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Adem Yze – and certainly not his family – had no idea he was about to become Richmond’s 42nd coach in history.
Believing he had been summoned to Punt Road for another step in the process, Tigers president John O’Rourke instead told Yze face-to-face on Thursday night that he was Damien Hardwick’s successor, minutes after receiving unanimous board approval.
New Richmond coach Adem Yze with his children Jasmine and Noah, and wife Afijet.Credit: Getty Images
Yze’s wife, Afijet, even rang him asking to bring pizzas home for dinner. “Sorry, I can’t – I’m wearing a Richmond polo.”
Afijet: “Why?!”
Yze: “I got the job.” Or something along those lines, anyway.
It was a hectic little period after 6pm on Thursday, with one of his Shepparton-based brothers, Ramadan, also calling just to wish him a happy 46th birthday.
Yze didn’t answer. Ramadan, who bundled his family into the car not long after dawn on Friday to rush down the highway to celebrate his brother’s news, soon found out why when Yze rang back.
Ramadan was at the Swinburne Centre on Friday for Yze’s official announcement, and may even skip his pre-grand final training session with Shepparton United to cherish this latest AFL highlight for his brother, a 271-game Demon who played in the 2000 grand final, won a best and fairest and earned All-Australian honours.
“We cracked open a beer last night and had a quiet beer after the meeting,” Richmond’s new coach said of how he celebrated.
“It was a surreal feeling. I got home, [and] my wife got to sing happy birthday to me. We didn’t have a cake, but that didn’t matter – I had some friends over, and we got to share it with some family and friends, which was awesome.”
Yze feels he is “ready” for this next step in his coaching career after effectively running the coaches’ box for Melbourne this past season while Simon Goodwin patrolled the boundary line.
He was visibly still giddy about his appointment, after narrowly being overlooked for the Greater Western Sydney and Essendon jobs last year and also barely missing out on the Adelaide gig that went to Matthew Nicks in 2019.
“It’s a hard one – you start to second guess yourself on whether you should keep going for them, [because] you don’t want to miss too many,” Yze said.
“But I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to go to a stable footy club, a really powerful footy club. For a young coach to be able to grab your players and staff, and just go and play the game and not worry about what’s happening upstairs [in the boardroom, is an advantage] … upstairs is a really powerful part of our organisation, and I’m just hopefully going to make our playing group a really powerful club.”
Adem Yze with Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale on Friday.Credit: Getty Images
Yze acknowledged the changing of the guard at the Tigers, from his own appointment replacing three-time premiership coach Hardwick, to the retirements of Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt and co.
As with all first-year coaches, he declared he was placing “no ceiling” on what his players could do, but also made clear that the club’s youth, including impending addition Jacob Koschitzke, have an opportunity to make their mark.
Yze even joked he was so keen to meet his “new toys” that he was considering jetting to Thailand to join them on their footy trip. “I’m not sure my wife will allow me to do that.”
Club great Dustin Martin is among those he hopes to get the most out of.
Richmond superstar Dustin Martin will play his 300th AFL game next season.Credit: Getty
“I can’t wait to work with him. He’s an amazing player, amazing person, and amazing Richmond man, so to be at the footy club when he plays his 300th game [next year] is going to be an amazing opportunity for me,” Yze said.
“But he had a terrific season last year, and I can see not only the next year [but] a fair few solid years out of ‘Dusty’, and I’m hoping I can just help deliver that with a nice, clear role for him.”
Yze is open to Andrew McQualter, who finished runner-up for the job after serving as the caretaker coach, sticking around as his right-hand man, and will speak to Brett Ratten, one of his mentors, about joining him as a senior assistant.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said hiring someone from outside the club was a factor.
“[Adem]’s a fine person, [has a] fine family, and is a very capable coach who’s been involved in some very successful programs as well – five grand finals, four flags [at Hawthorn and Melbourne], but clearly there was an appetite for some change,” Gale said.
“We have drifted in some respects, in terms of the way we play. We can play a whole lot better, and clearly, the senior coach personifies that change … we have to continue to evolve. The game is moving ahead at a rate of knots, and I think Adem will take this team and group forward.”
Former Richmond assistant Adam Kingsley’s success at the Giants has also buoyed Yze, who welcomed the pressure that comes with his new role, that the Tigers can potentially follow suit.
“GWS have gone from the bottom half of the ladder to playing in a prelim tonight. Not to say that’s what we’re going to do, but that’s what we’re going to strive to do,” he said.
“I want our players walking into the footy club thinking they can make the top four next year … there might be some bumps along the road, and as a footy club, we’ll be really strong in that period.”
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