The pink is the rarest, most valuable and hardest to find of all diamonds.
However in the diamond mining business the normal white diamonds are not thrown away in the search for that elusive pink one.
I can’t say the same about footy clubs prospecting for their next coach.
The chances are not great that Richmond will get a better coach than Terry Wallace but more pertinently they will get a new one and with that newness comes the unlikely but engrossing possibility of unearthing the next coaching pink diamond.
That old saying that a change is as good as a holiday rings true. By far the easiest way to rejuvenate and initiate a fresh start is with the appointment of a new coach. In fact unless you can recruit a Chris Judd as Carlton did it is virtually the only way.
After being at the helm for five years and with a finals berth out of the question, the change at Richmond was inevitable.
The fact that it was done before the half way point of the season is unfortunately a sign of things to come.
Coaches will come and go as they always have. What I can sense is that coaching out the full term of a contract and finishing at the end of the year will become the exception to the rule.
It would seem that the saturation media coverage and intense scrutiny on everything in and around the footy world will force clubs and coaches to part company earlier and earlier in the season.
As one club starts the search for a new coach there begins a frantic soul search at any other club with a coach uncontracted for the following season.
If there is a pink diamond coach out there, then being second or third in the queue might be a bad place to be positioned.
Now that Richmond has started its public search, the race to get the best of the available coaching options has begun.
The pink diamond theory is why there is a great attraction in the untried brigade. Even with no previous experience as a negative, the great positive is that there is no baggage. No losses to sully the romance of a potential coaching genius.
We have witnessed three magnificent, now retired, captains over the past decade.
Michael Voss, who I observed at close quarters, and Nathan Buckley and James Hird who I watched from afar. These men appear to be outstanding coaching prospects. Not because of their playing talent which is largely irrelevant in regard to their coaching prospects. Playing and coaching is like being a jockey or a horse trainer. Same industry, completely different job.
It is the fantastic team-oriented leadership role they were able to exert over their respective teams that stands them apart. If ever there is a pointer to a player being a great coach it must be that they were a great captain.
This is the only possible reason that a push to replace Mick Malthouse with his former captain could be seriously considered because Malthouse is the only proven pink diamond among the current coaches.
He took the Bulldogs to the top four, the Eagles to a couple of premierships and Collingwood to two grand finals. Such success at three clubs can only serve to emphasise the proven greatness of Malthouse that elevates his record above his peers.
Of course the problem for Mick is that unlike the pink diamond, his age, longevity and lack of premierships at the Magpies serves to gradually dull the shine.
The Magpies undoubtedly know that Malthouse is a rare gem.
The problem for Collingwood and every other footy club with a coach of uncertain tenure is that there may be a newer, bigger, brighter undiscovered coaching pink diamond among the untried.
That possibility will remain an alluring thought. While it does, the digging and sifting will continue relentlessly and some very good coaches will be replaced by the unproven but untainted new generation.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
