Adem Yze vows to bring finals success back to Richmond

Adem Yze joked he’d rush to Thailand to meet his new players after getting the Richmond coaching job that comes with big expectations.

New Richmond coach Adem Yze. Picture: Richmond FC

Richmond boss Brendon Gale says the need for change after the team became “unrecognisable” in 2023 was the catalyst for appointing Adem Yze as coach over Andrew McQualter, with breaking a three-year run without a finals win his immediate goal.

Yze, 46 landed the gig after missing jobs at Essendon and Greater Western Sydney last year and continued the recent theme of successful assistants rising to senior coaches in the mould of Collingwood’s Craig McRae and Adam Kingsley at the Giants.

He replaces Damien Hardwick who quit mid-season before going on to sign a six-year deal with Gold Coast and will take over a Tigers outfit minus retired premiership heroes Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt.

New Richmond coach Adem Yze. Pictures: Richmond FC

McQualter’s future remains unclear, but Yze said he would love for him to stay on.

Gale conceded the Tigers had strayed from the powerhouse outfit that won three premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020, having missed the finals in 2021 and this season as well as losing an elimination final in 2022.

He said the thirst for full change was a key reason why McQualter, who was in charge for 13 games and returned seven wins, but just one in the final five games after Hardwick left, was overlooked for the job.

“Clearly, I think there was an appetite for some change,” Gale said on Friday.

“We have drifted in some respects in terms of the way we play, we can play a whole lot better. Clearly, the senior coach personifies that change and I think he’s identified areas of our game plan where we can evolve and grow.

“We’ve got to continue to evolve. The game is moving ahead at a rate of knots and I think Adem will take this team and this group forward.

Richmond finished 13th in 2023 and flirted with making the finals before their late fade out, which Gale, who was part of the panel who agreed on Yze, said was a signal the Tigers needed to improve significantly.

“We were on the cusp of the eight for most of the year. We’re probably teasing a little,” he said.

“I thought at times early in the year we were unrecognisable. And I think Damien acknowledged that. I think Andrew did a wonderful job getting us back on track playing a sustainable brand of footy.

“We can play a whole lot better, and we will play a whole lot better and we won’t put a ceiling on what better looks like.”

Yze has learnt from the likes of Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Yze, who turned 46 on the same day he was given the news he had the job as the ultimate birthday gift, has been an assistant at first Hawthorn and then Melbourne before landing the Tigers role.

He joked he’d rush to join the players on their end-of-season trip in Thailand he was so anxious to meet them and said superstar Dustin Martin had two or three more “solid” years of football in him and how important he would remain.

Yze acknowledged the drop-off in success since the 2020 premiership and wants his players to start preparing for 2024 with the aim of making at least the top four.

“It‘s been three years since we’ve won a final, so there has to be a subtle change and hopefully I can bring that change,” he said.

“But the foundations of this footy club and the footy team are really strong. And I’m hoping to just bring my knowledge and experience of what I’ve learned … and bring my slant on the way that we should play so hopefully we can bounce back really quickly.

“I get huge upside on what other teams have done. GWS have gone from the bottom half of the ladder to a prelim … that’s what we are going to strive to do.

“I want the players walking into the footy club thinking they can make the top four next year. I can’t wait to get started.”