SuperCoach AFL 2024: Fantasy Freako lifts lid on how Adem Yze will impact Tigers’ scores

There are already signs of how Adem Yze wants Richmond to play in 2024. What does it mean for our SuperCoach teams? Fantasy Freako names his top Tiger picks.

Adem Yze has undertaken a lengthy apprenticeship as an assistant coach over a 13-year period.

He was an integral part of the successful Hawthorn era under Alastair Clarkson from 2012-2020, but then went back to his roots at Melbourne and worked closely with Simon Goodwin. Now he’s the face of the post Damien Hardwick era at Richmond.

As a player, Yze was a utility who played 271 games for the Demons over 13 seasons. Of that tally 226 were in succession as he just fell short of Jim Stynes’ record of 244 consecutive games. He was a feisty player with a raking left-foot kick.

ASSISTANT COACH

Hawthorn 2012-2020

Melbourne 2021-2023

Yze brings a new voice and a variety of experiences to Punt Road as he embarks on his first job as outright senior coach. In saying that, he did coach the Demons in one game in 2022 when Goodwin was unavailable, so he has had a brief taste of being in the hot seat.

Yze has some quality assistants under him with Ben Rutten and David Teague both boasting senior coaching experience, while ex-Tigers skipper Chris Newman returns to Punt Road after a lengthy stint at Hawthorn. Jack Ziebell rounds out Richmond’s assistant coaches for 2024 and brings a youthfulness to the group after retiring as a player at the end of last season.

If we look at the Tigers’ game style from last year, we need to be mindful that Andrew McQualter took the reigns after Hardwick stepped aside in the middle of May, so there was an overlap in the coaching ranks. But not much changed on the field.

Across the season, the Tigers were a low marking side and preferred to use the wing when exiting defence. They ranked in the top six for kick-to-handball ratio but were overtaken by Collingwood as the No.1 handball metres gained side. They continued to be direct by foot though and kicked long 44.2 per cent of the time, the highest percentage by any team.

Adem Yze has sent Jayden Short back to defence. Picture: Richmond FC

Richmond’s famous forward-half game fell right away in 2023, ranking eighth for forward-half intercepts and 10th in scoring from that source. That’s on the back of ranking second and first respectively in 2022.

If we dissect the numbers from Yze’s first match in charge against Collingwood in the AAMI Community Series, then there are noticeable differences, but the obvious caveat here is sample size. We need a few more games to make a better judgement overall.

Having said that, one number that stood out was kick-to-handball ratio. Richmond used the ball by hand a lot more, but by foot they continued to be direct, which was a key trait of Hardwick coached teams. I wouldn’t take too much notice of the around the ground stoppage number as the Magpies took 120 uncontested marks which meant the game was more stop and start than anything. In terms of ball movement, there wasn’t much that changed at all.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR OUR SUPERCOACH TEAMS?

We can already see what Yze is trying to implement with his game style, even if we only have one match of data to base that on.

From a structure point of view, he has spun the magnets and made a positional move which has seen Noah Balta move into attack. The expectation was that Dustin Martin ($527,300 FWD) would be handed a more prominent midfield role, but that didn’t eventuate in the Collingwood game – attending just three centre bounces. Liam Baker ($445,600 DEF/FWD) was also expected to feature in the middle, but he attended only two.

In 2023, Martin had a 15 per cent-85 per cent mid-forward split while averaging less than 100 SuperCoach points for the third year in a row. At the peak of his powers in 2017, he averaged 121 and had a 71 per cent-29 per cent mid-forward split. It’s unlikely that we see Dusty dominate to that extent again, so we need to be realistic about what he can produce in 2024.

The midfield will be led by Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper and Dion Prestia. Shai Bolton ($540,700 MID/FWD) looks set to play more as a forward this season, and there was evidence of this against the Magpies, attending only seven centre bounces. He led the team for score involvements but was off target with 0.3. In 2023, he had a 58 per cent-42 per cent Mid-Fwd breakdown.

Dustin Martin can be used in the midfield or up forward. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Thomson Dow has been a standout this pre-season. Picture: Michael Klein

In terms of new blood in the midfield, Thomson Dow ($254,800 MID) is the new kid on the block, attending an equal team-high 11 centre bounces. He finished with 20 disposals, 12 contested possessions, five clearances and a goal, but he only laid one tackle which is the only negative. He was also one of just four Tigers without a turnover, but a low kick-to-handball ratio (four kicks and 16 handballs) may have played a role there.

The wings won’t change with Marlion Pickett and Kamdyn McIntosh again playing that key role.

The nature of the ruck set up remains uncertain after Toby Nankervis missed the Magpies clash with a foot injury. When fit, will Yze go with a tandem set up which includes Sam Naismith ($123,900 RUC)? Or will he rely on Samson Ryan to provide cover in the ruck instead? Ryan played the forward-ruck role against the Magpies, while Naismith was one of Richmond’s best. His ability to win his own ball stood out more than anything, collecting 13 contested possessions. Only Tim Taranto, with 14, had more.

In defence, Josh Gibcus ($150,700 DEF) and Tylar Young are the only key defenders on the list, with Dylan Grimes being classified as a general defender in 2024 after being used primarily on general forwards last season. We could see Grimes return to playing on key position types – something he has done in the past. Nathan Broad will also play a key role here.

Daniel Rioli ($485,700 DEF) and Jayden Short ($551,200 DEF) will provide the drive, with Short racking up a game-high 27 disposals and 799 metres gained against Collingwood. He also played on from seven of nine-kicks to cap off an excellent match.

Richmond has the round 6 bye, which is the latest of all teams playing in the opening round – so picking one, or even two Tigers has merit if you have a balanced team and can cover their absence.

Originally published as SuperCoach AFL 2024: Fantasy Freako lifts lid on how Adem Yze will impact Tigers’ scores