Brendan Scwab, **** Clay, Bryan wood

[NQTIGER]

Schwab leads latest charge to oust Casey at Richmond
By Caroline Wilson
July 3, 2004




Four-time premiership players **** Clay and Bryan Wood are spearheading Brendan Schwab's bid to take over the troubled Richmond Football Club.

The reform ticket plans to confront embattled president Clinton Casey over the next fortnight and call on him to resign. Should Casey refuse, Schwab will take his six-man ticket to the Richmond members through an extraordinary general meeting.

Former Tigers finance director Mike Humphris, a liquidation specialist who helped save the club in 1990, also has joined forces with Schwab and another former director, 1980 premiership wingman Peter Welsh.

The sixth challenger is Transport Accident Commission executive Colin Radford, a former media adviser to Premier Steve Bracks and now head of the TAC's corporate affairs division.

It is believed that Schwab, 36, also has won the support of the Richmond Past Players' Association and at least three former club presidents, none of whom was prepared to comment last night.



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The past players are understood to have a list of grievances regarding internal issues at Tigerland and have questioned the club's lack of enthusiasm in pursuing Kevin Sheedy to coach the club. The past players' president, Michael Perry, refused to comment last night.

The Schwab challenge is not linked to rebel member Michael Pahoff's lone challenge and it is believed Schwab's team will prepare a new list of 100 signatures, consisting largely of past players, officials and high-profile supporters, to take on Casey. Nor is Schwab linked to Charles Macek, who has withdrawn his challenge bid.

Clay, 59, was interviewed with former teammate Merv Keane at a recent Tiger pre-match coterie function and both past players were scathing regarding the club's current state.

A wingman in the club's most famous centre line and a member of the 1967, '69, '73 and '74 premiership teams, Clay is the only member of the ticket not to have officially committed himself, but was expected to do so over the weekend.

Wood is believed to have joined forces with Schwab last week. The 50-year-old former wingman played in three Tiger premierships - 1973, '74 and '80 - and also the Bombers' 1985 flag-winning side.

The Schwab ticket is expected to win the public backing of recently appointed AFL Players' Association executive Brendon Gale and former Richmond captain Matthew Knights, who said last week Casey must go.

The TAC is a major sponsor of the Tigers but is reviewing that agreement after 15 years.

Radford, 37, a lifelong Richmond supporter who donated his life savings to the "Save Our Skins" campaign in 1990, is believed to have made himself absent from the current sponsorship deliberations at the TAC.

Schwab, the chief executive of the Australian Entertainment Industry Association, was in Sydney last night and unavailable for comment.

He is pushing his challenge in part because of concerns among his support group that Casey is putting his own survival ahead of the club's interests.

On Thursday, Casey began his campaign through the club's website.

With new chief executive Steve Wright set to take over at Richmond, the Schwab group is concerned the club will now push to appoint a coach quickly in a bid to shore up its own support.

Danny Frawley already has agreed to abide by a new appointment before his time is up.

The club sits 14th on the AFL ladder with four wins and has been the worst-performed AFL side over more than two decades.

Schwab resigned from the club's board alongside Welsh in March, citing serious corporate governance concerns and joint disillusionment over the revelation that Richmond was projecting a $2 million loss after predicting a profit of between $200,000 and $600,000 late last year


well how about that

 

[NQTIGER]

Richard Clay

Its abit rough when i gotta changr the guys name, who knows maybe even KB will stand for the board

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

im all for to getting someone like **** clay and bryan wood on the board but im not so sure about having schwab as president.bring back daphne i say!

cheers!

 

[CJH]

Firstly, this ticket would romp it's way into power on the Richmond board.

As a supporter group, our heroes usually don't tend to be board members! Nonetheless, Brendan Schwab is someone who seems to have commanded universal respect amongst us all.

Couple this with the lack of confidence that Casey has with his stakeholders means that Scwab is a sure thing.

That Welsh and Schwab were prepared to walk away from the board on principle but come back within 3 months as challengers speaks volumes in detriment of Casey.

There is an issue I immediately have with this ticket.

Firstly, there is no big business representatation. It is good that former players like Clay, Wood and Welsh are involved. We need a footballing perspective on the board as this is essentially our core business.

Football, however, is not our sole business. We are, in essence, a marketing, hospitality and entertainment business.

