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By Caroline Wilson
April 25, 2004
Midway through the final quarter of what can be described only as a training run for Adelaide at Telstra Dome on Friday night, young Tiger Thomas Roach kicked a goal.
Richmond was about 10 goals down at the time and heading towards a defeat that would end in any significant way Danny Frawley's time at Tigerland. And yet fists were pumped in the air. A trio of young Tigers, Mark Coghlan included although he was not the only one, high-fived each other. Amazingly, the players appeared jubilant.
What on earth were they celebrating? It is simply not good enough to excuse their youth for the bizarre misreading of the situation — and more ridiculously easy Adelaide goals followed — or to say that young Roach, at least, has been a rare shining light in this team without spirit.
For Richmond supporters, most of whom behaved themselves on Friday night, this was the final insult. Perhaps that was the moment the glass in the Telstra Dome corporate box was smashed. Much focus has rightly been placed upon a few ugly supporters but the truth is that the majority who endured Friday night's excuse for a contest departed quietly, desperately sad and searching for some light.
Frawley clearly knows in his heart it is over for him. It is not really the point but Tony Jewell, of course, was right. He had no intentions of resigning last night, saying this helpless team now needed him more than ever.
But clearly there are other issues at Richmond. Let's start at the top. The president is in trouble, having lost the confidence of three recently departed board members and — despite some brave talk — struggling to replace them.
The club was headed for a $2 million loss before the season started and nothing that has taken place in recent weeks has improved that predicted disaster. The rumblings of a coup four weeks ago have strengthened and there is now a better-than-even chance of an extraordinary general meeting before the season's end.
The chief executive Ian Campbell has gone AWOL in a public sense and in a real sense is struggling. His marketing department is floundering and while sponsorship at the top end is, for the moment, stable — although the TAC deal expires at the end of the year — middle-level corporate support has been lukewarm.
Should the Tigers be forced to apply for competitive balance fund money from the AFL, a corporate investigation of the club would not flatter Campbell, whose vision for Tigerland appears shortsighted and ultimately shortlived.
Richmond supporters have set great stock in Greg Miller, who came to the club with a strong football reputation, but who, right at this minute, seems at his wit's end.
Was Miller right in his first big move at the end of 2002 to trade away an early-round draft pick and in the end Daniel Wells for Kane Johnson? Should he have read the AFL political scene better and realised that Carlton would lose early picks and the Tigers' No.4 would become No.2?
Should he have removed the performance clause from Frawley's contract last year that probably saved the coach's job going into 2004? The jury is out on those two decisions but, in fairness, it is still too early to judge the man with whom Clinton Casey has entrusted the football department.
All the coaches deserve scrutiny. How can it be that an AFL team can struggle to kick the ball properly? And surely it is the coaching group that must work religiously to instil intensity into a playing group.
Recruiting manager Greg Beck has been at Richmond longer than any of the above.He might have enjoyed Andrew Krakouer's form in recent weeks but he must take responsibility for some significantly poor choices, too. Even club insiders admit the Richmond list includes five or six footballers who should not be wearing the title of AFL player.
And the players have been largely hopeless. They lack leadership and it was frankly irritating to hear Greg Stafford admit he was close to being physically sick watching his teammates, given the reason he was sidelined in the first place.
Wayne Campbell continues by all reports to be an excellent off-field leader and tireless worker around the club. But his body and on-field presence are failing him.
We could, of course, go on but Campbell, who criticised the media last week for focusing on losers, probably had a point. Perhaps the best advice is to turn back a few pages and read about St Kilda. It's just that those who saw Friday night's funeral at Docklands can rarely remember a loss like that one. And for the Tigers in recent decades, there's been some competition.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/04/24/1082719677512.html
April 25, 2004
Midway through the final quarter of what can be described only as a training run for Adelaide at Telstra Dome on Friday night, young Tiger Thomas Roach kicked a goal.
Richmond was about 10 goals down at the time and heading towards a defeat that would end in any significant way Danny Frawley's time at Tigerland. And yet fists were pumped in the air. A trio of young Tigers, Mark Coghlan included although he was not the only one, high-fived each other. Amazingly, the players appeared jubilant.
What on earth were they celebrating? It is simply not good enough to excuse their youth for the bizarre misreading of the situation — and more ridiculously easy Adelaide goals followed — or to say that young Roach, at least, has been a rare shining light in this team without spirit.
For Richmond supporters, most of whom behaved themselves on Friday night, this was the final insult. Perhaps that was the moment the glass in the Telstra Dome corporate box was smashed. Much focus has rightly been placed upon a few ugly supporters but the truth is that the majority who endured Friday night's excuse for a contest departed quietly, desperately sad and searching for some light.
Frawley clearly knows in his heart it is over for him. It is not really the point but Tony Jewell, of course, was right. He had no intentions of resigning last night, saying this helpless team now needed him more than ever.
But clearly there are other issues at Richmond. Let's start at the top. The president is in trouble, having lost the confidence of three recently departed board members and — despite some brave talk — struggling to replace them.
The club was headed for a $2 million loss before the season started and nothing that has taken place in recent weeks has improved that predicted disaster. The rumblings of a coup four weeks ago have strengthened and there is now a better-than-even chance of an extraordinary general meeting before the season's end.
The chief executive Ian Campbell has gone AWOL in a public sense and in a real sense is struggling. His marketing department is floundering and while sponsorship at the top end is, for the moment, stable — although the TAC deal expires at the end of the year — middle-level corporate support has been lukewarm.
Should the Tigers be forced to apply for competitive balance fund money from the AFL, a corporate investigation of the club would not flatter Campbell, whose vision for Tigerland appears shortsighted and ultimately shortlived.
Richmond supporters have set great stock in Greg Miller, who came to the club with a strong football reputation, but who, right at this minute, seems at his wit's end.
Was Miller right in his first big move at the end of 2002 to trade away an early-round draft pick and in the end Daniel Wells for Kane Johnson? Should he have read the AFL political scene better and realised that Carlton would lose early picks and the Tigers' No.4 would become No.2?
Should he have removed the performance clause from Frawley's contract last year that probably saved the coach's job going into 2004? The jury is out on those two decisions but, in fairness, it is still too early to judge the man with whom Clinton Casey has entrusted the football department.
All the coaches deserve scrutiny. How can it be that an AFL team can struggle to kick the ball properly? And surely it is the coaching group that must work religiously to instil intensity into a playing group.
Recruiting manager Greg Beck has been at Richmond longer than any of the above.He might have enjoyed Andrew Krakouer's form in recent weeks but he must take responsibility for some significantly poor choices, too. Even club insiders admit the Richmond list includes five or six footballers who should not be wearing the title of AFL player.
And the players have been largely hopeless. They lack leadership and it was frankly irritating to hear Greg Stafford admit he was close to being physically sick watching his teammates, given the reason he was sidelined in the first place.
Wayne Campbell continues by all reports to be an excellent off-field leader and tireless worker around the club. But his body and on-field presence are failing him.
We could, of course, go on but Campbell, who criticised the media last week for focusing on losers, probably had a point. Perhaps the best advice is to turn back a few pages and read about St Kilda. It's just that those who saw Friday night's funeral at Docklands can rarely remember a loss like that one. And for the Tigers in recent decades, there's been some competition.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/04/24/1082719677512.html

