Insipid times in Tigerland
Patrick Smith
July 03, 2003
The Australian
RICHMOND sat on six wins and two losses after eight rounds.
They were considered the best team in Victoria. The coach Danny Frawley was gagged, but the Tigers were roaring.
Five rounds later Frawley's saying even less than before and Richmond have added only five more losses to the ledger. They are off to play Adelaide on Saturday night. To win there is such a daunting proposition most of the players have sought to make their peace with God before flying over. More optimistic souls have merely booked hospital beds.
Look back to round eight and you figure Punt Road Oval should be renamed Fool's Paradise. Nothing was what it seemed.
There was no flying start. The Tigers were thrashed in the pre-season competition by Melbourne – and how well are they travelling? – and lost to Collingwood in round one.
It was an insipid display on the first day of the season. Richmond had sought the Collingwood match-up because it would catch the eye of the media and dominate the headlines. The rumblings began. How long has Frawley got? Talkback radio was all a twitter. It takes only one loss.
The Collingwood match had soaked up the media attention. But with such a profile comes expectations and for Richmond supporters there were clearly none to be had. The month up to the start of the season and the first round is the period when supporters can be wooed into members. Sadly, there had been nothing to titillate them.
Membership figures have been revised and now sit in the budget on 25,000. The season before, the Tigers drew 27,000. Attendances are down, too, and gaming revenue has slipped by $500,000 on budget estimates.
After a profit of more than $350,000 last year, president Clinton Casey now says a break-even line is the target. And that depends on an increase in attendances.
Superstar Matthew Richardson is shaking his head more often than kicking goals. The club receives constant advice on what to do with him. Leave him at full-forward, put him in the midfield, run him in the ruck, sit him on the bench, pay him less money, trade him to Carlton. The Blues wooed him heavily last season, but the Tigers think Richo is their heart and soul. He might just be the most indulged footballer in the competition.
The president and footy department met at Frawley's house in the bye break. The club list was re-evaluated. Deficiencies were identified, recruiting targets assessed. How busy the Tigers will be come trade and draft time depends on how they can manage their salary cap.
Football director Greg Miller is revamping several contracts that have been back-ended, leaving the club with little room to move under the cap. Miller hopes to drag it back from 100 per cent so they can do some business at the end of the season.
Better players like Mark Chaffy, Ray Hall, Greg Tivendale, Joel Bowden and Aaron Fiora are out of contract. Nothing should be taken for granted. Miller said: "We always have to grow the list as well as maintain it."
The club invested heavily in the football department through summer when the AFL was warning clubs to shrink costs. Miller came in as football director, Wayne Brittain became Frawley's assistant, Paul Spargo took over the VFL side, David Wheadon became full-time opposition analyst, Greg Hutchison moved to football manager.
Miller says the new off-field team is gelling well. Yet it is not a great reward for the amount of money sunk into the revamped department.
Miller feels the team have been competitive and tough, just not winning. In truth, the Tigers are not a very polished unit and miss their skipper Wayne Campbell.
It seems odd but Miller and Casey have driven a raft of changes in personnel at the club in the name of stability.
There's new CEO Ian Campbell, a new marketing manager and a membership manager about to come on board. Throw in the earthquake that hit the football department and the Richmond staff spend the first hour of every day doing orientation courses.
"That's all done now," Miller said. "What we desperately need here is stability. We have to get the foundations right."
Frawley will be grateful for that philosophy. The club finished 14th last season and, given the Tigers cannot afford to plot five-year plans, anything but the finals this year will be disastrous.
So Frawley continues to lie low. Dangerously for him, so does his side.
Patrick Smith
July 03, 2003
The Australian
RICHMOND sat on six wins and two losses after eight rounds.
They were considered the best team in Victoria. The coach Danny Frawley was gagged, but the Tigers were roaring.
Five rounds later Frawley's saying even less than before and Richmond have added only five more losses to the ledger. They are off to play Adelaide on Saturday night. To win there is such a daunting proposition most of the players have sought to make their peace with God before flying over. More optimistic souls have merely booked hospital beds.
Look back to round eight and you figure Punt Road Oval should be renamed Fool's Paradise. Nothing was what it seemed.
There was no flying start. The Tigers were thrashed in the pre-season competition by Melbourne – and how well are they travelling? – and lost to Collingwood in round one.
It was an insipid display on the first day of the season. Richmond had sought the Collingwood match-up because it would catch the eye of the media and dominate the headlines. The rumblings began. How long has Frawley got? Talkback radio was all a twitter. It takes only one loss.
The Collingwood match had soaked up the media attention. But with such a profile comes expectations and for Richmond supporters there were clearly none to be had. The month up to the start of the season and the first round is the period when supporters can be wooed into members. Sadly, there had been nothing to titillate them.
Membership figures have been revised and now sit in the budget on 25,000. The season before, the Tigers drew 27,000. Attendances are down, too, and gaming revenue has slipped by $500,000 on budget estimates.
After a profit of more than $350,000 last year, president Clinton Casey now says a break-even line is the target. And that depends on an increase in attendances.
Superstar Matthew Richardson is shaking his head more often than kicking goals. The club receives constant advice on what to do with him. Leave him at full-forward, put him in the midfield, run him in the ruck, sit him on the bench, pay him less money, trade him to Carlton. The Blues wooed him heavily last season, but the Tigers think Richo is their heart and soul. He might just be the most indulged footballer in the competition.
The president and footy department met at Frawley's house in the bye break. The club list was re-evaluated. Deficiencies were identified, recruiting targets assessed. How busy the Tigers will be come trade and draft time depends on how they can manage their salary cap.
Football director Greg Miller is revamping several contracts that have been back-ended, leaving the club with little room to move under the cap. Miller hopes to drag it back from 100 per cent so they can do some business at the end of the season.
Better players like Mark Chaffy, Ray Hall, Greg Tivendale, Joel Bowden and Aaron Fiora are out of contract. Nothing should be taken for granted. Miller said: "We always have to grow the list as well as maintain it."
The club invested heavily in the football department through summer when the AFL was warning clubs to shrink costs. Miller came in as football director, Wayne Brittain became Frawley's assistant, Paul Spargo took over the VFL side, David Wheadon became full-time opposition analyst, Greg Hutchison moved to football manager.
Miller says the new off-field team is gelling well. Yet it is not a great reward for the amount of money sunk into the revamped department.
Miller feels the team have been competitive and tough, just not winning. In truth, the Tigers are not a very polished unit and miss their skipper Wayne Campbell.
It seems odd but Miller and Casey have driven a raft of changes in personnel at the club in the name of stability.
There's new CEO Ian Campbell, a new marketing manager and a membership manager about to come on board. Throw in the earthquake that hit the football department and the Richmond staff spend the first hour of every day doing orientation courses.
"That's all done now," Miller said. "What we desperately need here is stability. We have to get the foundations right."
Frawley will be grateful for that philosophy. The club finished 14th last season and, given the Tigers cannot afford to plot five-year plans, anything but the finals this year will be disastrous.
So Frawley continues to lie low. Dangerously for him, so does his side.
