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- Dec 31, 2005
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- #1
obviously this might be seen as inappropriate on this board, but it is always a little sad to see someone harried out of the game.
on results his time was up, but when you see someone hounded like that, well it isn't pretty.
anyway, I just read the transcript of his resignation announcement, and I have to say I think it's very moving, heartful, and a very classy gesture. certainly one of the best such speeches I've read in some time, and a bit unexpected in its scope and breadth which is why I thought it might be relevant here.
anyway, what do you guys think:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25570661-19742,00.html
TERRY WALLACE SPEECH
"Just firstly from my point of view I thought it was worth mentioning the timing. Over the last two weeks both myself and the club have had the opportunity to reflect on where the club was going and where I was going in the future.
"Probably the real answer to that is I don't know where I'm going in the future but certainly one of the options I thought was available to me in the future, with a corporate background that I come from ... and obviously the football background that I had, one of the opportunities that I thought still presented itself for me I want to stay in football was in club land, to perhaps looking at going to another club in maybe a different role as a few of the senior coaches in past years have done.
"So once we had those discussions that that could be the likelihood of where I'm going in the future, it got to a situation where all of a sudden both the club and myself felt that it almost untenable to stay in the role.
"If I was going in a different direction, if I was going into corporate land what we had spoken about lasting out the season was no problem.
"But if I am actually going into football and the club is making decisions on recruiting and I'm sort of involved in those meetings, if the club's making decisions on list management and player trades and I'm involved those meetings and then I step away with that information at some stage to another club, I don't think that's fair on the club and it's probably not fair on me either to be involved in those type of conversations.
"To not be involved in those conversations is probably even more difficult.
"Probably the other factor I've found in the last week is you're starting, at this stage of the year, to deal with players careers and to be able to sit there and tell a player (from) a coach who's actually not going to be going on and not there the following year and tell him that you may be finishing him up or you're not going to give him another opportunity for the season.
"The player turns around to you, I haven't had anyone do it (but) if I was in their situation you sit back and go 'well hang on, you're making decisions on my career but you're not going to be there'.
"I just felt that that was getting very, very difficult for both the club and myself to deal with.
"What's happened over the past couple of weeks from a media perspective, I'm somebody who's been involved in the game for 32 years, I can deal with that side of things and had no issue with it.
"But it gets overwhelming for a playing group, you've got guys who are 20, 21, 22, to have cameras in their faces on a regular basis, I felt for their sake as well the relief of a decision being made and them being able to get on with what is the rest of the year is probably the best way to go forward.
"So that's the decisions that have been made. No one is angry with each other, the club's not angry with me, I'm not angry with the club, I'm not angry with the players. It was just a mutual decision that this was the right time to step away.
"So the long journey of 32 years has finished. I've said publicly that it's probably more unlikely than likely I'll coach again.
"I say that because this five years hasn't worked out exactly where we would have liked it to work out.
"Obviously it's a young man's game and opportunities will come up in the coaching wheel but I think they'll come up for those assistant coaches who deserve their chances.
"But I've still got a real passion for the game and that's one thing that's never been lost. I was really keen that the situation of the last few weeks, I've been in the game for 32 years I was never going to let an eight-week period sour 32 years in the game.
"So I haven't taken anything that's been written personally at all and I've just sort of seen it as a part of the bigger picture.
"Had it happened in year eight of a 32-year career, well you would have almost forgotten about it by now so that's the way I've felt about it.
"As I said, I've got a strong corporate background, I'm really keen to stay in the game, I still see that there's many areas of the game that I could be involved in and really strong and passionate to stay involved with the game in some regards.
"Because it probably is my last public opportuinty obviously I would like to have the opportunity to thank a few people.
"I'll go way back first up. I'd just like to thank the Hawthorn Football Club - they were the ones who gave me my opportunity originally.
"When you're a young bloke trying to make your way in the game, I was a Fitzroy born and bred person who never got the opportunity to play there.
"And Hawthorn opened the door for me to be able to play football at the elite level and I can't thank them enough for that chance to be a part of what was such a magic era was fantastic.
"But I think also what was more important for me was they taught me professionalism and I grew up there and that was just such a big part of my growinng up and maturing as a person.
"I made mistakes there, as we all do and we're young blokes, but certainly I learnt from those mistakes and I was a better person for being at the Hawthorn footy club.
"Next up I'd obviously like to thank the Western Bulldogs. I had 14 wonderful years at the Western Bulldogs and one horrible week.
