This is a one I posted on Roar Power a while back. It is probably my single biggest bugbear about Richmond and I'll gove it a run here:
In the Herald Sun dated 25/9/2000 there appeared an article written by Geoff Poulter eulogising Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy. It reads in part:
"KEVIN Sheedy left Richmond in fine shape when he took over as coach of Essendon for the 1981 season.
The Tigers had just won the premiership by a then-record 81 points with Sheeds as one of their specialist coaches.
Twenty seasons later, we have seen 99 coaching changes at rival AFL clubs during Sheedy's unbroken stint with the Bombers. And, remarkably, the most have occurred at Punt Rd.
The Tigers have made 11 coaching changes while their favorite son has directed four Bomber flags, been twice runners-up and made three preliminary final appearances.
..."
It is my opinion that this statistic is the single biggest indictment that can be made at the club over the past two decades. Eleven coaches in 20 completed seasons. More than one every two years. That is far, far too many; there has never been the requisite stablility to create the foundation that enables success to be built upon.
I know that not all the coaches were sacked - Alan Jeans left because of health and strictly speaking Jeff Gieschen resigned, although I think his days were numbered anyway.
No matter which way I look at it, I feel that the reason for failure in so many coaches can fundamentally be traced back to poor management.
Too often we have seen the board take the 'tough' and 'ruthless' decision to axe the coach. Rubbish. There is nothing ruthless or tough about it. Given some more thought, I think it is actually quite jelly-kneed. When the team is travelling badly, I've no doubt that the board is placed under extreme pressure from various factions, including sponsors, coterie groups and the membership / supporters in general. It is my perception that too often, the board caves in under the pressure and pulls the trigger. Not very tough at all.
We have seen instances where the process for choosing a new coach has been very poor - or even non existent. It is not Robert Walls fault that we performed so badly, as he shouldn't have been there in the first place. The management acted with far too much haste and appointed him based on reputation alone without any proper consideration of whether he was right for Richmond. As it turns out, he wasn't.
Leon Daphne was quite public in his support of Jeff Gieschen, tying the fate of the coach to his own. He was also noble enough to make good on his word by falling on his sword. Very noble. Not very helpful though. A case of too little too late. Mouthing words of support do little, what was needed was support were it mattered - a strengthened coaching department. I get the feeling that the support staff were procured from the coaching bargain basement.
The past 12 months have shown that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps by good luck rather than good management all the obvious contenders were snapped up by other clubs - in most cases, seemingly in haste. This left the management with the time to go through the process thoroughly - to find someone who would fit the position at Richmond rather than fitting Richmond around the someone. (not withstanding that Danny is implementing changes to improve the culture).
The second ray of hope comes from the appointment of the support staff. It is probably as good as any going around. I'm sure I read an article where Craig Kelly was quoted as saying that the improvement in the coaching had changed Brad Ottens perception of the club and it's future and was one of the key factors in retaining Brad Ottens. (The article was from about mid season - after Brad had quenched his thirst)
I'm sure if we submitted our end of season reports, the coaching staff would get quite a good mark - maybe a B+?
The big test is still to come however. We know that a teams fortune is like a roller coaster - especially at Richmond! Have no doubt that sometime in the future times will get tough for Danny Frawley. The question is, how will we (all Richmond factions) react? Will the guilotine come out again? I hope not.
Let us have the collective strength to work our way through the problem. Then we can start challenging for greatness.
------------------
This is a hallucination and these faces are in a dream. A computer generated environment; a fantasy island you can do anything and not have to face the consequences.
In the Herald Sun dated 25/9/2000 there appeared an article written by Geoff Poulter eulogising Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy. It reads in part:
"KEVIN Sheedy left Richmond in fine shape when he took over as coach of Essendon for the 1981 season.
The Tigers had just won the premiership by a then-record 81 points with Sheeds as one of their specialist coaches.
Twenty seasons later, we have seen 99 coaching changes at rival AFL clubs during Sheedy's unbroken stint with the Bombers. And, remarkably, the most have occurred at Punt Rd.
The Tigers have made 11 coaching changes while their favorite son has directed four Bomber flags, been twice runners-up and made three preliminary final appearances.
..."
It is my opinion that this statistic is the single biggest indictment that can be made at the club over the past two decades. Eleven coaches in 20 completed seasons. More than one every two years. That is far, far too many; there has never been the requisite stablility to create the foundation that enables success to be built upon.
I know that not all the coaches were sacked - Alan Jeans left because of health and strictly speaking Jeff Gieschen resigned, although I think his days were numbered anyway.
No matter which way I look at it, I feel that the reason for failure in so many coaches can fundamentally be traced back to poor management.
Too often we have seen the board take the 'tough' and 'ruthless' decision to axe the coach. Rubbish. There is nothing ruthless or tough about it. Given some more thought, I think it is actually quite jelly-kneed. When the team is travelling badly, I've no doubt that the board is placed under extreme pressure from various factions, including sponsors, coterie groups and the membership / supporters in general. It is my perception that too often, the board caves in under the pressure and pulls the trigger. Not very tough at all.
We have seen instances where the process for choosing a new coach has been very poor - or even non existent. It is not Robert Walls fault that we performed so badly, as he shouldn't have been there in the first place. The management acted with far too much haste and appointed him based on reputation alone without any proper consideration of whether he was right for Richmond. As it turns out, he wasn't.
Leon Daphne was quite public in his support of Jeff Gieschen, tying the fate of the coach to his own. He was also noble enough to make good on his word by falling on his sword. Very noble. Not very helpful though. A case of too little too late. Mouthing words of support do little, what was needed was support were it mattered - a strengthened coaching department. I get the feeling that the support staff were procured from the coaching bargain basement.
The past 12 months have shown that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps by good luck rather than good management all the obvious contenders were snapped up by other clubs - in most cases, seemingly in haste. This left the management with the time to go through the process thoroughly - to find someone who would fit the position at Richmond rather than fitting Richmond around the someone. (not withstanding that Danny is implementing changes to improve the culture).
The second ray of hope comes from the appointment of the support staff. It is probably as good as any going around. I'm sure I read an article where Craig Kelly was quoted as saying that the improvement in the coaching had changed Brad Ottens perception of the club and it's future and was one of the key factors in retaining Brad Ottens. (The article was from about mid season - after Brad had quenched his thirst)
I'm sure if we submitted our end of season reports, the coaching staff would get quite a good mark - maybe a B+?
The big test is still to come however. We know that a teams fortune is like a roller coaster - especially at Richmond! Have no doubt that sometime in the future times will get tough for Danny Frawley. The question is, how will we (all Richmond factions) react? Will the guilotine come out again? I hope not.
Let us have the collective strength to work our way through the problem. Then we can start challenging for greatness.
------------------
This is a hallucination and these faces are in a dream. A computer generated environment; a fantasy island you can do anything and not have to face the consequences.
