Adem Yze hits back, Toby Nankervis defends Richmond coach amid ‘aura’ criticism

Adem Yze has hit back at suggestions he lacks the “aura” to be a success as Richmond coach and explained why content released by the club doesn’t paint a true picture of who he is.

Richmond coach Adem Yze has defended his presence among his players amid criticism he has “zero aura”.

As Richmond captain Toby Nankervis labelled the call “unfair” on his coach, Yze — who is entering his second season as senior coach at Punt Road — has maintained that he doesn’t “need an aura” as he attempts to fast track the development of one of the competition’s youngest playing lists.

Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes last month slammed Yze as having “no oomph and no aura”, saying the best coaches “command the room”.

“I’m a people person. I could go and have a coffee with him. But it’s not about me,” Yze told this masthead ahead of Richmond’s Round 1 clash with Carlton on Thursday night.

“I don’t need an aura when I talk to our players. I want our players to understand this is the way we play, this is our standards, this is where we need our footy club to get to.”

Yze said the video clips from training that Cornes was referencing were heavily tempered.

“We put that content out. We’re trying to give our supporters to feel like they’re coming on the ride with us,” he said.

“You want them to come on a journey. But in saying that, when you’ve got a microphone on, you do know what you’re saying and you’ve got to be careful what terminology you’re using.

“I swear a lot, and in that, I didn’t. All those things. It’s not that it’s fake, but a lot of it isn’t purely exactly who I am. It’s tempered and it’s measured.”

The Tigers coach was criticised for being a “cheerleader”.

Yze also found himself in Cornes’ crosshairs in mid-2024, when he was labelled a “cheerleader” for celebrating with players on the bench.

“The scrutiny around me as a person or us as a club, it’s always going to be there,” Yze said.

“But I’ve tried not to listen to a lot of that. I did get caught halfway through last year, we’d lost a heap in a row and I think it might have been Kane said something about me barracking, and being a supporter. Someone sent it to me and I’ve gone out of my way not to listen … I used to as a line coach but now, if I get caught in all that I reckon I’d be pretty drained by the end of the year. I want to be constantly learning, not listening.

Adem Yze says he doesn’t take any notice of his criticism of his coaching style.

“But I did for some reason … and I got drawn into it for half an hour.

“I spoke to the players about it, and I got an understanding of what they go through, if they are reading or listening too much. As a player, part of it does fuel your ego. You don’t want to take that away from the players, but if you are battling or your team is battling … if you get drawn into listening to every comment and every bit of feedback … you’re going to spiral.

“He’s got his own opinion, and have whatever opinion you have.

“But I’d rather him go at me and not the players.”

Nankervis said he was adamant that his coach “has an aura”.

“It’s unfair for Kane to say that. I think ‘Ooze’ (Yze) absolutely has one,” he said.

“He doesn’t rant and rave as much as other coaches maybe do, but internally he’s so highly respected.

“He’s already grown so much in 12 months time – I can’t wait to see him this year, as well.”

If anything, Yze warned he “might sound repetitive this year” as the Tigers navigate their rebuild.

“A lot of it will be based on (that) we need growth and you want to see our players improve, and it might not be win-loss, but it might be staying in games for longer,” he said.

“All these different things that we want our supporter base to understand. So we might sound repetitive, but we need to be. Our young players are learning, and we’re going to say that over and over. They’re learning to play the game.

“We’ve just got to fast track that and hope they belong, quicker.”

Originally published as Adem Yze hits back, Toby Nankervis defends Richmond coach amid ‘aura’ criticism