Terry Wallace has recalled the turbulent end to his coaching career at Richmond, including how he attempted to protect his family from a now infamous newspaper headline.
The AFL Hall of Fame inductee resigned as Tigers coach in 2009 amid a wave of scrutiny about his position.
Richmond hadn’t made finals since 2005 and after losing their first four matches of the 2009 season, the headline ‘dead man walking’ was used on the Monday after their round four loss to Melbourne.
Wallace said it was an “awkward” time as he looked to protect his family from the rampant speculation about his future at the club.
“I can remember I was heading into work and rang my wife to say not to let the kids read the paper,” he said on This Is Your Sporting Life.
“I think they’d probably cop it when they got to school anyway, they were all in that high school age at the time. My eldest was in year 12 and the youngest was in year 8.
“From that point of view it was just an awkward, awkward time.”