"I haven't had the opportunity publicly at all, just due to the circumstances, I'd actually like to go on public record of apologising to the Western Bulldogs fans and to David Smorgan and the playing group for the way that last week worked out.
"It was never my intention for it to go down the pathway that it did but I've got to say, my kids grew up at that club, I've got some of my greatest friends that I've had in the game at that club and I hope somewhere along the line that those wounds will heal because I just think it's a fantastic footy club.
"It's ironic that my last game will be against the Bulldogs. Players probably don't realise and understand but the guys that I drafted back in my early days at the Bulldogs that are playing such fantastic footy, you follow their careers, as I will do with the Richmond boys.
"You follow their careers behind the scenes 100 per cent and it will be my honour to be able to have my last game against those guys that I drafted at the Western Bulldogs.
"Lastly, I'd like to thank the Richmond footy club for giving the chance to get back into the game.
"I didn't want that opportunity at the Bulldogs to be my last chapter in the game and the Tigers were the one to give me the chance to go back on.
"I had two stints at Richmond, obviously one very quickly as a player and this coaching stint.
"Neither of them really worked out exactly the way that I would have liked them. I come back for all the right reasons.
"I came back here for unfinished business that I think hadn't worked the first time around. I come back here for a reason, and it's the reason that every single Tiger fan is dreaming about still and I come back here to sort of see the Tigers get back on top.
"Unfortunately, that didn't happen in my reign but I'm sure it will happen somewhere along the line very, very shortly.
"I'm proud to have coached this club because it is a Big 4 club, you've only got to see by the media that do follow it over a period of time that it does have that appeal about it and this club will get it right.
"I'm proud of some of the decisions we made along the way. Certainly proud of the decision to put Matthew Richardson on to the wing 12 months ago.
"I think what it allowed, and you only have to go back to the Brownlow Medal last year, it allowed the whole of the football public and the footy world to see what a magnificent athlete Matthew Richardson is.
"And I think that people realised but I don't think they had quite the comprehension of what a fantastic athlete he was and I think the way that they cheered him home in last year's Brownlow Medal was testament to that.
"Earlier this year I said if the last decision I made in football was to give a champion of our game one last opportunity, that would be something that I would live with very, very comfortably.
"I didn't realise it was actually going to be my last decision that I made in football when I actually stated it.
"But to give Ben Cousins another opportunity to play the game I felt was the right thing.
"Certainly from a football aspect we've seen over the last couple of weeks that he can seriously still play the game.
"I know he's been embroiled in a little bit of controversy over the past 24-48 hours but I'm looking at the overall terms.
"He's still got something to offer to the game but more importantly, I think that the game needs to treat its people in the right capacity.
"And I think that the Richmond footy club gave him that chance and I was more than pleased to give him that chance to continue to play on.
"I know that there's been some people that have said I'm not leaving the place any better than when I arrived - I don't believe that.
"When I look at when I arrived, people said, 'don't take the job on, it's going to be a difficult task', I was always up for a challenge.
"But we had at that stage no players at this footy club that were aged between 23-21 that looked likely to have 10-year careers.
"I had a look at what run around at Subiaco Oval the other night and the midfield which was young and exciting and some young backline players, some very young forward line players coming through that I think, whoever takes on the role next up, has got a very exciting footy (group) to go forward.
The club was a basket case off the field when I arrived, the work that the board and the management have put in to turn that around, the next generation of players is there but also the next generation off the field is there.
"And unfortunately, I won't be sitting in this facility that we're in at the moment which will just be fantastic for the club to have new facilities and be able to catapult themselves into the next generation I think will be great for all Richmond people.
"Just in finishing I'd like to thank the board and management of the Richmond footy club.
"Not only for giving me the opportunity but more particuarly for the last few weeks for the manner in which they have treated my family.
"It was not lost on me at all and I really appreciate their kind thoughts and efforts in that regards.
"To all the staff and the playing group, the coaches that you work so closely with, it's a daily basis.
"You spend more time with your coaches and staff than what you do with your own family, that's the nature of footy, it's a seven day a week business.
"And to all those guys, the professionalism of all the coaches, I couldn't thank you enough for those efforts.
"All the staff, and salary staff as well, there's so many people that put in so many man hours in football clubs all around Australia, but particuarly in the AFL clubs, get no credit for it and are just so heartfelt in their efforts on a weekly basis to help, I thank them for all their time and efforts.
"More particuarly just to my family. It's been a long journey, a long ride.
