One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: Loui Tufga on October 28, 2016, 08:47:41 AM
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Xavier Clarke steps on as our new development coach, meanwhile McQualter steps into our Midfield/Stopages roll.
http://m.richmondfc.com.au/news/2016-10-27/xavier-clarke-joins-richmond
Richmond has finalised its coaching panel with current NT Thunder senior coach and former St Kilda and Brisbane Lions utility, Xavier Clarke joining the ranks as a development coach.
Clarke, 33, has been coaching NEAFL club NT Thunder since the end of 2013, he won the NEAFL Coach of the Year in 2014, led the side to the premiership in 2015, and, in 2016, he was awarded the NT Sports Awards Coach of the Year.
The lively utility began his AFL career at St Kilda, where we was selected with pick No. 5 in the 2001 National AFL Draft.
He went on to play 105 senior games for the Saints from 2002-09, before joining Brisbane in 2010.
Following two knee reconstructions in the space of two-and-a-half years, injury forced him into retirement at the end of the 2011 season, aged 28.
Clarke’s CV is both long and diverse, following his retirement playing league football, he worked with the AFL Players’ Association in Indigenous engagement, and with the AFL as the National Indigenous Programs Coordinator, managing Indigenous talent pathway programs such as Kickstart and Dreamtime at the ‘G.
Clarke is also an AFL Level 3 accredited coach and sits on the AFL Indigenous Advisory Group and AFL Women’s Football Advisory Group.
He has some experience with Richmond already, in 2013 he was an assistant coach for the Korin Gamadji Institute’s Laguntas Program – a football talent pathway for Indigenous boys aged 16 to 19 years old.
“Xavier has a broad and diverse experience, in both coaching and football programming, and we’re really excited with what he’ll bring to our football Club,” Richmond’s General Manager – Football, Neil Balme said.
“His experience with the AFL’s Indigenous pathway programs, and the responsibility of coaching his own team with NT Thunder has provided him opportunities to develop and lead emerging footballers, and we’re looking forward to him bringing those skills and experience to Richmond.
“In addition to that, his knowledge and expertise in Indigenous engagement will support the extensive programming that our Club and the Korin Gamadji Institute already deliver, including the Richmond Academy - our Next Generation Academy Program.”
AFLNT CEO Michael Solomon said AFLNT and NT Thunder could not be prouder of Clarke and his achievements so far.
“We are thrilled that Xavier has been selected for a coaching position at Richmond and we are confident that he will deliver in his new role with the same professionalism, tenacity and integrity that he showed at NT Thunder. He is a favourite son of the Territory and we look forward to rejoicing in his future success and welcoming him back whenever he visits."
Clarke will join other new recent coaching appointees, Blake Caracella and Justin Leppitsch at the Tigers.
In finalising the Club’s coaching structure, Andrew McQualter, a current development coach at Richmond, and former St Kilda teammate of Clarke, will assume the role of AFL midfield stoppage coach.
“It’s clear that Andrew has really developed his coaching craft in the past three seasons at Richmond, he has great relationships with the players, coaches and staff at the Club, and we look forward to him continuing to support Damien and the players in 2017 and beyond,” Balme said.
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Excellent CV - good appointment!
:gotigers
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Can we bring back Richard Tambling please? :pray
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Would be good if he could help us recruit as well as retain some skilful indigenous players. Only disappointed that I think I read he completes our coaching panel? I thought we were still an assistant or two short.
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McQualter got promoted to midfield coach - but yeah seems we've got less coaches now.
Is it to do with the cap? Are they purposely going in under to give us flexibility for the eventuation of sacking hardwick if we need to?
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Dan bring B Ellis's softness to a whole new level :clapping
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The first question you have to ask of an assistant coach is will he improve the current playing group.
From what has been listed I would say not much.
If the question is will he bring something to the table with regards to our academies from what has been listed I would say quite a bit.
As he has no experience in being an assistant at AFL level I am not expecting too much.
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He has coached his own list though which is more than plenty of the other assistants who go straight into coaching after playing. Not saying that means it is a sure thing he will be good for the job but it was probably an important step for someone like Beveridge
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Dan's milkshake brings the boys to the yard
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He has coached his own list though which is more than plenty of the other assistants who go straight into coaching after playing. Not saying that means it is a sure thing he will be good for the job but it was probably an important step for someone like Beveridge
There are more than 1,000 coaches out there that have coached their own list across Australia but that doesn't make them suitable to be an assistant coach at AFL level.
But it doesn't surprise as Richmond have a lot of history of preferring 1st year assistants to experienced ones.
They are less likely to rock the boat.
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I think he is an inspired choice. His work with the indigenous players will be a bonus. :clapping
I don't care less if he is experienced in AFL coaching. He played at the highest level and has coached kids successfully. FFS, what else do you all want from a development role?
Good get tigers especially since we beat Collingwood to his signature! :clapping
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Great get especially his ability to get the best out of Indigenous Players.
With Rioli, Yarran ability and form a huge catalyst for us, add possible Kirby he could be hugely important to our future.
