Achilles Heel
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- Joined
- Jan 3, 2012
- Posts
- 55,606
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- Location
- At the peanut farm
- AFL Club
- Richmond
- Other Teams
- Chelsea FC, Victory, All Blecks,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/man-who-rebuilt-the-tigers-just-another-face-in-the-crowd/news-story/a16a3c8cba0a36eef6bbd05366797b26
The Australian 12:00AM September 27, 2017
GREG DENHAM
Senior Sports Writer, Melbourne
Somewhere at the MCG on Saturday Gary March will be a face in the 100,000-strong crowd, sitting away from the lush corporate areas.
But the former Richmond president is far more than an anonymous fan. He is the man who built the foundations for the club’s success this season.
As he looks down proudly on his Tigers, the team he has supported all his life, the club should be looking up to him in acknowledgment of his achievements since becoming a director in 2002.
When he became president at the end of 2005, taking over from Clinton Casey, the club was broke. It had had consistent years of losses, was in debt by as much as $6 million and was pretty much a basket case on and off the field.
“We were nearly out the door. The AFL weren’t interested in providing financial support and they said we had to work our own way out of the mess,” March said.
“Morale was a disaster. There was a lot of internal bickering. There was no sense of engagement between any of the departments.
“I can look back and say, it was horrendous. It was a really divisive club in those days.”
During his eight-year reign as chairman, Richmond made a profit every year, became free of debt, more than doubled their membership; and he was responsible for hiring most of the key personnel who are still at Punt Road.
He recruited current president Peggy O’Neal as a director, via a casual board vacancy; hired current chief executive Brendon Gale; and appointed Damien Hardwick as senior coach.
But it was the initial identification and the subsequent appointment of general manager of football Craig Cameron, who is now at GWS, and list manager Blair Hartley, who is still at Punt Road, that March regards as two of the most important weapons in the resurgence of the Tigers. At the time, Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin and Jack Riewoldt were just kids starting their trade.
“I feel vindicated about a few things. Some were unpopular, such us taking a broom through the football department, which included the sacking of popular administrator Greg Miller,” March said. “I copped a lot of flak over that, even from the board, because Greg is a good person and a good football person. It was all about the need to change our culture and our systems.
“The unsung heroes in the Richmond story are the Craig Camerons and the Blair Hartleys, who have been criticised, but if you actually look at their record, it’s pretty bloody good. It wasn’t long ago people were criticising Blair over his recruiting of Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg.
“The thing I’m most proud about was the change at Richmond, a change in the structure and how we did things.”
Shortly after Hardwick’s appointment to start the 2010 season, Richmond released a five-year plan to play finals three times, be clear of debt and attract 75,0000 members after admitting to having been “a collective failure” for the best part of 30 years.
At a presentation of the plan and an ongoing objective of winning another three premierships by 2020, March said in a club presentation: “It’s been a barren trot for us for a long period of time now and we have really had to look at why that has come about and where we sit in the AFL landscape. It is by no means a conservative plan. It’s a very ambitious plan about how we can get Richmond back to being not only a top-four club, but hopefully the pre-eminent club in the AFL.”
Well, it has taken a little longer to achieve, but the Tigers are on the cusp of achieving a good part of their goal.
March told The Australian yesterday: “People scoffed at us. I don’t think people understand the legacy of Craig Cameron and Blair Hartley. The board and the administration should take some credit too, but they completely changed Richmond’s philosophy on list management.
“They came in with a completely different strategy and like a lot of change, it takes time. I look at our grand final VFL team last week and there were six blokes that will probably play regular senior footy next year. As well, we’re in the grand final and we’ve got two first-round draft picks, so how good is that.
“Craig was the catalyst. He was the first to open up my eyes about a five- to eight-year plan around list management. No one had ever, ever talked about a long-term list-management strategy and how our list had to drastically change.
“The best thing about those blokes was that they never, ever said things would change quickly, they said it was going to take a long time. The hardest part of that was trying to sell and balance that to our membership base.”
March and Cameron also had much to do with the early development of a raw Martin not long after he was recruited to Punt Road.
“Craig and I were talking about Dusty a year after he joined the club and he wasn’t very settled,” March said.
“He’d been in a host family first and he probably wasn’t settling all that well. Craig said he needed more structure in his life and after having a chat with him, he moved in with the family and stayed for about two years. He’s got really strong values and he integrated into our family incredibly well.”
On Saturday, nothing would please March more than a Richmond win for the generation that has yet to see a premiership. “I’m close to a 50-year member having been first signed up as a six-year-old, so I’ve seen plenty of premierships,” he said. “Like a lot fans my age, it would be great for the younger ones.
“My youngest son Matthew turns 18 on Saturday and he’s sat through a lot of 20 and 30-goal losses and never wavered, so for me, Saturday is about those sort of fans, the ones that have been waiting for so long.
