Re: Wang Practice Match: A day at the footy

[RedanTiger]

Thanks for the generous replies.
Must admit I was worried I'd stepped over the line into self-absorbed wankery.

I've supported Richmond since 1967 when it was just accepted we would win premierships every 5 to 10 years. That changed.
I've been posting on here since 2004 and have always been vocal when I think we're going in the wrong direction. On the football side, that changed recently.
I am really, really happy (or rather contented, satisfied, relieved) we seem to have got our mojo back from the 70's.
I am really, really thankful for the efforts of the board to lift us out of the dark days of 2004.

Despite this however,

Gee and I thought Redan was just some old whingy old prick . Great post brother.

I remain a "whingy old prick" about (what I consider to be) a poor, even corrupt, style of board governance and will remain vocal about these issues.
Enjoy the premiership but don't miss the forest for the trees.

 

[WesternTiger]

Thanks for the generous replies.
Must admit I was worried I'd stepped over the line into self-absorbed wankery.

I've supported Richmond since 1967 when it was just accepted we would win premierships every 5 to 10 years. That changed.
I've been posting on here since 2004 and have always been vocal when I think we're going in the wrong direction. On the football side, that changed recently.
I am really, really happy (or rather contented, satisfied, relieved) we seem to have got our mojo back from the 70's.
I am really, really thankful for the efforts of the board to lift us out of the dark days of 2004.

Despite this however,

I remain a "whingy old prick" about (what I consider to be) a poor, even corrupt, style of board governance and will remain vocal about these issues.
Enjoy the premiership but don't miss the forest for the trees.

good work RT

 

[tigerman]

Thanks for the generous replies.
Must admit I was worried I'd stepped over the line into self-absorbed wankery.

I've supported Richmond since 1967 when it was just accepted we would win premierships every 5 to 10 years. That changed.
I've been posting on here since 2004 and have always been vocal when I think we're going in the wrong direction. On the football side, that changed recently.
I am really, really happy (or rather contented, satisfied, relieved) we seem to have got our mojo back from the 70's.
I am really, really thankful for the efforts of the board to lift us out of the dark days of 2004.

Despite this however,

I remain a "whingy old prick" about (what I consider to be) a poor, even corrupt, style of board governance and will remain vocal about these issues.
Enjoy the premiership but don't miss the forest for the trees.

Thanks for posting your op it was an enjoyable read.
What do you reckon the supporter split was, a bit hard to tell watching on the tv.

 

[tigersnake]

I remain a "whingy old prick" about (what I consider to be) a poor, even corrupt, style of board governance and will remain vocal about these issues.
Enjoy the premiership but don't miss the forest for the trees.

I take exception to the corrupt charge. Total bulldust, naivety and a failure to grasp the realities of boardroom politics is one thing, calling us corrupt is something else altogether.

 

[RedanTiger]

What do you reckon the supporter split was, a bit hard to tell watching on the tv.

Of course it's just a guess but I would say about 60-70% Tiges.
Having said that it seemed to me that a lot of the support was recent. ie they didn't seem to know much about the players or their game styles and a LOT of Dusty and new merch.
Others should give their opinions on this.

I take exception to the corrupt charge. Total bulldust, naivety and a failure to grasp the realities of boardroom politics is one thing, calling us corrupt is something else altogether.

Fair enough, I did say it was my opinion.

This is not really the place to get into it but as said before I'll continue to post my POV everywhere it arises.

I hate the rigged resignations/appointments which I think are aimed at limiting or negating members voting rights.

Dunne was appointed a couple of months before the AGM as Matthies resigned. There followed a biased election where the by-laws were changed and then ignored to favour the board candidates.
Months after that election Powell and Rothschild were appointed to replace Chadwick and Free on their resignations. No member vote
In January, O'Shannassy resigned and Ward was appointed. Now I made a point at the AGM of giving a big thank you to O'Shannassy and Dalton for their work and they both said they were exhausted and were looking to leave soon.
But, if Maurice wanted to leave why didn't he do it before the AGM and allow an open and equal election with all candidates on the same footing, maybe even with Wallace and Casey throwing their hats in the ring again.

The resolution to limit member's rights to an EGM was defeated with the president holding over twice the proxies she had in the first go-round.
She said at the AGM this was mainly due to members not being aware they had the right to vote via proxies. I think this referred to staff votes.
The idea that bosses would go round to employees collecting votes favouring their position, to me, is inherently corrupt especially when these employees had previously felt they should abstain in the first vote.