"To Kerryn, to Brent, to Georgia and to Cameron. You can't do this job without having real stability on the home front and I've been very, very lucky and fortunate in that way so thank you to everyone.
on results his time was up, but when you see someone hounded like that, well it isn't pretty.
anyway, I just read the transcript of his resignation announcement, and I have to say I think it's very moving, heartful, and a very classy gesture. certainly one of the best such speeches I've read in some time, and a bit unexpected in its scope and breadth which is why I thought it might be relevant here.
anyway, what do you guys think:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25570661-19742,00.html
TERRY WALLACE SPEECH
"Just firstly from my point of view I thought it was worth mentioning the timing. Over the last two weeks both myself and the club have had the opportunity to reflect on where the club was going and where I was going in the future.
"Probably the real answer to that is I don't know where I'm going in the future but certainly one of the options I thought was available to me in the future, with a corporate background that I come from ... and obviously the football background that I had, one of the opportunities that I thought still presented itself for me I want to stay in football was in club land, to perhaps looking at going to another club in maybe a different role as a few of the senior coaches in past years have done.
"So once we had those discussions that that could be the likelihood of where I'm going in the future, it got to a situation where all of a sudden both the club and myself felt that it almost untenable to stay in the role.
"If I was going in a different direction, if I was going into corporate land what we had spoken about lasting out the season was no problem.
"But if I am actually going into football and the club is making decisions on recruiting and I'm sort of involved in those meetings, if the club's making decisions on list management and player trades and I'm involved those meetings and then I step away with that information at some stage to another club, I don't think that's fair on the club and it's probably not fair on me either to be involved in those type of conversations.
"To not be involved in those conversations is probably even more difficult.
"Probably the other factor I've found in the last week is you're starting, at this stage of the year, to deal with players careers and to be able to sit there and tell a player (from) a coach who's actually not going to be going on and not there the following year and tell him that you may be finishing him up or you're not going to give him another opportunity for the season.
"The player turns around to you, I haven't had anyone do it (but) if I was in their situation you sit back and go 'well hang on, you're making decisions on my career but you're not going to be there'.
"I just felt that that was getting very, very difficult for both the club and myself to deal with.
"What's happened over the past couple of weeks from a media perspective, I'm somebody who's been involved in the game for 32 years, I can deal with that side of things and had no issue with it.
"But it gets overwhelming for a playing group, you've got guys who are 20, 21, 22, to have cameras in their faces on a regular basis, I felt for their sake as well the relief of a decision being made and them being able to get on with what is the rest of the year is probably the best way to go forward.
"So that's the decisions that have been made. No one is angry with each other, the club's not angry with me, I'm not angry with the club, I'm not angry with the players. It was just a mutual decision that this was the right time to step away.
"So the long journey of 32 years has finished. I've said publicly that it's probably more unlikely than likely I'll coach again.
"I say that because this five years hasn't worked out exactly where we would have liked it to work out.
"Obviously it's a young man's game and opportunities will come up in the coaching wheel but I think they'll come up for those assistant coaches who deserve their chances.
"But I've still got a real passion for the game and that's one thing that's never been lost. I was really keen that the situation of the last few weeks, I've been in the game for 32 years I was never going to let an eight-week period sour 32 years in the game.
"So I haven't taken anything that's been written personally at all and I've just sort of seen it as a part of the bigger picture.
"Had it happened in year eight of a 32-year career, well you would have almost forgotten about it by now so that's the way I've felt about it.
"As I said, I've got a strong corporate background, I'm really keen to stay in the game, I still see that there's many areas of the game that I could be involved in and really strong and passionate to stay involved with the game in some regards.
"Because it probably is my last public opportuinty obviously I would like to have the opportunity to thank a few people.
"I'll go way back first up. I'd just like to thank the Hawthorn Football Club - they were the ones who gave me my opportunity originally.
"When you're a young bloke trying to make your way in the game, I was a Fitzroy born and bred person who never got the opportunity to play there.
"And Hawthorn opened the door for me to be able to play football at the elite level and I can't thank them enough for that chance to be a part of what was such a magic era was fantastic.
"But I think also what was more important for me was they taught me professionalism and I grew up there and that was just such a big part of my growinng up and maturing as a person.
"I made mistakes there, as we all do and we're young blokes, but certainly I learnt from those mistakes and I was a better person for being at the Hawthorn footy club.
"Next up I'd obviously like to thank the Western Bulldogs. I had 14 wonderful years at the Western Bulldogs and one horrible week.
"I haven't had the opportunity publicly at all, just due to the circumstances, I'd actually like to go on public record of apologising to the Western Bulldogs fans and to David Smorgan and the playing group for the way that last week worked out.