“I’m hoping for the fans more than anyone.”
to the #lolnorf, pooort , essenscum, GWS, Cold Goast Bears..... stick it all up your collective arses
The Australian 12:00AM September 27, 2017
GREG DENHAM
Senior Sports Writer, Melbourne
Somewhere at the MCG on Saturday Gary March will be a face in the 100,000-strong crowd, sitting away from the lush corporate areas.
But the former Richmond president is far more than an anonymous fan. He is the man who built the foundations for the club’s success this season.
As he looks down proudly on his Tigers, the team he has supported all his life, the club should be looking up to him in acknowledgment of his achievements since becoming a director in 2002.
When he became president at the end of 2005, taking over from Clinton Casey, the club was broke. It had had consistent years of losses, was in debt by as much as $6 million and was pretty much a basket case on and off the field.
“We were nearly out the door. The AFL weren’t interested in providing financial support and they said we had to work our own way out of the mess,” March said.
“Morale was a disaster. There was a lot of internal bickering. There was no sense of engagement between any of the departments.
“I can look back and say, it was horrendous. It was a really divisive club in those days.”
During his eight-year reign as chairman, Richmond made a profit every year, became free of debt, more than doubled their membership; and he was responsible for hiring most of the key personnel who are still at Punt Road.
He recruited current president Peggy O’Neal as a director, via a casual board vacancy; hired current chief executive Brendon Gale; and appointed Damien Hardwick as senior coach.
But it was the initial identification and the subsequent appointment of general manager of football Craig Cameron, who is now at GWS, and list manager Blair Hartley, who is still at Punt Road, that March regards as two of the most important weapons in the resurgence of the Tigers. At the time, Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin and Jack Riewoldt were just kids starting their trade.
“I feel vindicated about a few things. Some were unpopular, such us taking a broom through the football department, which included the sacking of popular administrator Greg Miller,” March said. “I copped a lot of flak over that, even from the board, because Greg is a good person and a good football person. It was all about the need to change our culture and our systems.
“The unsung heroes in the Richmond story are the Craig Camerons and the Blair Hartleys, who have been criticised, but if you actually look at their record, it’s pretty bloody good. It wasn’t long ago people were criticising Blair over his recruiting of Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg.
“The thing I’m most proud about was the change at Richmond, a change in the structure and how we did things.”
Shortly after Hardwick’s appointment to start the 2010 season, Richmond released a five-year plan to play finals three times, be clear of debt and attract 75,0000 members after admitting to having been “a collective failure” for the best part of 30 years.
At a presentation of the plan and an ongoing objective of winning another three premierships by 2020, March said in a club presentation: “It’s been a barren trot for us for a long period of time now and we have really had to look at why that has come about and where we sit in the AFL landscape. It is by no means a conservative plan. It’s a very ambitious plan about how we can get Richmond back to being not only a top-four club, but hopefully the pre-eminent club in the AFL.”
Well, it has taken a little longer to achieve, but the Tigers are on the cusp of achieving a good part of their goal.
March told The Australian yesterday: “People scoffed at us. I don’t think people understand the legacy of Craig Cameron and Blair Hartley. The board and the administration should take some credit too, but they completely changed Richmond’s philosophy on list management.
“They came in with a completely different strategy and like a lot of change, it takes time. I look at our grand final VFL team last week and there were six blokes that will probably play regular senior footy next year. As well, we’re in the grand final and we’ve got two first-round draft picks, so how good is that.
“Craig was the catalyst. He was the first to open up my eyes about a five- to eight-year plan around list management. No one had ever, ever talked about a long-term list-management strategy and how our list had to drastically change.
“The best thing about those blokes was that they never, ever said things would change quickly, they said it was going to take a long time. The hardest part of that was trying to sell and balance that to our membership base.”
March and Cameron also had much to do with the early development of a raw Martin not long after he was recruited to Punt Road.
“Craig and I were talking about Dusty a year after he joined the club and he wasn’t very settled,” March said.
“He’d been in a host family first and he probably wasn’t settling all that well. Craig said he needed more structure in his life and after having a chat with him, he moved in with the family and stayed for about two years. He’s got really strong values and he integrated into our family incredibly well.”
On Saturday, nothing would please March more than a Richmond win for the generation that has yet to see a premiership. “I’m close to a 50-year member having been first signed up as a six-year-old, so I’ve seen plenty of premierships,” he said. “Like a lot fans my age, it would be great for the younger ones.
“My youngest son Matthew turns 18 on Saturday and he’s sat through a lot of 20 and 30-goal losses and never wavered, so for me, Saturday is about those sort of fans, the ones that have been waiting for so long.
“I’m hoping for the fans more than anyone.”
to the #lolnorf, pooort , essenscum, GWS, Cold Goast Bears..... stick it all up your collective arses
