I was fortunate to grow up following the Tigers thru the golden period under Tommy Hafey , and you see the win %
we were very spoiled and we have never got back to those heights since. That level of success allowed us to become a very ruthless club off field
In 1976 we slumped to 7th of 12 , I do remember Tommy saying he had lost the players , I can't recall if he also commented about the support of the board
I would put that Tommy had successful coaching stints at Collingwood , Geelong & Sydney and that his success with Richmond wasn't solely due to a star line up
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Barry Richardson had 2 years as coach , 77 (4th ) & 78 (7th)
My scratchy recollection he said he felt burned by the experince , I can't remember if it was 79 or 80 but he was noticed in the Melb. coaching box on game days
he didn't hold an official title like assistant coach , but was in the dug out during matches and at the huddles and clearly helping in some coaching like capacity
roll forward to 1985 and he became our President
I don't think you can call that a fail , but it isn't long enough to say he was a good coach and it looks like he chose not to continue on the coaching path
next up the iconic Tony Jewel
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If you go off his stint at the Saints and the second stint with us you'd say Jewel was a poor coach
But the Saints were a basket case at the time , two wooden spoons , poor playing list , and they would water the ground to stop blow outs
then in 86/87 we were woeful
before coaching us in 79 he was coaching Caulfield in the VFA and did well with them
I would put he was a good coach , but without the cattle you have no hope
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now with Bourke making a Grand final you would say he was a good coach , that might have been due to the quality of players and the "exodus of players" is telling
I think having not cut his coaching teeth elsewhere first was telling.
Could Bourke developed into a good coach with the right support around him ? Maybe , but we'll never know.
Mike Patterson
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Again the stints at Saints , Frankston and Tigers make Mike look like a poor coach
he got two SANFL premierships , but as mentioned before , was at the Saints during a poor era for them
At Frankston , they didn't have the quality list that Preston, Port and Geelong West did but were bloody hard to beat - I'd say that was a sign of good coaching
then to us during our Dark Ages
By 1984 I was in Canberra and news of Richmond there was non existent so can't comment on his departure as coach
Paul Sproule
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I have no knowledge of Paul's Tassie coaching days , but from the win / loss they can't have been shockers
interesting another to stop coaching after coaching us !!!
Kevin Bartlett
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KB takes over a wooden spooner and gets 8 wins for the season only to sink back to wooden spooners again
and then to continue to be a bottom 4 type side , he bemoaned a lack of players , facilities and support from the board
I did know a guy that was a skills coach when Royce Hart was coaching Footscray , he said "champion player , not a coach"
was that the issue with KB ? We'll never know
Alan Jeans
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Now Jeans was a good coach , I need some help here , did he step aside citing health reasons ?
Maybe age or timing coaching saw him lose hunger
but another to not coach after coaching us
John Northey
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Under Northey our climb out of the cellar started and the first of the 9th finishes
I think Northey's coach credentials are best judged on his time at Malb. & us as we know the Swans were a total
basket case at the time , they were grabbing players out of the Canberra league to top up
and despite getting a finals appearance with the Bears the club was plagued with Offield and culture issues not of his making
Northey is one that went onto coach after us , but like so many others did not leave on good terms
Robert Walls
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Walls was a premiership winning coach with the Blues
but then had 4 seasons with the party time bears
I recall a conversation with Rodney Eade saying what a mess the Bears were culture wise
I would put he was an ok coach with a good team but struggled with a moderate side
another that gave coaching away after us
Jeff Gieschen
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on the surface Gieschen might appear to be a moderate coach , but he did well in the Ovens and Murray league and took our seconds to a premiership
so was his coaching record above a reflection of the quality of the teams he had ?
another to not coach after us
