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Swans reveal Wallace's $1.8m
EXCLUSIVE By RICHARD ZACHARIAH
08jun03
THE Swans face the prospect of being told to come clean on their dealings with former Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace or forget about the AFL digging them out of their financial hole.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told the Swans agreed to pay Wallace $1.8 million over three years to coach the club in 2003 before they were shamed into sticking with the popular Paul Roos after the club's late-season revival.
Wallace threatened to sue when the Swans tried to back away from the deal and the club agreed to pay him until he found another coaching job. Wallace is now building a successful career in the Melbourne media.
Neither Wallace nor his manager Craig Kelly would comment yesterday, bound by the code of silence that has been central to this most inept chapter in the Swans' history.
But the fact the Swans could be paying for two coaches ? one sitting in Melbourne earning $600,000 a season ? is unlikely to attract sympathy from cash-strapped Melbourne clubs.
The Swans put their hand out for financial help last week and AFL chief Wayne Jackson said he awaited documentation on the Wallace affair "with interest".
"The AFL is not in the business of signing $1 million cheques unconditionally," he said.
Other club bosses are determined to show little charity to the Swans, believing their cash crisis is self-inflicted.
Melbourne clubs, in particular, are demanding full disclosure before life-saving funds are given. Several are questioning why the Swans retained the highest spending football department in the AFL ? $12.46 million in 2002-03, which is nearly $2m more than premiers Brisbane.
Chairman of the Western Bulldogs, David Smorgon, said last night the transparency of the Swans' financial dealings was essential to the granting of survival funds.
He said his own near bankrupt Bulldogs and the struggling Kangaroos were subjected to a strict financial audit before receiving AFL money.
"The Swans should be no different and we need to know the details ? and that includes any contract with Wallace," he said.
Wallace has been linked with Hawthorn in 2004, but his controversial views are unlikely to endear him to clubs in search of a coach potentially leaving the Swans with a financial millstone around their necks.
As the maelstrom intensifies around the Swans, their embattled chairman Richard Colless ? effectively the club's acting chief executive ? leaves for a three-week private trip to Europe tomorrow. He did not return calls from The Sunday Telegraph yesterday.
On his return he will host the AFL commission in Sydney on July 5. That meeting will signal the immediate future of Colless and the Swans.
As the Swans' only shareholder, the AFL originally appointed Colless to the thankless task of leading the bankrupt club and appointing his own board.
While no one doubts his loyalty, Colless' 10-year chairmanship of the Swans must now go under the microscope given the club's parlous administrative state.
In a pointed reference this week, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse drew attention to Colless' role in establishing the West Coast Eagles. Colless resigned as chairman after the first year with the fledging club.
The Wallace affair, which has been shrouded in secrecy since the approach was first made when coach Rodney Eade was sacked/resigned after round 12 last year, could be the straw that breaks the Swans' back.
A circumspect Jackson said no documentation of the Wallace deal had crossed his desk. And he further confused the issue yesterday when he said Sydney had made no official approach for money.
"If Wallace has been paid by the club, a sponsor or by people outside the club then of course this would make a difference to how we viewed their financial management," he said.
Sources within the Sydney organisation said Wallace was being paid "as if he was coaching the 2003 Swans", but it is unclear if the money is being paid by supporters outside the club structure.
Colless has in the past denied the Swans' financial woes were linked to any settlement or payments to Wallace.
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Swans reveal Wallace's $1.8m
EXCLUSIVE By RICHARD ZACHARIAH
08jun03
THE Swans face the prospect of being told to come clean on their dealings with former Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace or forget about the AFL digging them out of their financial hole.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told the Swans agreed to pay Wallace $1.8 million over three years to coach the club in 2003 before they were shamed into sticking with the popular Paul Roos after the club's late-season revival.
Wallace threatened to sue when the Swans tried to back away from the deal and the club agreed to pay him until he found another coaching job. Wallace is now building a successful career in the Melbourne media.
Neither Wallace nor his manager Craig Kelly would comment yesterday, bound by the code of silence that has been central to this most inept chapter in the Swans' history.
But the fact the Swans could be paying for two coaches ? one sitting in Melbourne earning $600,000 a season ? is unlikely to attract sympathy from cash-strapped Melbourne clubs.
The Swans put their hand out for financial help last week and AFL chief Wayne Jackson said he awaited documentation on the Wallace affair "with interest".
"The AFL is not in the business of signing $1 million cheques unconditionally," he said.
Other club bosses are determined to show little charity to the Swans, believing their cash crisis is self-inflicted.
Melbourne clubs, in particular, are demanding full disclosure before life-saving funds are given. Several are questioning why the Swans retained the highest spending football department in the AFL ? $12.46 million in 2002-03, which is nearly $2m more than premiers Brisbane.
Chairman of the Western Bulldogs, David Smorgon, said last night the transparency of the Swans' financial dealings was essential to the granting of survival funds.
He said his own near bankrupt Bulldogs and the struggling Kangaroos were subjected to a strict financial audit before receiving AFL money.
"The Swans should be no different and we need to know the details ? and that includes any contract with Wallace," he said.
Wallace has been linked with Hawthorn in 2004, but his controversial views are unlikely to endear him to clubs in search of a coach potentially leaving the Swans with a financial millstone around their necks.
As the maelstrom intensifies around the Swans, their embattled chairman Richard Colless ? effectively the club's acting chief executive ? leaves for a three-week private trip to Europe tomorrow. He did not return calls from The Sunday Telegraph yesterday.
On his return he will host the AFL commission in Sydney on July 5. That meeting will signal the immediate future of Colless and the Swans.
As the Swans' only shareholder, the AFL originally appointed Colless to the thankless task of leading the bankrupt club and appointing his own board.
While no one doubts his loyalty, Colless' 10-year chairmanship of the Swans must now go under the microscope given the club's parlous administrative state.
In a pointed reference this week, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse drew attention to Colless' role in establishing the West Coast Eagles. Colless resigned as chairman after the first year with the fledging club.
The Wallace affair, which has been shrouded in secrecy since the approach was first made when coach Rodney Eade was sacked/resigned after round 12 last year, could be the straw that breaks the Swans' back.
A circumspect Jackson said no documentation of the Wallace deal had crossed his desk. And he further confused the issue yesterday when he said Sydney had made no official approach for money.
"If Wallace has been paid by the club, a sponsor or by people outside the club then of course this would make a difference to how we viewed their financial management," he said.
Sources within the Sydney organisation said Wallace was being paid "as if he was coaching the 2003 Swans", but it is unclear if the money is being paid by supporters outside the club structure.
Colless has in the past denied the Swans' financial woes were linked to any settlement or payments to Wallace.
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poor piece of journalism
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