To this end, we need someone who has worked at the top end of town, crunching big deals with a lot at stake. Leon Daphne is one who readily spring to mind. Charles Macek is another. Unfortunately, so is Clinton Casey.

A side benefit of having the likes of these people on board (so to speak) is that they also have rather healthy bank balances which is handy when things get financially ugly.

You may not like to hear this but we really would have been in deep pooh if Casey hadn't guaranteed a $1.7 million
bank loan last year. This provided a cash flow that thwarted off possible receivership.

I will personally support the new ticket as I believe stability of the Richmond Football Club cannot be obtained while Casey is President because of the uncertainty that comes of a result of our no-confidence in him.

Having a new president / board, coach and CEO will represent a complete clean out of all key positions, give us a line in the sand and enable us to start moving forward again with confidence.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

well said cjh.like i said im not so sure about schwab as president.i can only hope that they can attract someone like daphne to join the ticket and run as president and schwab can resume his former role at the club.

cheers!

 

[NQTIGER]

radford is from the TAC and i think you will find that Macek will be on the ticket too, whilst i agree that without caseys bank guarantee we might have been in trouble ..lets not forget who got us into that free spending mess......casey

 

[Fishfinger]

Not quite the high powered personnel I thought might challenge, but I was concerned no credible challenging ticket was going to appear at all. I too would have liked someone like Macek to be part of it. (He said he didn't have the time weeks ago NQ). I hope there's nothing to be read into the fact the financial person is a liquidation specialist.

If D1ck Clay commits I have no doubt the current board might as well book the removalists now. Probably even without him cosidering their record.

I'd like to get an idea of the blueprint the challengers have before I lock in my vote. A definite positive for me is that they will not be linked to Michael Pahoff's petition.

 

[macca23]

I have no idea of Richmond's internal politics at all - you guys are much better qualified to comment on the current administration and whether the new ticket should replace it.

But as a supporter of a team that is also currently in the market for a new coach, surely the timing of this challenge is very detrimental to Richmond's current attempts to attract the best possible coach.

The current financial status of the RFC would have to be a deterrent to some potential coaches, but add to that a situation of internal political turmoil, and I would imagine that the overall situation will make it difficult to attract the best possible coaches around.

Any potential coach would have to be wary of being appointed by one master, and then facing the prospect of having to serve a new master who may or may not be supportive of their appointment.

I would have thought that the RFC would have been far better served if this challenge had been mounted at year end after the new coach is appointed.

Your thoughts?

 

[1980GFVideo]

I hope people dont get sucked into a ticket that goes to the low tactics of getting a popular revered Richmond identity on board to play on peoples love of the person and the era they were part of.

Its like what Carlton did with Silvagni who resigned not long after.

Its an insult to the intelligence of supporters as we know what they are doing.

Bryan Wood was a good player who brings back good memories and I'm sure **** Clay does also for people who remember him play but that doesnt mean they have what it takes to bring this club back from the brink.

They might be credentialed like Robbie Flower but base it on thier credentials not on the Former Richmond player critereon.

BTW - Cant the bloody language moderation check in this site tell the difference between a name and bad language. It looks terrible not being able to write someone like Clays full name on a Richmond forum.

 

[froars]

The politics of all that's been happening lately bores the crap out of me (I know, i should be more interested). I am interested, but i really don't know if one group would do better than another group.

Whoever gets in, we're all just going to have to cross our fingers and hope we have picked the right group.

But a lack of business acumen has been mentioned with the new ticket.

This list seems a bit short - are there supposed to be 9 members of the board? And if so, who will the remaining three be made up of?

Notice they're going to give Pahloff's petition the flick and start their own. What's the go here? Who's group gets preference? The one who presents their petition first.

Bloody confusing lol

 

[Crumden]

Apart from not having a Mr Moneybags, this potential board looks more balanced to me than the existing board. It has a mixture of business and footy people which I think is necessary. The footy people need to have some business smarts as well but they are important to have on the board. Footy clubs are unique animals in the business world and board need to understand the football side of things to operate effectively.

Schwab seems to have done a fair bit of groundwork laying some pretty solid foundations getting all the right people on side. Certainly more professional than the other characters petition. Hopefully they can work it so that Casey will just hand over the reins without a bloodbath happening.

Of the 3 remaining spots on the new ticket, are there any current board members who are likely to swap over?

