The press had published such allegations previously,[1] but the investigation was prompted most specifically by statements from former Melbourne player Brock McLean during a television interview in July 2012, when he revealed that he requested to be traded from the club at the end of 2009 because he was dissatisfied with its match strategies during that time.
Richmond, which ultimately finished second-last and was playing under an interim coach following Terry Wallace's midseason sacking, was Melbourne's most likely opportunity to win a game at the end of the year.
[8] With less than two minutes remaining in the match, Melbourne's Ricky Petterd kicked a goal on the run to give Melbourne the lead by two points; from the following centre bounce, Ben Cousins drove the Tigers forward before the Demons managed to clear, but with forty seconds remaining the Tigers forced the ball forward, and after a scramble in the final seconds, Jordan McMahon took a mark right on the final siren.
These included placing ruckman Paul Johnson and midfielder James McDonald in the backline; playing forward Brad Miller in the ruck; placing defenders James Frawley and Matthew Warnock in the forward line, as well as leaving Russell Robertson and Colin Sylvia out of the game for Michael Newton and rookie Jake Spencer.
[12][13] However, it did find Dean Bailey and then-general manager of football operations Chris Connolly guilty of acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the competition.
This related most specifically to a meeting in July 2009, which became known colloquially as "the vault", in which Connolly allegedly openly discussed the potential benefits to the club of tanking.