Alan Richardson accepted his fate with grace and class, a hallmark of his time in charge, writes Jay Clark
It was a highly emotional day at the St Kilda Football Club. But there was one topic that departing coach Alan Richardson couldn’t bring himself to touch on.
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Alan Richardson’s voice crackled, as he felt the lump in his throat.
The departing St Kilda coach had the feeling for more than a week that he was walking footy’s plank, and the time came on Monday afternoon to accept his near six-year stint at the Saints was over.
It was a fate he accepted with great grace and class, a hallmark of his time in charge.
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But when pressed on why he asked chief executive Matt Finnis before the press conference not to mention his family, the emotion showed.
For all the ups and downs and the wins and losses, the support and sacrifice from Richardson’s family, and by extension the playing group, was constant.
The 54-year-old began to speak about his dear ones, when he became a bit misty-eyed.
He paused for eight seconds to gather himself, admitting the Gatorade cup in front of him was in danger of being filled with tears, if he spoke at length about his wife and two sons, and indeed, the players.
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“It’s just that …” Richardson said in front of the entire playing and coaching staff.
“It’s this time when you reflect on what you have done and the sacrifices that people make for you …
“As soon as I start talking about my family I get emotional and these blokes, they become like your family, so.
“At the right time and in the right way I’ll try and thank them, but if I try and do it here I’ll probably fill this cup with tears.
“Please, no more questions about that.”
Richardson could have blamed the dud hand he had been dealt this year, in a way, or the expectation St Kilda had to make finals to receive a pass mark in 2019.
Few pundits had St Kilda in the eight this year and their chances were minuscule, really, when Dylan Roberton (heart), Paddy McCartin (concussion), Dan Hannebery (legs), Jake Carlisle (back) and Jack Steven (mental health) went down for large chunks, if not the whole season.
After a bright start to the campaign, winning four of their first five games, the inevitably about Richardson’s position swelled in recent weeks.
A horrible first term against North Melbourne in Hobart was the tipping point and Finnis communicated the dark reality soon after the loss to the Roos a week-and-a-half-ago.
Richardson’s demeanour in his two press conferences last week, which had become a bit flatter, appeared to confirm he knew his cards were marked.
Still, there seemed to be a part of Richardson which felt like he was the one who was letting his players down, by moving on, with six rounds remaining.
He met with the players shortly after 11am to break the news.
“It was (hard telling the players,)” Richardson said.
“It’s been a really emotional year, the start to the year given how much Dylan Roberton means to the group and Paddy McCartin means and even Dan (Hannebery), the frustrations for Dan, it takes its toll.
“Jack Steven (too). But they have been outstanding, so there is a sense you are jumping out with six weeks to go.
“You take on the responsibility to do the right thing and lead and be the person that gives the direction and then all of sudden that changes.
“I tried to make it easier on myself and tried to crack a few gags, which in itself is funny because I’m not funny. The boys said a little bit, and ‘Gears’ (Jarryn Geary) is a bit like me.
“He has got no sense of humour and he tried, so it ended up being a good chat.”
He was proud, ‘Richo’, especially of the 2016 season when the club won 12 games and the Round 3 triumph over Collingwood, on the day of the club’s 1966 premiership reunion.
But he also acknowledged the Saints, overall, had not got the wins on the board. Not only this year, but over the past six years.
They had struggled, in particular, over that time to beat top-eight teams.
The first term against the Roos was the final straw. Perhaps the weight of the pressure on him was also weighing on the players.
“I just felt that, and it was certainly a reflection of the way we started that game, that if it’s not affecting the players, the further we go (into the season), it is going to,” he said.
“It’s part of the reason I find myself here now, we just haven’t been consistent enough.
“It’s time for me to jump out of the way. We know that when we take on the role, you’ve got to make a difference, you’ve got to get the team to perform and we’ve been inconsistent.
“There’s been some highs, been some lows, but on the balance it has been too inconsistent, so the change needs to happen.”
DID RICHO LACK A RUTHLESS EDGE?
St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary says departed coach Alan Richardson was tough enough on the players throughout his six years in charge.
Richardson’s polite demeanour led to speculation he lacked a ruthless edge.
But Geary said Richardson had the right balance.
“You can’t manufacture being someone you are not,” Geary said.
“He challenged the players when they needed to be challenged, and it hasn’t worked out in terms of winning a premiership and what he wanted to do and set out to do.
“But I think the way he is as a person and the way he was as a coach, he certainly challenged the players enough.”
Richardson said he always tried to be authentic and was “comfortable” with his coaching style.
“I don’t feel any sense of unease about being a good person, and I reckon most of that comes from perhaps the way that I have treated this group of people (and) the media,” he said.
“I admire my old coach Leigh Matthews the way he treated the media.
“If you asked the players about whether I was hard enough on them I think you would get a greater understanding of the balance of my coaching.”
Geary said he was disappointed for Richardson and accepted responsibility on behalf of the players.
“It’s probably never fair,” Geary said.
“We take responsibility as players in this situation.
“We would like to be performing and have performed better over the last six years.
“‘Richo’ is obviously the one who has left the club and now it’s on the players to start lifting their performance.”
TIGER WIN PROVED COSTLY FOR SAINTS
St Kilda great Leigh Montagna says the club’s rollicking win over Richmond two years ago led to “unrealistic” expectations of the list.
The Saints smashed the Tigers by 67 points in Round 16 after leading by 82 points at half time at Docklands, fuelling hopes the club could break its finals drought.
But Alan Richardson’s men went on to win only 12 of their next 45 matches.
Montagna, who retired at the end of 2017, said St Kilda was not as advanced as some may have thought on the back of that huge win.
“What happened at the time, the club thought that was the expectation of St Kilda,” Montagna said on Triple M.
“They thought the club was at that point where you could match it (with the top sides). You were blowing Richmond out of the water.
“There was an unrealistic expectation. I think it was more one out-of-the-box rather than what was becoming the standard.
“Since then it has gone south and it has been really disappointing.”
Richardson said the end of that season coincided with the retirements of some senior players, including Montagna and superstar forward Nick Riewoldt.
“It was a young group and it coincided with a couple of our more experienced blokes getting to the end of their careers and not being able to maintain (that consistency as a team),” Richardson said.
“We need to own that as a group.”
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