Johnson led Tiger revolt
Caroline Wilson | May 21, 2009
KANE Johnson has emerged as a key participant in Monday's player push to have Terry Wallace removed as coach of Richmond.
Although it was captain Chris Newman who delivered the unpalatable message to Wallace three days ago, The Age understands that Newman's predecessor Johnson was the loudest voice in the small group of Richmond footballers who heavily influenced the rookie skipper to approach the coach.
As the dust settled yesterday on the strife-torn club, it became apparent that Tiger football boss Craig Cameron made it clear to the players in no uncertain terms that they would not be deciding Wallace's future.
Cameron's message was not only backed up by president Gary March but also endorsed by significant voices in the playing group including veterans Matthew Richardson and Joel Bowden.
It has now become clear that Newman strongly suggested to Wallace on Monday that he step aside as coach.
The new skipper, who was celebrating his 27th birthday, said he believed the playing group had reached the end of its professional relationship with Wallace.
A number of concerns were raised and it also became clear that some senior players believed that Wallace would soon be gone and had become fearful the club could retain him until the end of the year.
By Monday night, Newman was reportedly remorseful once he realised the massive ramifications of his actions.
Having been encouraged to work on improving communication between coach and players, Newman at some point in recent days had become overwhelmed by concern that Wallace had lost a significant group of players.
The club has privately vowed to continue to support Newman as captain with the prevailing view that his performance on Monday in confronting Wallace was well-intentioned if naive.
Johnson, 31, who stepped down as captain last year and has had misgivings about the coach for at least a year, is due to return from injury some time in June.
He is understood to have spoken with Newman and had received some support from another senior player in Troy Simmonds. Jake King also spent a small portion of time speaking with Wallace in Newman's presence.
It is not known whether Johnson has been spoken to by club executives, all of whom refused to comment yesterday on what took place in Tuesday's talks.
Wallace, in turn, believed he was facing the sack on Monday night and revealed as much to at least one associate, which explained the misreporting of his fate which took place two days ago.
The coach was never sacked and the Richmond hierarchy made its case plain to the players at the start of Tuesday's meeting.
Bowden and Richardson spoke out strongly against a player revolt, pointing out that such a decision was not theirs to make and that the club's reputation would only be further damaged should the players be seen to have sacked the coach.
The Tuesday talks, which took place with 13 senior players in Port Melbourne, revealed a number of divisions among the playing group regarding the coach's future and Wallace's comments to Mitch Morton after the Port Adelaide loss were only briefly raised.
While Wallace stayed away from the club yesterday, as is customary for a Wednesday, the coach is understood to have emerged from Tuesday's crisis meeting satisfied that he had the support of the Richmond board and administration to continue as coach of the club until the end of the season.
Although Wallace and the club remain mutually convinced that he will not receive another coaching contract, the preference is for Wallace to complete the season after his fate has been decided by June's much-vaunted mid-year review.
The crisis talks also made it clear to the decision-makers at the club that internal development required some external assistance, with a program such as Leading Teams — utilised, among others, by the highly successful Geelong in recent years — put forward as one possible solution to player issues at Tigerland.
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