Outgoing Richmond CEO Brendon Gale says club is fully behind Adem Yze after tough start
Brendon Gale may not be at the Tigers for much longer, but the outgoing CEO says the club could not be more confident in Adem Yze, while also revealing when he knew he was leaving Richmond.
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Departing Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale has declared the club “150 per cent” behind one-win coach Adem Yze as he revealed he knew he was leaving halfway through 2023.
Richmond lost its 10th game in the past 14 by five goals or more as the Tigers suffered another trio of injuries in the club’s annus horribilis.
On Sunday the Tigers said Maurice Rioli would need surgery on a syndesmosis injury that will likely sideline him for at least a month, putting him out Dreamtime at the “G clash in a fortnight.Sam Banks will miss next week’s clash against Brisbane (concussion), while Jack Graham will need at least three weeks off after his early-season hamstring issue flared up on Saturday night.
Yze lauded Richmond’s unprecedented stability when he signed on as the club’s replacement for Damien Hardwick.
But he lost triple premiership captain Trent Cotchin, recruiter Matthew Clarke, star Jack Riewoldt and arrived at a club that did not have a first-round pick in 2023.
Ahead of what seems a significant rebuild, Gale said on Saturday he had told president John O’Rourke mid-2023 he would likely leave at the end of 2024 as part of the club’s refresh.
It is not known if Yze was aware Gale would also depart, with Richmond champion Matthew Richardson calling on O’Rourke to publicly speak about the club’s on-field plans for the future on Sunday.
Gale made clear across the weekend Richmond could not be more supportive of its coach.
“150 per cent (we are behind him). He’s a real feature of our club. We have a really strong sense of shared leadership. There is no one person. We have a great sense of alignment, all on the same page,” he said.
“We have great experience and capability in football, people like Blair Hartley and Tim Livingstone who are really invested in that appointment and they are elite operators.
“One person goes, another comes in but it’s that culture and shared leadership that endures and Adem has all the support he needs now and into the future.”
Of his own timeline for his departure, Gale told ABC Radio: “I spoke with John O’Rourke, our president, this time last year and felt there is this story of regeneration and renewal underway. We were in the process of appointing a new coach and at the end of 2024 I would be 15 years and maybe it was time to refresh and renew the leadership. So I just thought it was the right thing for the club. I have been talking with John about that for some time.”
Richardson said on Sunday the “bottom did fall out” of the Tigers and worries for their medium-term on field future ahead of games against Brisbane, Essendon and Geelong.
“For the first time last night I felt like maybe Yze was going to be sterner in the presser but he is in a very difficult situation with the continuity he’s had with selection. It is not going to get any better for the next month. (Jacob) Hopper, (Tim) Taranto … (Tom) Lynch isn’t coming back soon. So he’s looking at the road ahead. Can I whack the players when I have Brisbane coming up, then Essendon, then go down to Geelong on a Saturday night.
“There are going to be some more big losses. Do I whack them or give them a bit of love with a tough road ahead.
“I feel like Yze has been out on his own in the media. In the next few weeks the president you might want to hear from him, and tell the supporters what is happening. That we are not bottoming out, we understand the situation with injuries, just to outline (the plan). To give the fans a bit of direction where we are at. What is happening moving forward,” he told 3AW.
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Originally published as Outgoing Richmond CEO Brendon Gale says club is fully behind Adem Yze after tough start
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