There is renewed jostling for positions on Richmond's board after the resignation of a second director in three months.
The so-called Malvern Hotel group is believed to be interested in pushing for a second director's spot in the wake of Rex Chadwick's departure. Chadwick joined former captain Tony Free in forming a casual vacancy on the board.
Lawyer Simon Wallace - who unsuccessfully pushed for a position on the board in an election late last year - is also considering whether to pursue a spot via the club's nominations committee.
The Malvern group - deriving its name from its meeting place at a Glenferrie Road hotel - met midway through last year, angling for change on president Peggy O'Neal's board. Featuring members of prominent Richmond families including the Mandies, Silks and Ralphs, the group's push was unrelated to the Focus on Football ticket that launched a divisive public campaign last September. Fairfax Media reported in November that former Old Xaverians president Robert Ralph was near the top of a list of candidates being groomed by the group to replace Free. It's believed the group is open to securing a second place on the board, in effect replacing both Free and Chadwick. The group met with O'Neal and Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale after the 2016 season.
Led by cardiologist Dr Martin Hiscock and including Tigers premiership players Bruce Monteath and Bryan Wood, Focus on Football called for change in the Richmond football department, lobbying for the appointment of Neil Balme as head of football. While Balme ultimately defected to the Tigers from Collingwood after being usurped at the Magpies by Graeme Allan, Richmond insisted the appointment was unrelated to the campaign. While both the Focus on Football and the Malvern group attracted headlines, neither ultimately stood at the election.
Septuagenarian Chadwick - a long-time advertising executive - stood down after seven years on the club's board, citing ill health for his decision. The Tigers' nominations committee will interview prospective board members before making a recommendation to the board about who should fill the positions, with the process being led by the club's secretary Michael Stahl.
The filling of two more casual vacancies will mean all 10 of the directors will have joined the board casually rather than being elected, although nine of the 10 have faced an election. A dearth of initially elected members had been one of Wallace's stated bugbears when he launched his campaign at the end of Richmond's 2016 season. Both Wallace and Peter Casey - a former assistant Commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office - stood at the election last year in which directors Kerry Ryan and 1980 Tigers premiership player Emmett Dunne retained their places on the 10-person board. O'Neal met with criticism from Casey after she bypassed last year's election having been reappointed by the board in accordance with the club's constitution.
Gale and O'Neal have helped drive stability at Punt Road, shoring up Richmond's off-field position to the point that last year was the first in more than a decade in which the Tigers had a financial loss. However they came under fire for the on-field struggles of 2016, a year in which Richmond won just eight games and tumbled from the top eight following three consecutive elimination final losses under Damien Hardwick, whose contract was extended until the end of 2018 just before the start of last season. Gale headed a review of the football department which led to Balme's appointment above the relatively inexperienced Dan Richardson.
