Richmond president Peggy O’Neal spoke passionately pre-match on Friday night about her unwavering commitment to the Club. Below is a transcript of Peggy’s speech.

There are two things that I'd like to talk to you about tonight.

First is football.

To say season 2016 has been disappointing would be an understatement.  We expected better than we have delivered and when performance doesn’t match expectation you come under fierce scrutiny.

Let me be absolutely clear . . . nobody at the Club accepts what has taken place on-field this season and we are not sitting on our hands.

We are totally focused on identifying the reasons why and addressing them. Our Chief Executive Brendon Gale is leading that process on behalf of the board. It has been underway for several weeks.

The football media is an opinion business, and part of the fun of being a fan is to chat about 'what is right about the team' and 'what is wrong about the team’.  

But we don't make serious decisions about our future direction based on opinion or 'gut feeling'.  

While not everything is science, there are some fundamentals to good decision making and the first fundamental is to be as well informed as possible.

But all of you can appreciate that while matters are in progress, it is premature to make announcements.

There will be a time and a place (which I expect to be in the next few weeks) to share those changes with our members and supporters.  

The second thing is the board.

While we have been focused on analysing what needs to change to improve football because, as I have said, that's what we all want and it is the board's priority, it is unfortunate that the board (of all things) has become the headline on the front page and on the back page.

As I have said previously, stability at this club has been important.  Good clubs are stable clubs and it has been a key to our improved performance, on and off the field, in recent years.

Stability and change actually go hand in hand. Stability allows change.

Instability and change become chaos – and I refuse to let that happen to this club.

Some have tried to suggest that stability has come at the expense of change.

That is utter nonsense. This is a very different club to the one it was, even as recently as four years ago.

For example:

1.    Our board has changed . . . three new board members in the past three years.  

2.    Our facilities have been upgraded beyond recognition, but there is more to do, Long-term planning on the next version of Punt Road Oval is underway.

3.    Our work with Indigenous young people and our multicultural programs have been developed and are second to none.  Many of you will know that the Korin Gamaji Institute now houses the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School, where 22 boys and girls from the Northern Territory and country Victoria actually attend class every day.  

4.    We are now one of the most diversified sporting businesses in Australia, with the establishment of Aligned Leisure – our health, fitness and recreation business.  We are one of the few, if not the only, football club, to have substantial non-football revenue that isn't dependent on gambling or pubs.

5.    The historic relocation of Richmond Cricket Club gave us full access to Punt Road Oval and enabled us to install a completely new surface of the highest quality.  We have a dedicated training ground at our much-loved home.

6.    We have a stand-alone VFL side – critical for player development.

7.    We are debt free and have money in the bank (all the while investing more than ever in football), and are in a position to consider investments.  

8.    We have record membership again. The Tiger faithful are absolutely faithful – and none of us take that for granted.

9.    We have sponsor partnerships that are the envy of the competition, and our relationship with the Alannah and Madeline Foundation is reputed to be the best charity/sport partnership in Australia.

10.    Since 1982, we have played finals only five times – and three of those were in the past three years. While it is the ultimate prize that we all want, and play for, the trajectory is clear.

Much of what has been accomplished has been due to the generosity of many of you in this room, who have invested in the future that the board envisions.

So there has been enormous change at our club and it has been overseen by a board totally committed to making the best decisions in the interests of this club, and realising our vision of building a Strong and Bold Premiership Club – a vision and a strategic plan that I have reiterated at the last two AGM’s.

The results I have outlined are not the performance of a board that is stale and stagnant.

In fact, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow directors for their selfless commitment to building such a sound foundation upon which the Club can launch into the future.

As I stated on July 22, when answering on-line fan forum questions, for more than a year our Governance Committee has been considering whether (board) term limits make sense for us, and we expect the board to consider that again shortly. If we believe that term limits are appropriate, it will require a constitutional amendment and a vote at an AGM.

There is no wrong or right answer. By my count, about 40 percent of the (AFL) clubs have term limits and the rest do not.
The most important thing is to get the right people on the board, with the skills and time to contribute significantly to the advancement of the Club. Succession planning is a part of any good governance process, and we have a process to identify people with the right skill set to assist our club.

We have not been complacent. Far from it.

So, how do I look at this season and, in particular, the last seven days?

It’s been uncomfortable and at times it's been unpleasant, and occasionally you can't help but wonder . . . why do it?

The answer is easy and comes quickly – we all want to be a part of making this club great, and we want to be part of a team (that means all of us working together) that delivers another premiership.

My commitment to the cause has not wavered, and neither has that of the board, CEO Brendon Gale, coach Damien Hardwick or any of the great players and staff who come to our club every day, working to deliver our fans the ultimate.

I have been encouraged by so many of you who have been in touch in recent days and, in particular, our No 1 female ticket holder, Evelyn Danos, who is carrying on the long legacy of her father David Mandie in supporting the Club.

So, we read and hear about frustration every day, and all of us feel it acutely.

We can give way to that frustration, or we can get on with the job of creating the change required to move us forward.

We are absorbed in building a Strong and Bold Premiership Club, and will leave the political manoeuvrings to others, as we can't afford to be distracted from the important job we have.

Having come this far, are we going to walk away from the challenge of taking that next big step on our path to success? Are we going to hand over the keys to the Club and say, ‘It’s all too hard’?  No, not on my watch.