Titled "A few bright spots in a messy affair", it looked back at the situation surrounding the dramatic resignation of Commissioner Mervyn Wood.

According to the reporter, the messy affair was the culmination of an untidy 20 months or so, both for the police force and the government.

There were persistent allegations of serious and widespread police corruption, inadequacy and inefficiency, three major conflicts between Mr Wood and then-premier, Neville Wran, as well as speculation and rumour surrounding the commissioner's future.

For Mr Wood, 62, leaving his $44,900-a-year job was the end of a trying period.

"Already I feel a load has been lifted from my shoulders," he said.

For Mr Wran, it was a chance to make something of a fresh start. Whoever stood to get the job, Mr Wran would "plump' them into a "hard man".

Mr Wood pointedly admitted on the night of his resignation, "I have been criticised ... because I am not a hard man."

See trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110951840