To me, these are just a couple of examples of a "corrupt style of board governance".
Of course I'm in a minority but that doesn't mean I can't put my POV.

An update though - watching the after match interview with Alex Rance, the song was played more than once

To Mac, like most every one else I'd switched off but I didn't notice the big "Yellow and Black" chant that you get at the G for home games.

 

[22nd Man]

I hear you RT. When times are good we can be easily distracted - hey look over there a Shiny new premiership cup - now let us introduce to our new board member - hey we've signed Dusty for seven years - and signed a new constitution. When the music stops as it will inevitably some practices won't seem so leading edge.

 

[tigersnake]

I hear you RT. When times are good we can be easily distracted - hey look over there a Shiny new premiership cup - now let us introduce to our new board member - hey we've signed Dusty for seven years - and signed a new constitution. When the music stops as it will inevitably some practices won't seem so leading edge.

Yeah it was their plan all along, win the flag and sign dusty, just to distract the plebs from their evil plan. Got 'em a bewdy.

seriously though, if the music stops, people whinge about everything, regardless of if its leading edge or dragging the chain. After all, the FoF clowns echoed a lot of boofheads on here saying the club was all PC gone mad etc etc.

 

[TigerMasochist]

I hear you RT. When times are good we can be easily distracted - hey look over there a Shiny new premiership cup - now let us introduce to our new board member - hey we've signed Dusty for seven years - and signed a new constitution. When the music stops as it will inevitably some practices won't seem so leading edge.

Could be that you and Redan are right, regarding the " underhanded manipulating " of board positions. Could also be that the RFC desperately required a benevolent dictatorship to pull it's head out of it's collective arse.
From 1980 onward there has been a litany of spilled boards, coaches, financial disasters and recruiting incompetence that has seen the club grovelling on it's knees n hamstrung by it's failures.
Since Benny Gale came on board as the CEO n Dimma came on board as coach, both at the end of 2009 and with the full backing of this shifty, dubious n corrupt board. We've played fairly regular finals and won a flag. We've eradicated massive debt n put many many shekels in the bank. We've redeveloped the entire footy club facilities up from a shed full of possum poop. We've more than doubled our membership and are chasing AFL record high memberships. We've established business and education connections that enhance the RFC beyond just a footy club.
Did I mention that we'd won a flag? Also with a list that for all intents appears to be just entering it's premium era of development, with a tier of youngsters primed to improve.

We might not have been perfect over the last eight or nine years n we've stumbled a couple of times ( without face planting, or worse, self destructing ). But the club is so far above and ahead of the thirty years previous, that thankfully, we finally got what we needed, whether we realised we needed it or not.

 

[Midsy]

Could be that you and Redan are right, regarding the " underhanded manipulating " of board positions. Could also be that the RFC desperately required a benevolent dictatorship to pull it's head out of it's collective arse.
From 1980 onward there has been a litany of spilled boards, coaches, financial disasters and recruiting incompetence that has seen the club grovelling on it's knees n hamstrung by it's failures.
Since Benny Gale came on board as the CEO n Dimma came on board as coach, both at the end of 2009 and with the full backing of this shifty, dubious n corrupt board. We've played fairly regular finals and won a flag. We've eradicated massive debt n put many many shekels in the bank. We've redeveloped the entire footy club facilities up from a shed full of possum poop. We've more than doubled our membership and are chasing AFL record high memberships. We've established business and education connections that enhance the RFC beyond just a footy club.
Did I mention that we'd won a flag? Also with a list that for all intents appears to be just entering it's premium era of development, with a tier of youngsters primed to improve.

We might not have been perfect over the last eight or nine years n we've stumbled a couple of times ( without face planting, or worse, self destructing ). But the club is so far above and ahead of the thirty years previous, that thankfully, we finally got what we needed, whether we realised we needed it or not.

Yep. Dimma, Benny and Peggy will have left a pretty decent legacy by the time they move on.

 

[lamb22]

Could be that you and Redan are right, regarding the " underhanded manipulating " of board positions.

Yes they are right.

