Richmond chief Brendon Gale in his element as Richmond’s AFLW ruck coach

Brendon Gale jokes he put his hand up to be Richmond’s ruck coach but there was no way he going to turn down an opportunity to help out the Tigers’ AFLW rucks, which includes a new signing.

Brendon Gale has been coaching Richmond’s AFLW rucks, which includes Alice Edmonds. Picture: Tony Gough

He’s one of the AFL’s most influential figures, but one of the favourite times of Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale’s busy week comes when he ditches the business suit for his yellow and black training gear.

Gale has just been appointed Richmond’s new AFLW ruck coach — and he’s loving it.

Joking he had lobbied Tigers’ AFL coach Damien Hardwick for a similar role for years without success, Gale says he can’t wait for Wednesday nights when he works with Richmond’s VFLW team on their ruck work, body positioning and ground play, ahead of the club’s inaugural AFLW season next year.

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“I was volunteering to ‘Dimma’ all these years, but he never trusted me to do it,” Gale said with a smile.

“So when (Richmond AFLW operations manager) Kate Sheahan and (Tigers AFLW coach) Tommy Hunter asked me to help out, I couldn’t have been happier.”

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He loves the weekly switch from leading administrator — and the man some think will one day run the AFL — into his coaching role with the young rucks, including police academy recruit and new Richmond AFLW signing Alice Edmonds.

By day, Gale works on all aspects of the club’s operations, not the least of which is lobbying the state government for a commitment to go with the $15 million federal government pledge for a proposed $60 million Punt Rd revamp to accommodate AFLW, VFL, VFLW and Under 18s matches.

But he is getting just as big a kick out of being back at the coalface, working with aspiring footballers desperate to improve.

“To be honest, I’m getting more out of it than they do,” Gale said of the four or five players he is working closely with.

“At the end of the day, you throw off the suit and throw on the gear and have a run around.

“They are a great bunch of girls. Sometimes in an elite environment, we can take things for granted.

“This is the pure side of footy … to see their excitement and gratitude, and their improvement as a team and as individuals.”

Brendon Gale works with Tigers signing Alice Edmonds on her ruck craft. Picture: Tony Gough

Edmonds, 20, was only a toddler when Gale played the last of his 244 games for Richmond in 2001, but she’s done her homework on the man helping to shape her pathway.

“He has played over 200 games and he knows his stuff,” Edmonds said.

“He obviously has a lot of other priorities but the fact he can find the time to come down and work with us has been very valuable.”

Edmonds personifies the pure aspect that Gale was referring to, given she is balancing her football with a full-time commitment at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley — where she started two months ago — as well as serving in the Army reserves.

“It’s busy, but I love it.,” Edmonds said.

She spent her early years as a basketballer in the Melbourne Tigers junior programs and was a talented rower with Caulfield Grammar.

But a hunger for competition, and an eagerness for the physicality of football, attracted her to the game.

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale with new AFLW recruit Alice Edmonds. Picture: Tony Gough

Edmonds in action for the Tigers in the VFLW this year. Picture: Getty Images

She played with East Brighton Vampires — where Gale’s children also played — before spending time with Sandringham Dragons and Melbourne University juniors.

She also played with the army teams when she was living in Townsville when she spent a year in the regular army.

But a phone call from Sheahan with an opportunity at Richmond hastened her return to Melbourne.

“I’ve always played in the ruck,” she said. “As soon as they saw I was (190cm), they chucked me in the ruck.”

“I like playing forward too, but I still need a fair bit of work on my kicking.”

Gale said the birth of Richmond’s AFLW team had transformed the club long before the team gets to play its first official game early next year.

“It really has changed the club for the better,” he said.

“We’ve had the recent AFLW signings and the improvement of the VFLW girls. We love the way our fans adopted the team, we’ve got over 1000 members already.

“It’s a very good story and it’s a great story to tell for the whole organisation.”