RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has defended captain Chris Newman, saying calls for the first-year skipper to stand down were ‘outrageous’.

Some Melbourne media incorrectly reported on Tuesday morning that Wallace had been sacked by the club, and that the catalyst may have been a meeting between senior players, the football department and the coach, where Newman asked Wallace to stand down.

Speaking at Punt Road on Friday morning, Wallace said what transpired in the meeting was private and he would not comment on it, but said the rookie skipper had been dealt with very unfairly by the media, and that calls for him to hand over the mantle were ridiculous.

“Look, I think Chris has been hung out to dry in all this,” he said.

“I think that's outrageous – he's been asked to step down on the background of private conversations he's had with me, and I'm sitting here saying I've taken no offence to anything that Chris Newman's spoken to me about.

“I think Chris Newman's been unfairly tainted in this situation - very unfairly tainted in this whole situation.

“I expect my captain to come in and see me under any circumstance.

“All I can say to you is that in a private conversation we had on Monday, there wasn't any slamming of doors or anything like that, the final thing that happened was that we shook hands.”

Wallace said the media had beaten up a non-story into a huge frenzy, based on misinformation and presumption.

“It's been a pretty hectic week, and the one thing that I would say, regardless of all the speculation and innuendo, the week started with a non-story that's become a story, and we've moved on from that," he said.

“It's obviously grown massive legs since then, but it is what it is, and you just need to get on with life.

“I mean, I'm hearing things about our team meeting, where I was in that team meeting, that are different than me being in the room.

“People are telling us what's been happening in the room, when I’m actually in the room, and (I’m thinking): 'well, that's different to how I've interpreted it'.”

Wallace said he made the commitment to stay at the club several weeks ago and that nothing had changed.

Richmond football manager Craig Cameron confirmed this week that Wallace’s position will be reviewed during the split round, which starts in a fortnight.