 

[Nico]

Could be that you and Redan are right, regarding the " underhanded manipulating " of board positions. Could also be that the RFC desperately required a benevolent dictatorship to pull it's head out of it's collective arse.
From 1980 onward there has been a litany of spilled boards, coaches, financial disasters and recruiting incompetence that has seen the club grovelling on it's knees n hamstrung by it's failures.
Since Benny Gale came on board as the CEO n Dimma came on board as coach, both at the end of 2009 and with the full backing of this shifty, dubious n corrupt board. We've played fairly regular finals and won a flag. We've eradicated massive debt n put many many shekels in the bank. We've redeveloped the entire footy club facilities up from a shed full of possum poop. We've more than doubled our membership and are chasing AFL record high memberships. We've established business and education connections that enhance the RFC beyond just a footy club.
Did I mention that we'd won a flag? Also with a list that for all intents appears to be just entering it's premium era of development, with a tier of youngsters primed to improve.

We might not have been perfect over the last eight or nine years n we've stumbled a couple of times ( without face planting, or worse, self destructing ). But the club is so far above and ahead of the thirty years previous, that thankfully, we finally got what we needed, whether we realised we needed it or not.

All good points TM.

They have delivered us to the promised land which they should be congratulated for, and I can't remember a time when the future looked so bright on and off the field.

Maybe the Board should just drop the pretense that there's a democratic process when selecting board members.

 

[Tigertough1974]

Having been on many boards and currently Chairman of a reasonably high profile organization in Asia I feel I know a little about boards and how they operate.

The most important component is that the board is cohesive and functional. There are very few boards that are truly democratic.

Whilst I do not agree with how RFC replace exiting BOD I understand why they have the process they do, it is dangerous in that it allows a poor board to protect itself with hand picked like minded people, equally to which we have now a strong board to remain cohesive.

 

[RedanTiger]

Could be that you and Redan are right, regarding the " underhanded manipulating " of board positions. Could also be that the RFC desperately required a benevolent dictatorship to pull it's head out of it's collective arse.
From 1980 onward there has been a litany of spilled boards, coaches, financial disasters and recruiting incompetence that has seen the club grovelling on it's knees n hamstrung by it's failures.
Since Benny Gale came on board as the CEO n Dimma came on board as coach, both at the end of 2009 and with the full backing of this shifty, dubious n corrupt board. We've played fairly regular finals and won a flag. We've eradicated massive debt n put many many shekels in the bank. We've redeveloped the entire footy club facilities up from a shed full of possum poop. We've more than doubled our membership and are chasing AFL record high memberships. We've established business and education connections that enhance the RFC beyond just a footy club.
Did I mention that we'd won a flag? Also with a list that for all intents appears to be just entering it's premium era of development, with a tier of youngsters primed to improve.

We might not have been perfect over the last eight or nine years n we've stumbled a couple of times ( without face planting, or worse, self destructing ). But the club is so far above and ahead of the thirty years previous, that thankfully, we finally got what we needed, whether we realised we needed it or not.

I think you're being unfairly dismissive of the work that came before Gale and Hardwick.

In 2004 we were functionally insolvent, relying on an AFL guarantee to continue to trade.
O'Shannassy and Dalton came on board and IMO exerted a much more disciplined financial environment which, with the addition of Stephen Wright as CEO, stopped the bleeding and rebuilt the foundations of the club.

This article gives some idea of the work done between 2004 and 2009.
"Wright achieved a number of milestones during his tenure as CEO, including:
• 40% increase in football dept expenditure whilst still delivering significant profits
• record membership each year – over 42,000 total members in 2009
• $20 million dollar fundraising for the soon to commence PRO redevelopment
• the creation of a fully funded $10m secondary training venue at Craigieburn
• a fantastic centenary year in 2008 culminating in the "100 Years of Tiger Treasures" Gala dinner
• a stable list of bluechip sponsors
• an outstanding community program overseen by the Tigers In Community Foundation, of which he is a director."
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2009-08-10/illhealth-forces-ceo-wright-to-step-down-

When I thanked O'Shannassy and Dalton at the last AGM for their hard, hard grind over the last 15 years to turn things around, both acknowledged how much effort they'd put in and admitted they were both worn out.

When you talk about Hardwick you ignore the fact that last year he was widely seen as being very likely to be sacked.
That he wasn't sacked, the board claims, was because they believed he was still the best option. I think he was kept because of his contract but I'll accept the board's POV.
Either way, as admitted by Hardwick himself, he radically changed the way he coached and reached the pinnacle of success.

I have given credit (as well as criticism) to the board where I think it is due as exemplified by this (longer) post from February 2017.

I think a lot of the decisions are coming from the top, and by that I mean Gale and the board.

but I don't give them undeserved credit when it should go to others.

Finally, while I don't reject the words you've quoted, where did I say "underhanded manipulating" as you seem to be quoting me.