Kangaroos, Richmond get down to businessDamian Barrett and Jon Ralph | July 28, 2009 11:40pm
NATHAN Buckley's Pies deal whittled Richmond's coaching race down to a dozen, but it's adamant he wasn't their preferred candidate.
The Pies legend was to meet Richmond at 10am yesterday, but alerted head of football Craig Cameron before his contract was announced.
Richmond's interviews have started, and president Gary March said yesterday the club would keep an open mind about its new coach.
He said while Buckley might have had obvious credentials, the job had been far from his, even if he had been determined to land it.
"He was one of 13 candidates, all of whom are good candidates, and now we have 12," March said. "We are well into the process. There is no real change for us.
"I am not sure he was ever anything other than a candidate -- he was no more highly fancied than anyone else.
"We had never formally spoken to him about his views on coaching, and whether he was the right fit for us. So we will never know.
"We don't even know if he was the right fit for us. He might have been the perfect fit, or he might not have been. So good luck to him and Collingwood, but we will keep working on finding our coach."
Richmond's first round of interviews will be conducted by Cameron, football director Tony Free, club psychologist Jeff Bond, basketball legend Lindsay Gaze and Gemba business consultant Ben Crowe.
Jade Rawlings, Damien Hardwick, Alan Richardson, Leon Cameron, Justin Leppitsch, Ken Hinkley, Brad Scott, Mark Neeld, Peter Sumich, Anthony Rock and Dean Laidley are known to have been asked to take part in interviews.
Hardwick is on the second line of betting behind caretaker Jade Rawlings, while former Roos coach Laidley is the wildcard.
Sportingbet last night had Rawlings at $2 to coach Richmond next year, with Hardwick at $4.50 and Leon Cameron at $6.
March said there was no ceiling on the number of candidates to be interviewed in the second round of the process, which will also involve former players Emmett Dunne and Greg Stafford.
"It might come down to one if we reckon they are the standout candidate, or it could be five or six," March said.
"With St Kilda and other coaching panels, they have said sometimes you don't know until you meet someone and understand they are the right fit for your club."
WHERE TO NEXT? RICHMOND The club is this week interviewing 12 candidates, with the panel including basketball legend Lindsay Gaze and business consultant Ben Crowe.
A short-list of four or five will go on to a second interview process in early August, before a third round of interviews involving president Gary March will select the coach.
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