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Terry Wallace is comfortable about waiting to learn his AFL coaching fate, but a lot less happy about Greg Miller’s sudden demise at Richmond.
The Tigers controversially sacked Miller over the weekend and the now-ex Richmond football director says he had urged the board to re-sign Wallace before the end of this season.
Wallace’s contract expires next year and the coach said today he had no problem if the club wanted to wait before making a decision.
“I’m more than comfortable, I signed a five-year agreement to have a five-year agreement, so we had some stability within the football club,” Wallace said.
“That was the whole reason – it was a club reason and it was a coach’s reason why that was the case.
“We’ve said since day one that we’re happy to get to the end of the five years, look each other in the eyes and see whether the marriage is working and see whether we’re going to move on, one way or another.
“Does Richmond want me to continue after that period of time, do I feel like I want to continue in that role after that period of time? – it works both ways.”
Wallace regards Miller as a friend and said he would be a great acquisition for another club.
When the story broke in the media on Saturday, the coach was put in an uncomfortable position where he had to comment on the same day that the Tigers beat Brisbane.
He was maintaining a diplomatic front today, but there is little doubt Wallace is no fan of the decision to sack Miller.
“Obviously, no-one wants change, we cried out for stability for some time in relation to the footy division,” he said.
“But decisions have been made and they’re board decisions, as a senior executive of the football club, you abide by the decisions that are made and get on with life, that’s your role and responsibility.
“It’s not my decision, it had nothing to do with me and I wasn’t in consultation with regards to it – it was a board decision and that’s where it sits.”
Wallace is also fuming that Miller’s imminent demise was leaked to the media, meaning there was no chance that he could stay in the position until the end of the season.
“Anybody that’s involved in footy, the hardest thing to do is keep things in house and we all try as hard as we possibly can,” Wallace said.
“It’s very, very frustrating for everyone when that doesn’t occur – some of my frustrations over the weekend were being put in a position where I perhaps wouldn’t have been if there weren’t the leaks.
“We’re a good club now – we’ve had a pretty ordinary 72 hours and that happens, we won’t be the only club that has an ordinary 72 hours.
“We’ve got to get better at that aspect … internally, (as) a footy division, we’ve had some things that we’ve kept under our guards and been terrific.”
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