Richmond rebel “Focus on Footy” group abandons board takeover bid

UPDATE: THE challenging Richmond board ticket has blamed timing and its strategy for its failure, but claims it won’t be the last to attempt such a coup.

The Focus on Footy group launches its board challenge.

THE challenging Richmond board ticket has blamed timing and its strategy for its failure, but claims it won’t be the last to attempt such a coup.

Group leader Dr Martin Hiscock this morning said if he had his time again, he would have ensured a full ticket contingent before challenging and the full commitment of Neil Balme before announcing him as a sure-thing for the club.

“We didn’t have a full ticket, that was the problem,” he said.

“You need to have a full ticket to replace the entire board. It’s not as easy as you think. We had a lot of top end of town people behind us, but they don’t want to go on the coup ticket. That’s the problem you have. The other problem you have is when you sign for that coup ticket, your membership number goes down on that bit of paper, so that can have consequences.

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“(I also would have) made sure we’d secured Balme rather than just get a wink. That would have been nice.”

Hiscock claimed that there are others ready to launch a board assault should the on-field disappointment continue.

“It may not be me, but there’s a lot of other people that want to have a crack next year if it doesn’t work out and we get the same insipid performances that we got this year,” he said on SEN.

“It wasn’t the fact that we didn’t make the finals, it was the way we played. You know there’s something inherently wrong — very wrong — inside the club.”

“Focus on Footy” members (from left) Philip Allison, David Marsh, Dr Martin Hiscock, Margaret Kearney, Bryan Wood and Bruce Monteath.

The cardiologist maintained that the group had the 100 signatures required to trigger an extraordinary general meeting, and that there is a “massive” amount of people unhappy with Richmond.

He said while the group had “thought long and hard” about a stronger point of difference in whether it would sack Tigers coach Damien Hardwick should it win power, it was something they could not pursue.

“(Getting the signatures) is a feat in itself,” Hiscock said.

'We did something'Statement from now former Richmond board coup plottersMORE: https://t.co/JtVYUvChm2 pic.twitter.com/M8FOLoS0Z9

— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) September 21, 2016

“We couldn’t come out and say we’re sacking Damien. You come out and sack Damien Hardwick, you are up for about $2 million. That’s how much Richmond has in the bank, roughly. People would shoot you down.”

Hiscock said he doesn’t believe the club will play finals next year, but rejected the suggestion that his comments regarding Trent Cotchin’s captaincy divided the Focus on Football group.

“I know Trent — he’s a really nice guy. He’s been a great captain,” he said.

“I just think it’s one of those things that you should refresh. You need someone who’s pumped up and motivates the whole team. Maybe someone like Alex Rance would be the better choice.”

The Richmond rebels abandoned their bungled takeover push on Wednesday, when it conceded it had mucked up their strategy.

Seventeen days of drama and mixed messages ended with the “Focus on Football” ticket announcing it was discontinuing its attempt to overthrow the Tigers board.

Insiders conceded the group had strayed too far into talk about Damien Hardwick’s game plans and Trent Cotchin’s captaincy.

Dr Martin Hiscock says he’d go about things differently if he had his time again. Picture: Michael Klein

“The messaging was all wrong from the start,” a figure close to the group said.

“The focus shouldn’t have been directed into the internal operations of the football department but at the performance of the board in setting the culture and accountability of the club.”

Members of the group also distanced themselves from coup leader Hiscock’s claims on Tuesday that Cotchin was the wrong man for the captaincy.

“We were stunned when he said it,” one coup member said.

Tigers president Peggy O’Neal and chief executive Brendon Gale stared down the group’s leaders at a city meeting on Tuesday and rejected their demands for the majority of the board to step aside.

But in a statement released on Wednesday, the group claimed it had forced the club into action since launching its coup on September 5.

“We had the courage to make a stand on the club’s future,” the group said.

“While we’re disappointed that the board would not entertain any change, we believe we have achieved much.

Richmond president Peggy O'Neal and her board refused to step down at the rival ticket’s request. Picture: Michael Klein

“We have put an incredible focus on football, which needed to be urgently addressed at Richmond.

“We challenged the board to take action.

“We contributed to the return of Neil Balme. We have shaken up the place. We did something.”

The seven plotters claimed as recently as Tuesday night that they would trigger an extraordinary general meeting and a club election.

The group had hired the services of public relations firm Royce Communications and its chief adviser Richard Amos, a former Hawthorn director, to assist with it media strategy.

The Focus On Football team included 1980 premiership players Bruce Monteath and Bryan Wood, along with Philip Allison, Margaret (Mag) Kearney, former club medico Dr David Marsh OAM, Ingrid Williams and Hiscock.

“Make no mistake — this challenge is the real deal. There is a fighting fury amongst us. The Richmond Football Club is in crisis,” Hiscock declared at the launch.

Originally published as Richmond rebel “Focus on Footy” group abandons board takeover bid