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I like it.
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We had a massive crack at getting Tadhg Kennelly and he did seriously thin about it so much so, this will be revisited this time next year.
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Considering he nearly joined us this year before deciding to play on for one more season, we'll surely be into Stevie J again next year...
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Clarke rates our 5 indigenous Tigers at the bottom of this article.
Xavier Clarke’s quest to become an AFL senior coach
GLENN McFARLANE,
Herald Sun
27 May 2017
XAVIER Clarke knows the mountain in front of him is steep, but he’s relishing the climb.
He realises he is still a long way short even of base camp, but those who know him and have worked with him speak glowingly of qualities he has in abundance.
Clarke, 33, is six months in to his role as an assistant coach and development coach at Richmond, having already built up a handy CV of life experiences and attributes suited to coaching.
He’s loving it, and is learning all the time.
He chose the Tigers over a handful of other AFL clubs who had targeted him late last year. It wasn’t just because of the club’s centre for indigenous youth, the Korin Gamadji Institute, and its links with the Melbourne Indigenous Training School, though that was a bonus.
It had more to do with having the best platform to learn and achieve his long-range dream of becoming a senior coach, though he realises how tough a task it will be.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn and the reality is that there are 18 clubs, which means there are only 18 senior jobs,” Clarke said
“You only have to look at people like (Richmond coaching staff) Blake Caracella and Craig McRae, who have so much experience.
“I haven’t shut the door on that for the future, definitely not. If I didn’t think I was going to hopefully move up in coaching, I probably wouldn’t have taken on the role I have now.
“There is the thought that one day I would love to be a senior AFL coach.”
Clarke will tonight take part in his first Dreamtime match as a coach when the Tigers take on the Bombers, and he is excited by both the occasion and the opportunity.
While about 11 per cent of current AFL players come from an indigenous background — and the figure is growing — that hasn’t yet translated to the coaching ranks.
There are only a handful of indigenous assistant or development coaches, including Roger Hayden (Fremantle), Andy Lovell (Gold Coast), Andrew Walker (Carlton) and Eddie Sansbury (Gold Coast).
There have only been two indigenous senior VFL-AFL coaches — Graham “Polly” Farmer (Geelong 1973-75) and Barry Cable (North Melbourne 1981-84).
“I’d love to see more indigenous coaches,” Clarke said.
“But it’s up to the individual. Not everyone wants to be a coach.”
“The great thing is that with the diversity programs the AFL has going now, I am sure we will see more indigenous players join the coaching ranks in the future.”
Four-time premiership player Shaun Burgoyne praised Clarke’s progression this week, describing it as “a really good story of persistence and pathway, obviously going though injury setbacks.”
“If you’ve got (somewhere between) 9-11 per cent that’s indigenous (players), we’d like to see that translate to indigenous coaches as well,” Burgoyne said. “We just want to see that grow over the next couple of years.”
Clarke, a top five pick in the 2001 super draft, played 106 games with St Kilda and Brisbane Lions, in a career interrupted by two knee reconstructions. He had a third when playing at a local level.
It was during his injury lay-offs that the Northern Territory product started thinking about coaching.
“Being injured a lot of the time, I probably fell into the coaching side early and got a real taste for it,” he said.
But his pathway to Punt Rd has been different from other aspiring coaches. Clarke, who still sits on the AFL Indigenous Advisory Group, previously worked for the AFL as national indigenous programs co-ordinator and the AFL Players’ Association in indigenous engagement.
Importantly, he also coached his own side — NT Thunder — in the NEAFL, guiding it to a flag in 2015 and winning rave reviews for his tactical nous and ability to work with a group.
“Hopefully that is a strength that I can bring to the Richmond Football Club,” he said.
Clarke’s family comes from the Daly River region of the Northern Territory — the Marrijabin-Marreamo people — but he also has links to the Darwin area and the Larrakia people.
Most of his family, including his brother, Raphael, who also played with St Kilda, still live in the Top End. He was initially torn in choosing between Richmond and staying in the NT.
He was only 12 months into setting up a flourishing recruiting and labour business, Goal Indigenous Services, but the dream of coaching in the AFL kept gnawing away.
He had met the Tigers during Grand Final week last year and a few weeks later was in San Diego on a AFL Coaches’ Association tour when Neil Balme offered him the job. “It was just too good an opportunity to pass up,” Clarke said.
Speak to anyone at Richmond, and you will get the same response — the Tigers are delighted with the impact Clarke has made on the players and his fellow coaches in a relatively short time.
“You want to build relationships and trust as quickly as you can,” Clarke said.
“I felt that the day I walked in the door. Now, you obviously have to prove yourself as a coach, but I will be doing everything I can to help the club.”
CLARKE RATES THE INDIGENOUS TIGERS
SHANE EDWARDS
28, 191 games
From Salisbury, SA. Recruited from North Adelaide, pick 26, 2006 national draft
Clarke says: “Shane has been around the club long enough now that he knows what to do. He knows his body well and he’s an important player for the team.”
