RIVAL ASSISTANTS IN THE MIX AS RICHMOND WHITTLES COACHING SEARCH TO A HANDFULTom Morris
SEN
22 August 2023Richmond has whittled its search for a permanent senior coach down to a handful of candidates.
SEN.com.au has confirmed Melbourne assistant Adem Yze is in the mix, as is Essendon midfield coach Daniel Giansiracusa.
They join Chris Newman (Hawthorn), Andrew McQualter (Richmond) and Xavier Clarke (Richmond) as the prime candidates to take over on a full-time basis.
Newman and McQualter are seen as the two early frontrunners before interviews commence, though Yze and Giansiracusa are both highly regarded as well and were approached by the Tigers.
As reported by Josh Gabelich for AFL Media, Clarke has been shortlisted and is held in high esteem at Punt Road, but is seen as less likely.
Yze was pipped at the post for two jobs last year, finishing a narrow second behind Adam Kingsley at GWS and Brad Scott at Essendon.
In both processes he impressed the selection panels, but ultimately missed out.
The Bombers interview process was particularly in-depth and long, with Scott the standout.
By comparison, the Tigers have told candidates to be ready for a 45-minute presentation and roughly the same time for questions.
Richmond is intending to make an appointment either just before or just after the AFL Grand Final.
Yze is the only one of these coaches who is involved in finals with his current club.
Yze, a Melbourne life member, is highly regarded at the Demons, where he looks after the on-ballers and has been Simon Goodwin's primary tactician behind the scenes since he arrived in late 2020.
Giansiracusa, who is contracted until the end of 2025, is similarly rated at the Bombers, though he has one thing Yze does not: Experience coaching his own VFL team at Footscray in 2019 and 2020, though the latter season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
It's understood Newman was invited to be part of retirement celebrations for Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin, but politely declined the opportunity to be among many former teammates at the MCG on Saturday.
Newman, who coached his own VFL team, did not want the optics of sitting with Brendon Gale while he was deep in the process to be the club's next coach.
Cotchin and Riewoldt had been asked which former teammates they would like at the game.
Some of the ex-Tigers who attended were Chris Knights, Nathan Foley, Shaun Hampson, Shane Edwards, Jake King, Shaun Grigg, Matt Thomas, Adam Pattison, Taylor Hunt, Bachar Houli (on crutches), Dave Astbury, and Matthew Richardson.
Josh Carr (Port Adelaide) and Justin Leppitsch (Collingwood) declined to be part of the Richmond process.
Meanwhile, Brendon Lade (Western Bulldogs) confirmed to SEN's Crunch Time show on Sunday that he had been initially approached but is no longer in the running to be Richmond's next senior coach.
The Tigers have made no secret of their desire to search for "the next Damien Hardwick".
While they would reportedly prefer a coach who has taken charge of his own team (like McQualter, Giansiracusa and Newman have), their invitation to Yze indicates they don't see it as a decisive factor.
SHORTLISTED CANDIDATESChris Newman (Hawthorn)
Andrew McQualter (Richmond)
Xavier Clarke (Richmond)
Adem Yze (Melbourne)
Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon)
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/08/22/rival-assistants-in-the-mix-as-richmond-whittles-coaching-search-to-a/
