'Stinker'By Mark Macgugan
6:00 PM Mon 04 Jul, 2011RICHMOND CEO Brendon Gale has described Saturday's 103-point thumping at the hands of Carlton as a "train wreck" and a "stinker", but says supporters need to keep the long-term in mind.
Compounding the loss, the Tigers wore a special jumper sporting the names of donors to their 'Fighting Tiger Fund' on Saturday, and president Gary March assured fans before the clash that the club would win its next premiership under his administration.
Speaking on radio SEN 1116 on Monday morning, Gale admitted it had been a day to forget.
"It was a stinker, there's no doubt about that, and all those other things taken into account made it worse," the Richmond chief executive said.
"I can understand why the people who have contributed so generously (to the Fighting Tiger Fund) would be disappointed with the weekend's performance, but we just can't get caught up in short-term results."
Gale said the club's goal of reaching three finals series in the next five years was still realistic.
"Yes, it was a significant disappointment on the day; it was a train wreck, let's be honest," Gale said.
"But we're on the right trajectory as a football club …
"We've said we want to put ourselves in a position to play in three finals series in five years, and I think when we said that, it was going to be a stretch.
"But I'm still confident that we can do that."
Gale, who played 244 games for the Tigers, challenged Richmond's players to show they have the character needed to continue the club's climb up the AFL ladder over the remainder of the season.
"We said in the first two years we're going to find out which players are going to take us forward as a footy club," Gale said.
"There's been a transformation to our list, and we're going to find out a whole lot more in the next few weeks."
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