Family fact: Edwards’ great-grandmother Elsie Summerfield, a member of the stolen generation, came from Santa Teresa, 80km from Alice Springs.
DANIEL RIOLI
20, 27 games
From Tiwi Islands. Recruited from St Marys, NT, and North Ballarat Rebels, pick 15, 20015 national draft
Clarke says: “He’s only in his second season (of AFL football), but he is really starting to grow as a player. He is getting stronger and if he continues to keep the way he is going, he is going to be very exciting.”
Family fact: Hails from one of the most famous families in AFL football. His great-uncle was former Richmond champion Maurice Rioli, his uncle Dean played 100 games with Essendon, and his father’s cousin, Cyril, is one of Hawthorn’s most exciting footballers.
SHAI BOLTON
18, 1 game
From Katanning and Mandurah, WA. Recruited from South Fremantle, pick 29, 2016 national draft
Clarke says: “Young Shai is a great kid. He was a 17-year-old draftee and he got his first game last week. He almost kicked a goal at the end of last week. He stayed with me for a week or so when he came across to Victoria. Hopefully we can see him playing some consistent footy in the future.”
Family fact: He is a distant relative of the Krakouer brothers, Jim and Phil
NATHAN DRUMMOND
22, 5 games
From Mooroopna, Vic. Recruited from Murray Bushrangers, pick 52, 2014 national draft
Clarke says: “’Drumma’ unfortunately hurt his knee (in April). It’s his second ACL. He had a massive preseason before suffering the injury, He’s got great character and will be back again.”
Family fact: His maternal great-great grandfather William Cooper was one of the earliest Aboriginal rights’ activist. His paternal great-grandfather, Tom Drummond (who was not Indigenous), captained Collingwood.
TYSON STENGLE
18, yet to debut
From Ethelton, SA. Recruited from Port Adelaide, SANFL, pick 6, 2016 rookie draft
Clarke says: “Tyson has been really consistent. He has been strong in the contest. The boys love him at the footy club.”
Family fact: Nephew of Sydney great Michael O’Loughlin, as well as being related to Eddie Betts
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/xavier-clarkes-quest-to-become-an-afl-senior-coach/news-story/c19470d998b1b2da77e9af875e8310e3
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While about 11 per cent of current AFL players come from an indigenous background — and the figure is growing — that hasn’t yet translated to the coaching ranks.
“If you’ve got (somewhere between) 9-11 per cent that’s indigenous (players), we’d like to see that translate to indigenous coaches as well,” Burgoyne said. “We just want to see that grow over the next couple of years.”
Could argue that only 3% of the Australian population identify as Indigenous and we want to see that number translate to players. Stuff the numbers and making them equal etc. just employ the best people who deserve the job!
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WHY CLARKE OPTED FOR NORTH AND THE “INTENSE” RICHMOND PROCESS HE UNDERTOOK
By Andrew Slevison
SEN
7 October 2023
Xavier Clarke recently departed Richmond to take up an assistant coaching role at North Melbourne.
After more than seven years and three premierships with the Tigers, Clarke opted to up and leave Punt Road as the club went about preparing for a changing of the guard.
The former St Kilda and Brisbane player says the idea of a fresh start and the opportunity to work alongside Alastair Clarkson were the overriding factors for choosing the Kangaroos despite having a year to run on his Richmond contract.
“I’ve been at Richmond for seven and a half years. It’s been great to be a part of the journey and the success that came along with that,” Clarke said on SEN Friday’s In The Top End.
“I sort of felt I was at that stage of my coaching career where I needed a new challenge and a new opportunity, a bigger portfolio and what that looked like. North Melbourne provided that.
“I’m excited more so to help them build and get back to where they need to. Hopefully we can get back to playing finals footy in the next few years.
“To work with four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson as well, to add that and learn new ways was probably the main reason why I ended up choosing North.
“I’m looking forward to taking the next step in my coaching journey.”
After head coach Damien Hardwick departed Richmond, the club undertook the task of finding a new coach.
Clarke threw his hat in the ring and was up against the likes of caretaker Andrew McQualter and Adem Yze, who would eventually win the job.
He says it was a fairly full on and cut-throat process.
“It’s pretty intense to be completely honest,” Clarke added.
“There’s only 18 of those jobs in the country so it is a pretty intense process.
“Initially you apply then you get given an opportunity to present your coaching style and philosophy to a panel. Generally you go through a three-hour interview process.
“Then from there they go to the second stage but unfortunately I didn’t go through to that next stage. I’m still to sit down with the interview panel to go into real detail about what the stuff was.”
Clarke admits that he had no preconceived plans to move on from Richmond if he was unsuccessful in his pursuit of the senior gig, it just so happened to be that it fell that way in the end.
“For me that wasn’t the case,” he replied.
“Obviously I was contracted to Richmond for another year. To be honest it was a pretty hard decision because at the end of the day you build great relationships with players and staff and that’s hard to feel like you’re leaving.
“But for my coaching progression I felt that I needed the challenge.”
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/10/06/why-clarke-opted-stuff/