A slow-motion bus crash

So, at last, the slow-motion bus crash that was the Wallace years at Richmond has, like previous coach Frawley, entered its final moments.

As previously noted at AussieRulesBlog, it's too easy and simplistic to declare that Wallace is a poor coach, as his period at the helm of the Bulldogs attests eloquently. I am inclined, still, to the view that deep cultural factors underlay Wallace's inability to steer the Tigers to success. If any blame is to be sheeted home to him, perhaps it is his failure to ensure sufficient internal political backing to make hard and unpopular decisions. That the administration has been unstable has not helped Wallace's cause.

And so to the aftermath, and the choice of a replacement coach. High on the checklist should be recent significant involvement in Premiership-winning culture, a non-Richmond background and the force of personality to remove dead wood, no matter how unpopular the decision. Is there such a person potentially available? Do Alistair Clarkson or Mark Thompson have hidden twin siblings? Can the Tigers withstand the further pain of bottoming out completely on the way to fully rebuilding the list?

On the other side of the country, Mark Harvey finds himself trapped in a similar slow-motion accident. Despite a bench-ful of veritable cripples in the final quarter last Friday night, Fremantle should have been able to overcome the chronically-inept Tigers. Harvey had the look of a rabbit caught in the headlights, unable to move to save himself, wondering how his team could butcher such an opportunity. The signs of a similar cultural problem at Fremantle are compelling. Harvey's attempt to import a new culture along with a slew of ex-Essendon buddies appears doomed. It beggars belief that a team with a decent culture could become so expert at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.