the club turfed at the death when the pressure of media and fans turned some individuals into nervous wrecks.
The head of the Tigers' football department Craig Cameron may have become the public face of much of the embarrassment but, to his credit, he had the courage to stand firm with his original outlook on Cousins when others buckled.
Related LinksAndo's top 31-50 Cameron maintained throughout the messy saga that the Tigers should not use any of their available draft selections on older players.
It was a strategy taken to, and accepted by, the Richmond board in September.
Terry Wallace, as part of that football department, would therefore have signed off on it.
Gary March, as president of the board, liked it.
But it was Wallace and March who ultimately drove hard the late-night decision on Monday to backflip and opt to take Cousins in yesterday's pre-season draft.
That afternoon, the AFL Commission did as it was always going to do, and rejected Richmond's near-ridiculous proposal to have Graham Polak shifted on to the rookie list.
It was a two-faced attempt at creating an extra pick in the pre-season draft, which it wanted to use on Cousins, as well as providing extra room in the salary cap, and the commission seemingly saw it that way too.
Incredibly, Richmond was not prepared for this outcome. Surely a club asking the commission to change a rule would have at least factored in all possibilities.
Not Richmond. For it, no Plan B. Which then prompted the total about-face to use pick six in yesterday's draft, a decision that was reached about 10pm after a series of meetings and phone conversations.
Cameron, a highly regarded football official, was effectively rolled by men who only hours earlier shared his view on the list management of the club.
The strong football clubs contain people who never deviate on football ideology.
It is believed chief executive Steven Wright also was outvoted. Wright is one of football's mystery men. He gets others to return his messages, and is very rarely seen in front of cameras.
He has, to his credit, helped turn around the Tigers' books, particularly through good relations with governments.
But he was missing in public action this week, with Cameron left to front a couple of conferences in which he could not possibly emerge as a winner.
Wallace yesterday denied his hopes of a contract extension were behind the club's recruitment of Cousins.
"If you have a look at it, it is fair and reasonable to say we will have exactly the same amount of youth players coming into our club as what we would have had if Graham Polak went off the list, or not off the list," Wallace said.
"We have used picks in the past. We picked up Trent Knobel in similar circumstances, we picked up Kent Kingsley, which didn't work so well for the club.
"But, we said the whole way along, and our list management was that we wouldn't use early selections on senior players, so we wouldn't trade out our young stars.
"I think most Richmond people would say the group of young blokes coming through are the equivalent of nearly any coming on in the competition, so to add to that, late, which (effectively) is a last-round pick, we have never ever calculated that out of proceedings."
As always, nice words from Wallace.
The origins of Richmond's interest in Cousins are debated, but one version has it that Kevin Sheedy, a Tigers legend now a paid ambassador, got talking with Ricky Nixon, Cousins' manager, in a marquee at the Australian Masters golf at Huntingdale three weeks ago.
Sheedy already had plans to fly to Perth, and it was decided he would speak with Cousins.
It is said Sheedy was forceful in that conversation, challenging him to take up what would be his last hope to play top-level football in 2009.
The belated decision to add Cousins may, of course, prove a masterstroke.
But, you have to wonder just how much the Tigers found out about Cousins in their -- wait for it -- five-day investigation.
And you have to wonder if the issue highlighted in the article on the front of this newspaper was discovered in that investigation.
Collingwood spent six months looking into Cousins, even hired a private investigator and had dialogue with Victoria Police chief Christine Nixon. St Kilda took five months, Brisbane at least three months, probably more.
They all arrived at a resounding, "No". Other clubs didn't even bother.
The Cousins selection may prove a masterstroke, but even if so, few at the club will be able to look back on the past week with any professional satisfaction.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24812294-19742,00.html
