The news this morning was that Wallace, the board and other coaches where meeting and seeing they sit at the bottom of the ladder with a 1-7 win/ loss record and Wallace has already conceded he will not be coaching next year. We all thought he had walked early, we were wrong! But is it the right decision?
Yes Wallace its time to continue your run and run straight out the door and never return.
Would walking early from his final coaching year a good or bad thing for the team, club and their future?
But captain Chris Newman and head of football Craig Cameron affirmed they wanted Wallace to see out his contract and he had their full backing after a meeting on Tuesday morning.
Newman said the players never lost confidence in the coach and he had called a meeting to clear the air.
“We sit at 1-7 so we needed to sit down as a group and make sure we are on the same page and bring up where we are going wrong and what we can do for the future,” Newman said.
Quoted from afl.com.au
It is rather obvious that the club/ board & players are not on the same page. If they where on the same page, the team would at least be 4-4 and looking towards finals.
In “A Call to Arms – Tigers Need to Get Lethal“, we discussed many reasons and answers to the problems, so without rehashing what has already been spoken lets discuss why keeping Wallace as coach is the WRONG call.
Benefits of Wallace Resigning Now
- Get to look at a new possible coach (ie getting an assistant to step in – Like Harvey for Freo in 2007).
- Gives the players & club a fresh start with a new game plan.
- Allows you an excuse to tank and play the kids.
- No more “will he or wont he resign Headlines”.
- Pressure on the club’s players to perform to new coach.
To me this has way more benefits than negatives. What do you think? Do you think they made the right call in keeping Wallace as coach for the remainder of the season or would you like to see someone else get a chance?
And who would you pick as stand in coach?
- Wayne Campbell,
- David King,
- Jade Rawlings or
- Brian Royal.
Personally I think David King would be the ideal choice as he has been successful in his playing career and has not been too long out of the game.
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May 19th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
From what I’ve heard, the palyers have alot to answer for. They alone blew a 16 point lead late in the term, not Wallace, & Wallace let it be known in his pres conference.
Consequently, precious & oveerpaid egos were dented, as in the players, mainly the leadership group.
If I was Wallace, I’d resign right now. The players & the board are coaching Richmond right as of now. The assistant coaches would also know this & totally wash their hands of this mutiny.
Let’s see all of the above choices knock back the job & president Gary March coach the team with Caroline Wilson & Mike Sheehan as assistants.
We know where this team is headed in the near future & if the playing list doesn’t pull it’s collective heads in, we may have 9 Vic teams left.
May 19th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Craig – that’s a stupid thing to say. Richmond aren’t any where near where Melbourne are at, and financially they are doing a hell of a lot better than North or the Dees. The Tiges aren’t going anywhere, and we have a massive supporter base that has had more resilience than any other in the competition.
Wallace will get shafted at the end of the year, and the only real decision around that then becomes: is there someone better for us to get coaching Richmond right now. I don’t think there is. None of our assistants should get the job long term, so let’s wait until the end of the season, and talk to the guys we really are interested in having coaching this team long term: Matthews, Malthouse, Brad Scott, etc.
I can’t see an intelligent comment in anything you’ve written there Craig. “The players are coaching the team.” What could that be based on?
May 19th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Based on the players not impressed with Wallace’s press conference on Sunday.
Stupid decisions cost them, Wallace said as much to the media, senior players got shirty & called a meeting today.
You’ve got to face it that Richmond were threatening for a top 8 spot & at 1-7, the senior group is getting all upset at the coaches crticisms. That’s the coaches call to make, not the players, & if the players don’t like it, they call in the coach to “discuss his future”. That’s wrong from any supporters point of view no matter who you support.
Wallace has already been shafted & the next coach will get shafted in 2 years & so on.
Forget Matthews coaching coz he said no to any coaching in April.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:35 am
That’s an interesting interpretation of what happened. Sounds to me more like the team is sitting at 1-7 and the leadership group called the meeting to start taking the season seriously. I don’t think at any stage that the players have given any impression that they’re unhappy with the coach – certainly not publicly, and the board has had ample opportunity to shaft the underperforming Wallace, and yet they’ve stuck by him. Wallace is going to get sacked because in five years he hasn’t got the team into the finals. There’s no team that would put up with that – to say the next coach will get shafted in 2 years is straight from the late 80′s rather than looking at the Richmond administration of today.
If the situation you described is what actually happened, then I’d accept that the players need to pull their heads in. But there’s not actually any facts that you’ve based your fanciful story on.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Thanks guys for your opinions etc especially Geoff as a Richmond supporter.
Personally I think Geoff that while they are financially well off, I would say they are actually below Melbourne in premiership opportunities. Melbourne has a lot of young future players who show promise and their best players are below the age of 28-30 unlike Richmond.
While I agree that the club is better ‘politically’ than the 80′s (only heard stories etc), they are not performing better…
May 20th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Thanks guys for your opinions. One thing I enjoy is to have a good footy debate & to have it civilized. That is, not to have personal “name calling” thrown into it.
You guys have been great.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:25 pm
What was the benefit to Freo in Harvey taking over for the final few games? It certainly didn’t show up last year, nor eraly this year.
Sorry, but I think it’s rather simplistic to imagine they can implement any significant changes to the game plan without concentrating on them through a pre-season.
Does it matter if he resigns? He won’t be there next year. Does anyone take the tabloid headlines seriously?
