Terry Wallace had the Hawthorn coaching job in 2004

Collingwood 4 eternity · Apr 23, 2011

Dermott Brereton who was on the Hawthorn FC board back then , revealed on Sen Crunch Time , that the eight Hawthorn FC board members were so impressed with Terry Wallaces presentation to them that the coaching job was his if they heard from Terry that he wanted to coach Hawthorn.

But as Dermott revealed when Terry was asked by them "Do you want to coach Hawthorn FC"

Wallace , who had already had 5 meetings with Richmond answered "I'll need 24 - 48 hours to think about it"

Dermott said that members of the board were surprised , thinking that Terry would have said , yes I would love to coach Hawthorn. If Terry had of said those words , they would have started the contractual negotiations for him to be the Hawthorn coach then and there.

Terry Wallace was in he Sen studio when this story was told on air and confirmed it.

Pretty amazing how the fortunes of the 2 clubs and Terry and Clarkson has gone since that point in time.

HolyWars · Apr 23, 2011

Terry Wallace, I thank you for not choosing Hawthorn! :thumbsu:

Upgrayedd · Apr 23, 2011

Pretty lucky that he chose richmond due to "a better list"

Hawker55 · Apr 23, 2011

I heard rumours of that at the time but about Gary Ayres coaching us. The board wanted a Hawks man to rebuild - not sure what swung it to Clarko at the end?

the woodsmen2010 · Apr 23, 2011

Well done hawthorn, you could have had tampling instead of buddy

wallyt99 · Apr 23, 2011

Hawker55 said:
not sure what swung it to Clarko at the end?

Way I heard it was that at his final interview he brought with him a folder that had significant notes of every single player in the AFL.

It impressed the panel enough to give him the gig.

Borgsta · Apr 23, 2011

the woodsmen2010 said:
Well done hawthorn, you could have had tampling instead of buddy

If coaches were selectors this might be true.

Adelaide Hawk · Apr 23, 2011

Funny. I know another person on the Board at the time who has a completely different story. He told me that they only had one meeting with Wallace, it was informal, no decisions were made. Dermott wanted to appoint Wallace straight away, other members weren't so sure. The next day, Wallace signed a 5 year contract with Richmond .. and publicly slated Hawthorn for not offering him the job.

I think either Dermott's memory is playing tricks, or he's being mischievous for some reason.

wahawk · Apr 23, 2011

As delirious1 said, TW was reported as saying that RFC had a better list that was further advanced than HFC.

I've been a member of HFC for 36 years and would have had to make a very hard decision as to wheather i would have re-newed my membership if he had been appointed.

At the time I told several friends that i wouldnt renew if he was appointed. Luckily i had that decision taken out of my hands.

TW is the most selfish person to wear a Hawthorn jumper.

wahawk · Apr 23, 2011

Adelaide Hawk said:
Funny. I know another person on the Board at the time who has a completely different story. He told me that they only had one meeting with Wallace, it was informal, no decisions were made. Dermott wanted to appoint Wallace straight away, other members weren't so sure. The next day, Wallace signed a 5 year contract with Richmond .. and publicly slated Hawthorn for not offering him the job.

I think either Dermott's memory is playing tricks, or he's being mischievous for some reason.

I personally dont know the true story but i heard the same version as Dermott's at the time. I was told the job was TW's if he wanted it.

When i heard he took the Richmond job , i cried 'true tears of joy'

BF Tiger · Apr 23, 2011

It's amazing how many football people he has sucked-in in his time.

Adelaide Hawk · Apr 23, 2011

wahawk said:
I personally dont know the true story but i heard the same version as Dermott's at the time. I was told the job was TW's if he wanted it.

When i heard he took the Richmond job , i cried 'true tears of joy'

I guess we'll never know for sure because it's one person's opinion against another, but I was told Dermie virtually had Wallace appointed from the moment he walked in. I was told three other board members considered Wallace wasn't the man for the job.

I have no probelm with Wallace's account of events because that is what happened. He was asked why he wanted to coach the Hawks, and he was honest, saying he needed to think about it. We have to remember, it was the first of what would have been several talks, but after he signed with Richmond the next day, that put paid to any future talks.

You may recall at the time that Wallace was critical of Hawthorn for taking so much time to decide upon a coach. There is no way known that Wallace was officially offered the job, he was merely asked why he wanted to coach the club.