"It was never my intention for it to go down the pathway that it did but I've got to say, my kids grew up at that club, I've got some of my greatest friends that I've had in the game at that club and I hope somewhere along the line that those wounds will heal because I just think it's a fantastic footy club.
"It's ironic that my last game will be against the Bulldogs. Players probably don't realise and understand but the guys that I drafted back in my early days at the Bulldogs that are playing such fantastic footy, you follow their careers, as I will do with the Richmond boys.
"You follow their careers behind the scenes 100 per cent and it will be my honour to be able to have my last game against those guys that I drafted at the Western Bulldogs.
"Lastly, I'd like to thank the Richmond footy club for giving the chance to get back into the game.
"I didn't want that opportunity at the Bulldogs to be my last chapter in the game and the Tigers were the one to give me the chance to go back on.
"I had two stints at Richmond, obviously one very quickly as a player and this coaching stint.
"Neither of them really worked out exactly the way that I would have liked them. I come back for all the right reasons.
"I came back here for unfinished business that I think hadn't worked the first time around. I come back here for a reason, and it's the reason that every single Tiger fan is dreaming about still and I come back here to sort of see the Tigers get back on top.
"Unfortunately, that didn't happen in my reign but I'm sure it will happen somewhere along the line very, very shortly.
"I'm proud to have coached this club because it is a Big 4 club, you've only got to see by the media that do follow it over a period of time that it does have that appeal about it and this club will get it right.
"I'm proud of some of the decisions we made along the way. Certainly proud of the decision to put Matthew Richardson on to the wing 12 months ago.
"I think what it allowed, and you only have to go back to the Brownlow Medal last year, it allowed the whole of the football public and the footy world to see what a magnificent athlete Matthew Richardson is.
"And I think that people realised but I don't think they had quite the comprehension of what a fantastic athlete he was and I think the way that they cheered him home in last year's Brownlow Medal was testament to that.
"Earlier this year I said if the last decision I made in football was to give a champion of our game one last opportunity, that would be something that I would live with very, very comfortably.
"I didn't realise it was actually going to be my last decision that I made in football when I actually stated it.
"But to give Ben Cousins another opportunity to play the game I felt was the right thing.
"Certainly from a football aspect we've seen over the last couple of weeks that he can seriously still play the game.
"I know he's been embroiled in a little bit of controversy over the past 24-48 hours but I'm looking at the overall terms.
"He's still got something to offer to the game but more importantly, I think that the game needs to treat its people in the right capacity.
"And I think that the Richmond footy club gave him that chance and I was more than pleased to give him that chance to continue to play on.
"I know that there's been some people that have said I'm not leaving the place any better than when I arrived - I don't believe that.
"When I look at when I arrived, people said, 'don't take the job on, it's going to be a difficult task', I was always up for a challenge.
"But we had at that stage no players at this footy club that were aged between 23-21 that looked likely to have 10-year careers.
"I had a look at what run around at Subiaco Oval the other night and the midfield which was young and exciting and some young backline players, some very young forward line players coming through that I think, whoever takes on the role next up, has got a very exciting footy (group) to go forward.
The club was a basket case off the field when I arrived, the work that the board and the management have put in to turn that around, the next generation of players is there but also the next generation off the field is there.
"And unfortunately, I won't be sitting in this facility that we're in at the moment which will just be fantastic for the club to have new facilities and be able to catapult themselves into the next generation I think will be great for all Richmond people.
"Just in finishing I'd like to thank the board and management of the Richmond footy club.
"Not only for giving me the opportunity but more particuarly for the last few weeks for the manner in which they have treated my family.
"It was not lost on me at all and I really appreciate their kind thoughts and efforts in that regards.
"To all the staff and the playing group, the coaches that you work so closely with, it's a daily basis.
"You spend more time with your coaches and staff than what you do with your own family, that's the nature of footy, it's a seven day a week business.
"And to all those guys, the professionalism of all the coaches, I couldn't thank you enough for those efforts.
"All the staff, and salary staff as well, there's so many people that put in so many man hours in football clubs all around Australia, but particuarly in the AFL clubs, get no credit for it and are just so heartfelt in their efforts on a weekly basis to help, I thank them for all their time and efforts.
"More particuarly just to my family. It's been a long journey, a long ride.
"To Kerryn, to Brent, to Georgia and to Cameron. You can't do this job without having real stability on the home front and I've been very, very lucky and fortunate in that way so thank you to everyone.
.
