Peter Casey says Richmond members are fed up with being kept in the dark by the club

UPDATE: RICHMOND’S latest board challenger Peter Casey says coach Damien Hardwick has 10 rounds to prove he deserves to stay in the job.

Peter Casey is challenging for a position on the club's board. Picture: Tim Carrafa

THE Richmond Football Club is facing another board challenge with senior business adviser Peter Casey saying the club has lost its way by placing corporate success over on-field wins.

Casey said there was a lack of transparency and accountability placed on board members and senior management, questioning the decision to hand coach Damien Hardwick a two-year contract extension in March.

“Like many people I turned my eyebrows up at that and thought, ‘What?’,” he said.

Casey stopped short of saying he would have sacked Hardwick, but he said the board should be prepared to make the tough call if needed halfway through next season.

“Last year I said Damien wasn’t getting the support he needed. The club seems to have had same opinion, they’ve cleared out the assistants,” he told SEN on Monday.

“Now Damien’s got nowhere to hide.

“The reality is next year 10 rounds in, if the side’s travelling poorly, decision has to be made.”

The lifelong Tigers supporter is a former assistant commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office and currently a senior consultant with Telstra and member of the International Monetary Fund’s panel of experts.

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In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald Sun, Casey said members were fed up with being kept in the dark.

“A lot of people have said to me in terms of the lack of visibility of decision-making, the decision to extend Damien’s contract, they are not sure what the basis of that decision was,” Casey said.

Peter Casey is challenging for a position on Richmond’s board. Picture: Tim Carrafa

“The club stated there were metrics upon which that decision was made, but there’s no clarity about what those metrics were and how Damien may or may not have met those.”

Casey also questioned the decision to appoint an external consultant in July to undertake a review into the club’s football department.

“It’s not so much that I would question the decision being made, it’s clearly the purview of the board and the CEO, but members are looking for more clarity about why those decisions have been made,” he said.

“It’s not one particular event. There’s a number of things the club has done — decisions taken within the four walls and a lack of ability of members to see why those decisions have been made.”

Members will vote on two board positions leading up to the club’s annual general meeting on December 14, with directors Kerry Ryan and Emmett Dunne up for re-election.

Casey, 57, said he wanted to be the fans’ board member responsible for driving on field success, saying the club had “lost its way”.

”If people aren’t performing they should be leaving,” Casey said.

“Tiger success should be based on finals success not corporate balance sheets. Directors’ tenures should be tied to on field success and the same should apply to the CEO, the President, me and the football department.

“I’m really keen on governance. Things can be improved but there’s a strong need to get the culture of accountability — giving people roles and responsibilities and the holding them accountable for that.”

On the performance of board members including president Peggy O’Neal, Casey said: “It’s an ongoing process. Setting those standards and reviewing people’s performance against those standards. That’s a constant review.”

The change management specialist said there was also a need to bring the club’s traditions back including the traditional jersey.

Peggy O'Neal faced a board challenge earlier this year. Picture: Michael Klein

Casey went to his first game at the age of seven with his aunt, and will never forget seeing the likes of Kevin Bartlett, Paddy Guinane, Bill Barrot and Dick Clay.

”Those Richmond greats played the game without fear, with fervour and were very ferocious and tenacious. It was just exhilarating to watch,” he said.

Casey said he was not aligned in any way to the renegade “Focus on Footy” group, which announced a challenge in September before soon abandoning its takeover bid, saying he was committed to working with the current board.