It’s on again at Richmond – a rebel group calling for a spill of the board to get the club back in the business of “winning football and contesting premierships”.
MORE: AFL Rising Star crystal ball: Who will win? | AFL Trade Rumours: Vickery given a lifeline and North's revolutionary new strategy
Bryan Wood and Bruce Monteath are the token Tiger ‘greats’ aligned with the group in a reach for credibility, while a grab-bag of high-achieving professionals jump on their coattails, daydreaming that being on the board of an AFL club will make them the next Eddie McGuire, with naked virgins popping grapes in their gobs as they watch the triumphant Tigers from a superbox in the heavens.
I’ve met plenty of Punt Road pirates in the past, all thinking they could take the wheel and steer the Tiger-tanic clear of the icebergs and into a premiership port, but most of them couldn’t run the raffle at their kid’s under-11s fundraiser.
Under Brendon Gale, Peggy O’Neil and Damien Hardwick the Richmond Football Club has gone from second last and bankrupt in 2009, to finals in three of the past four years, with millions in the bank and over 70,000 members.
This time last year they had just finished the home and away season in fifth position and had more people attend their matches than any other club.
More than Hawthorn. More than Collingwood. More than any other club. 2016 has been a shocker but their list is among the youngest in the league, has kept its best players and is actively adding more quality.
A cardiologist named Martin Hiscock is leading the rebellion, but I’m not sure of his ability to diagnose a problem from the visible symptoms.
Maybe if he took the stethoscope out of his arse for long enough he might stop listening to the shit talk and be able to hear the strong and healthy heartbeat coming out of Tigerland.