The tiger in Big Ben Gale

WITH a record of 244 AFL games for Richmond, Brendon Gale could have been excused for sitting back, but he was only just beginning to make his mark, writes JAMES BRESNEHAN.

Brendon Gale, who has been announced as the new Richmond CEO taking over from Steven Wright.

WITH a playing record of 244 AFL games for Richmond, Brendon Gale could have been excused for sitting back and admiring his work, but the big ruckman and centre half-forward was only just beginning to make his mark in the game he loves, writes JAMES BRESNEHAN.

BRENDON Gale always knew he would become a lawyer after football but it wasn’t until he got there that he realised how much he loved footy.

Brendon Gale in action against West Coast in 1996.

On the day Gale, now Richmond’s CEO, announced the Tigers had hit a club record 70,000 members in Melbourne yesterday, AFL Tasmania announced big “Ben” was to be elevated to Legend status at the 2015 Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame gala dinner in Hobart next week.

The humble ruckman took it in his stride.

“I’m a legend in my own lunchtime,” he said.

“No, it’s great.”

After making his debut for the Burnie Hawks in 1987, Gale was drafted by Richmond in 1988 and played 244 games and booted 209 goals for the Tigers over 12 seasons.

Within weeks of playing in Richmond’s preliminary final loss to Brisbane at the Gabba in 2001, Gale had hung up the boots and put on a suit.

“I was working in a 4m x 4m office with a commercial law firm in Melbourne,” he told the Mercury.

“It was about as far removed from being a professional footballer as possible.

“It was quite a sudden transition, even though I always knew that’s what lay ahead of me.”

Gale, 46, started his law degree at the University of Tasmania in 1986.

“There wasn’t too much study being done, but I had a hell of a lot of fun,” he said.

“My brother [Michael] had just started playing for Fitzroy and so at the end of the year I started thinking more seriously about my football.

“That’s when the Burnie Hawks entered the statewide competition.

“I was getting sick of study so decided to play with the Hawks in 1987. We played finals that year when no one thought we would.

“Putt McCarthy was a terrific coach and I got drafted and went to Melbourne.”

Brendon Gale with Kingborough juniors. Gale is on the board of AFL Tasmania.

Gale finished his law degree in Melbourne while playing for Richmond, an achievement in itself.

He was joined at Tigerland by his brother in 1994, a privilege he didn’t appreciate at the time.

“We played some pretty good footy together in some reasonable teams,” Brendon said.

“In 1995 we finished third and got to the preliminary final.

“It’s probably something that I took for granted.

“Looking back now, I think that was pretty special.”

Being a full-time footballer did not allow Gale to taste life as a lawyer working part time.

“That made it a very sudden transition into a Melbourne commercial law firm,” he said.

“I remember one of the senior lawyers, who became a bit of a mentor, said, ‘Whatever you’ve done over the previous 12 years, right now means nothing. Check your ego at the door, and look, listen and learn’.

“That’s what I did.

“It was a completely different environment but I learned a lot over the next few years.”

Brendon Gale with his older brother Michael. The pair played together at Richmond for five seasons in the mid 1990s.

Ultimately the life as a commercial lawyer specialising in banking and project finance wasn’t as fulfilling as Gale had anticipated.

He looked for something else. That’s when he became the CEO of the AFL Players’ Association in 2005.

His biggest achievement was negotiating the five-year Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2007 with an $800 million player payments package.

In 2009, Gale went back to where it all began, taking on the role of CEO at Tigerland.

“The club was in difficult circumstances both on and off the field so the opportunity to become involved and address that seemed right,” he said.

“It seemed fulfilling, and it is fulfilling. It means a lot to me and it gives me purpose.”

As well as being CEO at Richmond, Gale is on the board of AFL Tasmania and is a huge supporter of Tasmania having its own team one day.

“Football clubs are big businesses,” he said.

“It means a lot to me and I know it does because every day I jump out of bed raring to go.”

The Tasmanian FHOF dinner will be held at Wrest Point on July 3.