Tigers rally behind Frawley
Paul Gough
afl.com.au
2:34:43 PM Thu 24 July, 2003
Richmond chief executive Ian Campbell has moved to reassure Tiger supporters the club remains united despite the embarrassing leak of an internal memo criticising club coach Danny Frawley.
The memo – details of which were revealed on Melbourne radio station 3AW on Wednesday night – was written by Tigers’ communications manager Paul Maley and criticised Frawley for losing touch with the club’s army of long-suffering supporters.
This is in the wake of the club losing its past eight matches to slide from third to 12th as the club – which has reached September just twice since 1982 – looks set to miss the finals yet again.
Maley’s memo said in part: “Make no mistake, our supporters are angry. In particular, their ire is being directed at Danny Frawley. The opinion of Danny is widespread and at an all-time low. If the mindset of the average supporter doesn’t improve between now and October-November, selling memberships will be nigh on impossible (for next year).”
The Tigers, long considered to be part of the ‘big four’ clubs in Victoria, have already seen their membership slump to just 24,000 this season – well behind Victoria’s other big clubs in Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton.
The memo also advised there should be no further criticism of the club’s fans for not joining up as members such as criticising them for their fickleness or lack of loyalty.
Campbell, speaking exclusively to richmondfc.com.au on Thursday, said he did not blame supporters for being upset at the club’s current performance but urged them not to lose faith in the club’s leadership.
“I am not going to ask them to be patient again because I understand their frustration,” he said of the ‘Tiger Army.’
“I am just asking them to have a bit of self-belief that we will get to where we want to go and we will get there quickly.”
Campbell said the memo did not show there were concerns about Frawley’s ability to lift the side within the club, but was just one of numerous internal memos that are part of life at all businesses.
“We get (internal) memos on anything from the pies not being hot last Saturday,” he said.
The Tigers’ chief executive said there was no definitely no division in the club over Frawley, whose contract runs out at the end of next year.
“The basic message to the supporters of the club is that we are united,” he said.
“It’s frustrating that this (memo) has come out but we had a staff meeting this morning (Thursday) and everyone is united.”
Campbell said he was confident the criticism would not affect Frawley, who is now in his fourth year as coach but has won just 13 of his past 38 matches in charge since losing the 2001 preliminary final in Brisbane.
“Danny has been in this game for a long time, he is a professional and he knows his job is to get a win on the board,” Campbell said.
“This (memo) makes it difficult for him but it’s just like what happened to (Carlton coach) Denis Pagan yesterday and (Hawthorn coach) Peter Schwab earlier in the season.”
“It’s not a question of when it’s your turn to be scrutinised, it’s a question of who is next?”
Campbell said that despite the club’s poor run of results, he was confident the club now had the off-field structure in place to again be successful and promised the Tigers would be ‘aggressive’ during the off-season in re-building their team.
He added that despite the membership downturn, the club’s once precarious financial position was now sound with sponsorships already in place for next season and gaming revenue back on the increase.
Earlier Richmond’s football operations manager Greg Miller repeated that Frawley still had the confidence of the club and would remain coach in 2004.
“Danny loves the Richmond Football Club and he’s putting his heart and soul into everything. That’s one of his strengths,” Miller said on radio station Sport 927.
“I’ll be reassuring Danny. He knows what my feelings are, absolutely.”
“Danny’s doing everything possible to succeed for the Richmond Football Club and he’ll continue to do so this year and next year.”
Paul Gough
afl.com.au
2:34:43 PM Thu 24 July, 2003
Richmond chief executive Ian Campbell has moved to reassure Tiger supporters the club remains united despite the embarrassing leak of an internal memo criticising club coach Danny Frawley.
The memo – details of which were revealed on Melbourne radio station 3AW on Wednesday night – was written by Tigers’ communications manager Paul Maley and criticised Frawley for losing touch with the club’s army of long-suffering supporters.
This is in the wake of the club losing its past eight matches to slide from third to 12th as the club – which has reached September just twice since 1982 – looks set to miss the finals yet again.
Maley’s memo said in part: “Make no mistake, our supporters are angry. In particular, their ire is being directed at Danny Frawley. The opinion of Danny is widespread and at an all-time low. If the mindset of the average supporter doesn’t improve between now and October-November, selling memberships will be nigh on impossible (for next year).”
The Tigers, long considered to be part of the ‘big four’ clubs in Victoria, have already seen their membership slump to just 24,000 this season – well behind Victoria’s other big clubs in Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton.
The memo also advised there should be no further criticism of the club’s fans for not joining up as members such as criticising them for their fickleness or lack of loyalty.
Campbell, speaking exclusively to richmondfc.com.au on Thursday, said he did not blame supporters for being upset at the club’s current performance but urged them not to lose faith in the club’s leadership.
“I am not going to ask them to be patient again because I understand their frustration,” he said of the ‘Tiger Army.’
“I am just asking them to have a bit of self-belief that we will get to where we want to go and we will get there quickly.”
Campbell said the memo did not show there were concerns about Frawley’s ability to lift the side within the club, but was just one of numerous internal memos that are part of life at all businesses.
“We get (internal) memos on anything from the pies not being hot last Saturday,” he said.
The Tigers’ chief executive said there was no definitely no division in the club over Frawley, whose contract runs out at the end of next year.
“The basic message to the supporters of the club is that we are united,” he said.
“It’s frustrating that this (memo) has come out but we had a staff meeting this morning (Thursday) and everyone is united.”
Campbell said he was confident the criticism would not affect Frawley, who is now in his fourth year as coach but has won just 13 of his past 38 matches in charge since losing the 2001 preliminary final in Brisbane.
“Danny has been in this game for a long time, he is a professional and he knows his job is to get a win on the board,” Campbell said.
“This (memo) makes it difficult for him but it’s just like what happened to (Carlton coach) Denis Pagan yesterday and (Hawthorn coach) Peter Schwab earlier in the season.”
“It’s not a question of when it’s your turn to be scrutinised, it’s a question of who is next?”
Campbell said that despite the club’s poor run of results, he was confident the club now had the off-field structure in place to again be successful and promised the Tigers would be ‘aggressive’ during the off-season in re-building their team.
He added that despite the membership downturn, the club’s once precarious financial position was now sound with sponsorships already in place for next season and gaming revenue back on the increase.
Earlier Richmond’s football operations manager Greg Miller repeated that Frawley still had the confidence of the club and would remain coach in 2004.
“Danny loves the Richmond Football Club and he’s putting his heart and soul into everything. That’s one of his strengths,” Miller said on radio station Sport 927.
“I’ll be reassuring Danny. He knows what my feelings are, absolutely.”
“Danny’s doing everything possible to succeed for the Richmond Football Club and he’ll continue to do so this year and next year.”