Jaeger · Apr 23, 2011

At the end of the day, he chose Richmond because he believed they had the more talented list.

Not sure many know this, but Wallace stuffed the Crows around at this stage too. He had arranged for a meeting with Adelaide officials, a group of them flew down to Melbourne for said meeting. Once they got there they were informed by TW's wife that he had already signed with Richmond. Didn't even have the decency to let the Adelaide board know this was the case. Wasted their time like he wasted ours.

Very happy he chose Richmond.

wahawk · Apr 23, 2011

You may be right AH but i was told that Derm wanted Ayres as coach but others wanted Wallace with the exception of Dunstall who was very keen on AC right from the start.

Who knows the absolute truth ?

Im tipping that we'll never really know

Pessimistic · Apr 23, 2011

Surely the hawks didnt intend to offer 5 years guranteed - Which wallace demanded ?

That would mean this is a hypothetical discussion

Strapping Young Lad · Apr 23, 2011

It had nothing to do with the lists.....Richmond simply had the bigger mirror.

Jaeger · Apr 23, 2011

wahawk said:
You may be right AH but i was told that Derm wanted Ayres as coach but others wanted Wallace with the exception of Dunstall who was very keen on AC right from the start.

Who knows the absolute truth ?

Im tipping that we'll never really know

I thought Derm removed himself from selecting as he was hell bent on Ayres? They're best mates, and Derm named his son Gary after him.

We'll never know the absolute truth.

On SEN this morning, Wallace complained that one Hawthorn director was late to the meeting back in '04. The director was late because he was apparently meeting with Rodney Eade for the job.

Upgrayedd · Apr 23, 2011

wahawk said:
As delirious1 said, TW was reported as saying that RFC had a better list that was further advanced than HFC.

.

And in one draft he managed to destroy Richmond and provide hawthorn with two talented KPP players

I Think Terry was a good game-day coach, but from the outside it seems like he could not build a list to save himself

brett15 · Apr 23, 2011

I don't recall him saying we had a better list, if anything I remember him saying Hawthorn had a list that could be turned around quicker for a finals tilt.

tigers_of_old_08 · Apr 23, 2011

delirious1 said:
Pretty lucky that he chose richmond due to "a better list"

..and he still managed to **** up his coaching career, the careers of countless kids, whilst at the same time setting the club he chose back 5 years.

theflea · Apr 23, 2011

brett15 said:
I don't recall him saying we had a better list, if anything I remember him saying Hawthorn had a list that could be turned around quicker for a finals tilt.

i thought he said that he wanted to coach a big vic club. dont remember him saying a better list considerring he chopped alot of players. remember as well buddy still would have not been picked by richmond as we needed mids more than anything as the hawks already the makings of one at the time. either way i agree that he was a good game day/tactical coach but terrible list developer/teacher.

kelvin_sheedy · Apr 23, 2011

Amazing how many Richmond and Hawthorn supporters have opinions in this thread but prefer to believe there own version of events rather than what Dermie and Terry had to say today.

Dermie stated today that they were super impressed by Wallace in the first interview and tried to give every indication to Terry that he can have the job without actually saying it.

Terry said he needed to think about it and as he was already 5 interviews down the Richmond process he was pretty much guaranteed to get it.

It's like any job out there. When someone puts a contract on the table for a job you are applying for you tend to sign and not wait around trying to play others off it.

There's another Terry thread on this board which questions why people dislike him. I don't get it either. He's great in the media and he's very well respected in the footy circles.

Godzke · Apr 23, 2011

If the Hawthorn Football Club have ever dodged a bullet then that was the moment right there.

HyperAgressiveDonk · Apr 23, 2011

It seems like Richmond supporters would like to blame all their woes on Terry Wallace. The fact is, he took over a side with a horrible list, internal fighting and a rotten culture. Any coach taking over Richmond when he did, would have suffered the same fate.

Off The Couch · Apr 23, 2011

I always believed that because of the unrest around the hawks at the time with Don Scott and his friends that Wallace elected to go for more stability with the tigers as the hawks weren't able to really offer him anything until the board got sorted out.

So many stories - but tbh I don't understand why dermot and wallace would of raised this - talk about rehashing old news.

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