 

[Fishfinger]

Originally posted by froars
Notice they're going to give Pahloff's petition the flick and start their own. What's the go here? Who's group gets preference? The one who presents their petition first.

There is no Pahoff group froars. That's been my gripe with his petition.
At least if the new group presents a petition it will be presenting itself as an alternative to consider and the signatures will be of past players and prominent supporters who back them.

 

[Crumden]

Originally posted by macca23
The current financial status of the RFC would have to be a deterrent to some potential coaches, but add to that a situation of internal political turmoil, and I would imagine that the overall situation will make it difficult to attract the best possible coaches around.

Any potential coach would have to be wary of being appointed by one master, and then facing the prospect of having to serve a new master who may or may not be supportive of their appointment.

I would have thought that the RFC would have been far better served if this challenge had been mounted at year end after the new coach is appointed.

Your thoughts?

I think it would have been pretty obvious to anyone in the footy world that a challenge was going to come sooner or later, so it may actually be a good thing to have it sooner. I agree that the whole situation would make potential coaches wary though.

Much as I hate to say it, I'm hoping the crows step up a notch for the rest of the season, so their present caretaker gets to keep the gig and they are out of the competition for a coach.

 

[macca23]

Originally posted by Crumden


Much as I hate to say it, I'm hoping the crows step up a notch for the rest of the season, so their present caretaker gets to keep the gig and they are out of the competition for a coach.

Isn't it funny how what you want dictates what you will accept.

I'm a fanatical Crows supporter and I'd rather lose every game just to make sure that we DON'T get Craig for a coach.

Good luck for Richmond anyhow.

 

[Weaver]

Originally posted by Crumden
I agree that the whole situation would make potential coaches wary though.

Brendan Schwab is far better known and better respected in football circles than Clinton Casey. Schwab getting the gig might actually be a positive in attracting a new coach.

At present we have NO former players on the board and were Welsh and Clay on the board this again could be a positive. Most coaches would like the board to have some football experience.

Endorsements from Wood, Gale, Knights, Perry, Clay and others could also encourage a prospective coach to think that things were on the improve.

 

[oxx]

Ted Kunkel 4 president

Get this guy for Prez!!!!



Ex-Foster's chief out with a bang
John Beveridge
03jul04


FORMER Foster's Group chief Ted Kunkel will not go hungry in his retirement.

The man widely credited with rescuing Foster's 12 years ago when he took the helm received $12.26 million worth of superannuation, long service and annual leave entitlements built up over 36 years.
Mr Kunkel will also be paid $100,000 a year until the end of August, 2006 for signing a non-compete agreement and providing consulting services.

Mr Kunkel was also to be paid a lump sum of three times his annual salary, but decided not to take the whole sum – instead taking a "considerably lower" amount of $1.75 million.

As part of that deal, he will continue to participate in a long-term incentive plan which he was part of in 2000, 2001, 2002 and last year.

Ted Kunkel

 

[mellowyellow]

If Redford and Clay are apart of the ticket then they are doing there best to conceal it, or lying.

Both have came out today and denied that they were aligned with any ticket.

Clay from radio reports was p**sed off that his name was linked with latest machinations.

 

[DirtyDogTiger]

by the by

when did caro last get an article wrong...

 

[Royce]

Originally posted by mellowyellow
If Redford and Clay are apart of the ticket then they are doing there best to conceal it, or lying.

Both have came out today and denied that they were aligned with any ticket.

Clay from radio reports was p**sed off that his name was linked with latest machinations.

I don't think either Radford or Clay has come out today and denied anything. That's just what Casey has said. Maybe he is the one who is being less than truthful, or believing what he wants to believe.

 

[1980]

I am pretty sure Schwab is not running for Pres but simply organising the ticket. Irrespective he has both football and more importantly RFC pedigree.

Importantly, he has organised a ticket including strong ex-player candidates such as Clay and Wood. In comparison, our present pres could only conjure Anthony Mithen.

Corporate types more likely to join the board after the blood letting.

 

[Numpty Tiger]

There should be two criteria for any new ticket:

1. It shouldn't be made up of former Directors who have failed us before (short memories!)

and

2. (as already stated by earlier posts) We do need the business side of footy represented on the board - our favourite players of yesteryear won't do!

It kind of bemuses me that all these former directors are saying how bad Casey has been for us. In my opinion they are in the same boat as he is!