Beyong a potential “bounce” in the week following the dismissal of a coach, all I see is downside in removing the coach early. The players have spent nearly nine months with this coaching structure. They’re used to the voices and the messages. You’d think they are concentrating on executing the message more effectively, so it’s going to be hard to think about a new message and then get its execution right. If there were a change before season’s end, and a new game plan were introduced, and the team got thrashed week after week, the playing group’s confidence could be damaged for next year as well. They’re starting to show a bit. I think it makes sense to extract what confidence you can and carry that forward into a new regime from mid-October.
aussierulesblogs last blog post..A legend with or without the tag
May 21st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Note to self: Must remember to spell check before posting!
aussierulesblogs last blog post..A legend with or without the tag
May 21st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Freo at the start of Harveys career (end of 07 & they lost 10 games by 20 points or less) played some good football. i doubt any current coach could turn that club around…
History shows that clubs with new coaches half way through season do better than before. I do not have the exact stats but the Demons won a few games when Daniher retired, Hawks like wise under Donald when Swcab (spelling??) walked. Allen back in 01 for Freo. Merrett for the Lions before Mathews (~98).
Simplistic? How hard is the game? Kick the ball, go through the corridor and kick more goals than the opposition. Now to me that is an easy game.
These players are full time professionals and when they play under another coach in the VFL/ WAFL/ SANAFL etc they do not struggle that much. Just takes a little brains.
Thanks for your input AussieRulesBlog and I do like it when people disagree with me. Brings something extra to the convo/ article.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Most of Wallace’s reign we’ve struggled to have any discernible game plan, so I can’t see that a new coach has much chance. When they go back to the VFL they tend more to play a position, and then just play their natural game rather than necessarily fit into a game-plan. And especially in the VFL, where there is a tight relationship between AFL team and their VFL affiliate, you might find that the VFL team is playing the AFL team’s game plan more or less.
Plus I think the only advantage of fitting in with a new coach is if you want that coach to be there long term, and with the possible talent available for senior coaching roles (Laidley, Malthouse, Williams, etc) it’s unlikely that the Tigers want to commit to someone within the organisation.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Yes it does make more sense NOT to commit to next years coaching gig now with several senior coaches also out of contract (Laidley, Williams & Malthouse) but in giving Wayne Campbell, David King, Jade Rawlings or even Brian Royal a go. It can act as their application for the job.
There are quite a few other other possible coaches in Scott x2, Longmuire, Sumich, Buckley, Bond, Viney, Cameron etc who would also apply for the job. Best imo to start limiting the applicants….
May 21st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
i thought the tigers were horrible against carlton and against the Dogs. Other then that they have been competitive, kicked 8 in a quarter against the cats and nearly stole two interstate victories. when you consider that Cousins, Richo, Brown and Johnson have missed most of the season it becomes pretty clear that they are not as bad as some people think(I thought an F was a bit harsh Jerm)
As Geoff stated Wallace will not be there next year because he gave himself five years to make the finals and they haven’t, his vision whatever it was did not come to fruition but unless the guy who is going to coach them next year takes over right now they should wait until the end of the season. Remember when Peter Rhode took over from Wallace?? sure it was only one game but we won and everyone thought Rhode was it and a bit. He did more damage in his 2 years at the helm then any other coach in our history. The Tigers need to show a bit of strength, let wallace see out his year and do a massive review of all positions at the end of the season.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I gave them a F because they where tipped to finish between 4th and 7th by most experts and sitting at 15th surely is a fail in anyone’s book…
Donald (Hawks) & Allen (Freo) where two stand in coaches who did not get the job after standing in. I think it shows more the weakness of the club rather than the coach if you give them a game just because they stood in.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Deano – good to have you on my side! Couldn’t agree more.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
footy really is a game of inches, if the Dons hadn’t stole two last gasp victories they would be sitting at 2 and 6 and Knights would be under the pump. Similarly if Richmond had shown a bit of composure and won their 2 interstate games they would be sitting at 3 and 5 and be a game out of the 8.
I also recall hearing some ‘experts’ say that the Hawks would only lose one or two games for the entire season. they have lost four in the first two months and are really struggling. Collingwood is another team that has failed to live up to ‘expert’ predictions. I think it just shows how even the comp is. If you are not switched on right from the get-go you are in danger of losing quarters, games and seasons.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Your point on personnel is well-made, Deano. If you have the misfortune to lose key players and don’t have ready-made replacements (Hawks defence, Collingwood), you’re in trouble. Bombers could have been in the same boat with Hille going down, but Ryder has stepped up and a couple of kids in defence have also stood up.
The Tigers’ outs so far would have tested most clubs’ ability to shuffle deck chairs, notwithstanding Geoff’s point on game plan. The next couple of years will show whether Wallace failed, or was hamstrung. I’m betting on the latter.
aussierulesblogs last blog post..A legend with or without the tag
May 21st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Morton was dropped because he couldn’t do the team thing. Come last Sunday, he did it again. And when the players demand on-field changes, it’s time to go.
Yes, they’re professionals, they’ve had injuries, but have their actions on Monday led us to believe they’re spoiled Divas?
Besides this, any expert who had the Tigers top four must be kidding.
As for Collingwood, they’ve been decimated over the last 2 weeks & this week isn’t any better. I feel they’ve got a better injury grevience than the Hawks.