Richmond is one win away from delivering on crazy three-point, 10-year blueprint
Richmond is just one win away from completing a remarkable decade following the club’s launch of a bold plan back in 2010.
Led by CEO Brendon Gale, the club great put forward a 10-year vision which would included winning three premierships by 2020.
And with the Tigers reaching the Grand Final and aiming for a third premiership in four years, the strategy isn’t far away from coming into fruition.
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The initial five-year plan 3-0-75, including a goal of three finals appearances, zero debt and 75,000 members. It was part of a 10-year ‘Winning Together’ blueprint which runs until 2020.
And while the Tigers might’ve failed to reach the lofty heights of the early goals, nearly 10 and a half years from Gale’s plan being made public, Richmond appears to be in the right zone.
On March 2 2010, Richmond players, coaches, staff and directors gathered in the club’s gym to hear CEO Brendon Gale outlined the club’s vision for building for the next era.
An edited transcript of Gale’s speech said: “Together, our entire club is motivated by the vision of our future in 2020. It’s a vision of greatness and leadership that we describe as THE POWER and THE GLORY. By 2020, we aspire to have won our 13th Premiership; consistently provide the most exciting and powerful match-day experience in the competition; once again have the strongest support base in the nation, and enjoy the strongest emotional connection with our members and fans.”
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It could all come true after an amazing turnaround by the club under Damien Hardwick and Trent Cotchin’s leadership.
The Tigers are creating their own dynasty and a win at the Gabba on October 24 will cap off a number of special years.
Gale did not hold back when interviewed on Channel 9’s Footy Classified back in 2010, not long after the bold strategy was revealed.
“Absolutely, we’ve got to make the right decisions in the most competitive sport in the world, one of the most competition eras in our game,” he said.
“I make no apologies we want to be the best football club. We want to be the greatest. It starts with a vision. We’re not here to just compete, no-one does.
“You may as well pack up. No, I’m not embarrassed, I’m proud of that and we’ve got a vision to compete and be the best.
“The best on the field and off the field. If we are not locked into that, we may as well pack up and go.”
Richmond is debt free and have state of the art facilities at Punt Road Oval, while have had over 100,000 members for three years in a row.
Back in 2010, Richmond had just 35,960 members and were crippled with debts of about $4 million.
Rival clubs have released similar such documents and failed miserably.
In 2011, Carlton released ‘The Blue Print,’ which aimed to win two flags by 2015. Instead, the club sacked two coaches.
St Kilda’s ‘Road to 2018’ document also failed, with a number of elements including 10,000 members in New Zealand not being close to being achieved.
However, the Saints did climb the ladder in 2020 and won’t be far off success given an impressive return to its Moorabbin headquarters.
It’s fair to say regardless of the result in the Grand Final, Gale and his team have certainly broke the cycle and built the Tigers into the force they are today.
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