In a candid conversation with Mike Sheahan on Monday night, club legend Doug Wade disclosed details of the 2006 internal review that could have greatly altered Geelong’s fortunes.

Now regarded as a key event in the club’s history, Geelong embarked on a thorough evaluation of it’s football operations, including the coaching department, after a disappointing season in 2006. A member of the board during that period, Wade admitted he thought senior coach Mark Thompson’s time at the club was done and it was time for a change. He needed convincing that Bomber was the man for the job and was not the only one to question Thompson’s future in the role. The board resisted enormous public pressure to appoint a new coach and the strength with which they united behind their decision established the foundation for future success.

The biggest revelation in Wade’s interview on Open Mike was that he was in a position to deliver dual premiership coach Denis Pagan as a replacement for Thomspon. In a twelve year career with the Cats, Wade led the club goal kicking 11 times and played in the 1963 premiership, earning selection as the full forward in the Geelong team of the century. At the end of 1972 he moved to North Melbourne, where he won a third Coleman medal and another premiership, the first flag in their history. He stayed involved with the club after his retirement, where he developed a relationship with Denis Pagan, coach of the Kangaroos from 1993 to 2002.

Pagan was an extremely well credentialled coach, but there is no doubt that after two premierships in 2007 and 2009, keeping Thompson was the right decision. Wade happily conceded that retaining Mark Thompson was “fantastic for the Geelong Football Club” and the outcomes of the review helped establish a wonderful culture and a strong framework for ongoing success.

At the conclusion of the interview Wade described the elation he felt handing the premiership cup to Cameron Ling and Chris Scott, Geelong’s third in five years. A sliding doors moment for the club, one cannot help but wonder what might have been if Pagan had taken the reigns as coach of the Cats.