And then he said…

Posted on May 22, 2009 | Category: Discussions

Terry Wallace got sacked by the board. No, the players told the board he should be sacked. Wait, actually he got sacked by the board, then re-instated because the players supported him at a meeting. It all came up because Mitch Morton got a grudge against Wallace after being told that he (Morton) had cost the coach his career. Mitch Morton doesn’t have a grudge against Wallace, he’s just annoyed that the private dressing-room discussion got leaked. Kane Johnson went and spoke to the coach about resigning. No, Jake King spoke to the coach about resigning. No, Kane Johnson got Jake King and Chris Newman to talk to Terry Wallace about resigning. Jake King got Chris Newman to talk to Mitch Morton about resigning?

Now we know he’s safe until the end of the year. No, he’s safe until the mid-season review: in two weeks time. If Richmond lose this week Wallace could get removed on Monday. Jade Rawlings will be the interim coach. Brian Royal is the man most likely to be interim coach. Wayne Campbell was brought to Richmond effectively to become interim coach if Wallace was sacked.

Confused yet? Pretty much everything (except Morton resigning) in the above paragraphs has been written as “fact” by “respected” football journalists, fuelled by Chinese whispers, fanciful story-telling and probably even just a little bit of bare-faced lying. And yet, despite all this, and despite the fact that everyone is saying how quickly the Tigers turn on their own, and bring out the axe – the loudest calls for Wallace to go have come from the media, rather than the supporters. We’re disappointed, disillusioned, frustrated and even angry; but we’ve actually taken the administration seriously when they’ve said that they’ll stick to the deal: at least until the mid-season review. The board has remained consistent, the public comments from the administration have been consistent, and the public support from the players has been consistent.

I say sack the journalists. :P

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3 Responses to “And then he said…”

  1. Matt Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    I can’t listen to SEN at the moment, particularly while driving. I get so mad.

    Every second person says “we can’t have the players running the show, and they’ve clearly lost faith in Terry, so it’s time that Terry goes”.

    Uh. Footballers aren’t necessarily rocket scientists across the board, but they probably CAN remember what happened three days ago. If Terry goes, the players will believe they pull significant weight at the club.
    Which is probably the source of the problem.

    There’s a huge cultural issue at Richmond. There must be. How else can we have 25 years of rubbish? The playing, administration and coaching group has turned over many times: but the Tigers are still the Tigers.

    It IS an honour to wear that jumper. It IS an honour to play the game you love for money. With honour comes responsibility and submission, and in that world, the coach is your god. You will do what he says, because that’s the rules of the agreement you entered when you came to play here.

    And the media is just as bad. You cannot please the media. If Wallace gets sacked the headline reads “same old richmond”. If he doesn’t, we get “Lame Duck”, and “Richmond ignores the people”. So ignore them. Completely, and utterly.
    What we need to do is stop giving them opportunity to write what they do (and what you rail against above) about Richmond. Because we really, honestly, completely deserve what we’re getting at the moment.

    Anything that undermines the coach’s authority must be stopped. A player revolt? You must be joking.

    I think parenting a three year old brings a lot of similarities to coaching football: No, I know you don’t like eating carrots, but you’ll do it, because I say so, and I have your best interests at heart. And yes, I really DO know better than you. If you don’t like it, you go without. You most definitely DO NOT get to go to the fridge and pick out what you’d like to eat. And if you chuck a wobbly, you get a timeout, and I go play with your brother instead.

    Richmond must not sack Terry Wallace before the end of the year. When they decide mid-year that he won’t be the senior coach next year, perhaps his mantle changes to be one of testing the playing group, and doing his best to blood one of his assistant coaches to bring them up to speed to assist the transition, or even take over the role themselves, but either way, he MUST see out the year as senior coach.

    Winning one, three or eight more games for the year won’t get us into the finals, much less set up an attempt for the flag. It’s time Richmond folk stopped settling for a finals appearance as being an acceptable year. Whether we win from here is irrelevant – and a caretaker coach is a genuine waste of time. What’s that going to achieve?

    What needs to happen to build this team into a premiership contender? That’s got to the be rule set from here. Anything less is more of the same old Richmond.

    And I think we’ve all had a gutful of that by now.

  2. Matt Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    hey, a comment that’s longer than the original story!

  3. The Wounded Tiger Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    Well done Matt – that’s quite the comment! I’m not sure that I’d see it as cut and dried as you do: I think different coaches have vastly different leadership styles, and I’m not sure that the “player revolt” being talked about is really what’s happened. Having said that, we have to choose a coach that actually has some authority about him, and the whole organisation needs to talk about the coach in that way: from top dog to boot-studder. Which is why it needs to be either a Malthouse type figure, who brings enormous clout with them, or a tough Brad Scott type character – who will beat the living shoot out of anyone who gives any lip.

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