I don't know Casey from a bar of soap, but I do like the idea of someone stepping up to the plate, rolling up his sleeves, pulling out his cheque-book and saying 'you guys are hopeless - I'm going to fix this club and I'll do it my way!'

But as I'm clearly in the minority, I'll go with a new ticket - as long as it offers more than just getting rid of the bloke who's there now.

 

[WilliamPowell]

Re: by the by

Originally posted by DirtyDogTiger
when did caro last get an article wrong...

A few weeks ago when she announced the day after Ian Campbell quit that Leigthon Wood would be our next CEO.

I believe our new CEO is bloke by the name of Wright so in this case Caro was wrong not right

 

[WilliamPowell]

Originally posted by CJH

Brendan Schwab is someone who seems to have commanded universal respect amongst us all.

Have to say I disagree with you here. Personally, I don't have great respect for him - he walked away and has never had the decency to tell the members why? A report from Caro in the Age back in March doesn't constitute telling the members why. It was and still is all speculation with no concrete answers

Also, he was part of the Casey and Daphne boards for a number of years and as result was responsible for a number of poor decisions. To point the finger and say it is all Casey's fault and not take any repsonsibility does not earn any respect from me. What it does is make me question his motives even more.

Originally posted by CJH


That Welsh and Schwab were prepared to walk away from the board on principle but come back within 3 months as challengers speaks volumes in detriment of Casey.

Fair call but I actually see it the other way. If they were so concerned why didn't they fight?

I remeber Welsh quit and said at the time he didn't have enough time. No he suddenly has the time. Why the about face, were his comments in March the truth or just a front?

There seems to be so many questions and very few answers

 

[UpTheGuts]

I can only say that the Schwab ticket will receive my 100% backing (not that this should shape the result or anything).

When Essendon man Casey was elected, he acknowledged that he had inherited a very good set of financial figures from Daphne and co. 5 years on, and we're very much in the poo and he simply has to take responsibility, as Danny had to be drawn to account for the players' non-performance.

Ian Campbell was HIS (I hear unilateral) decision, his lack of accountability on the Club's accounts was shocking and the directors were right to leave - arguably seeking to distance themselves from any ASIC consewuences that could follow. We still don't have an extended financial plan and we will lose $2m this year (compared to projected $400-$600K profit).

I'm positive Sheedy would have been more interested in us if Schwab's team was already in place, but that's done now and I can only hope Casey doesn't try to buy himself another term.

Casey must do the right thing and step aside - to do otherwise could set us back 3-4 years at least. He's done his best, but sorry mate, we need to move on.

Gary O'Donnell for me (though why would he leave?)

Slogan for 2005: "All Aboard".

Go Boys

 

[Fishfinger]

Clay steers clear of Tiger trouble
08 July 2004 Herald Sun
Mark Stevens

RICHMOND legend **** Clay has called for calm at Punt Rd, strongly denying he is part of a rebel group moving to oust president Clinton Casey.

Clay, a four-time premiership player, yesterday said reports he was spearheading an alternative ticket were completely false.

"I've received no approach at all by anybody. I've got no interest at all," Clay said.

Clay, vice-president of the Tigers' past players' group, said any challenge should be left until after the season. He said rebel member Michael Pahoff's push to force an emergency general meeting and oust Casey on the board was poorly timed.

Clay said the powerful past players' group had informed the current Tigers regime that it would not align itself with any political group.

Michael Perry, head of the past players, met Casey and Tigers' football director Greg Miller on Tuesday and stressed they would not be supporting any alternative ticket.

Perry last night said the past players were "straight down the line" and would not favour anyone in the looming battle.

"We're not aligned anywhere -- we're just in there for the footy club," Perry said.

Clay said the group was careful not to be seen "stirring the pot".

"We'd be foolish to try and upset the apple cart when the Tigers are down where they are."

Clay said he had no personal issues with Casey, who was facing a challenge by a group headed by former board member Brendan Schwab.

He denied he had recently strongly criticised the club in a talk to a Tigers' coterie group.

"There's no way known I'd every say anything detrimental to the club. It was just a call to our supporters to support a proud and passionate club," Clay said.


Caro, Caro, Caro. For a Richmond person Caroline Wilson could be doing a lot of damage with her mis-information about who is part of an alternative ticket and who supports it.
Her premature and seemingly inaccurate story could well have dulled the effectiveness of what might be a quality alternative.