Leaders 'growth' plans beyond 2025Head Coach Adem Yze, alongside midfielders Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, reflect on Richmond's 2025 campaign.
By Henry Milic
Richmond Media
Sep 11, 2025In his second year as Head Coach, Adem Yze reviews the “growth” of his young Tigers squad, as he sets his sights on going a step further in 2026.
Yze improved on his win-loss record from his debut season at the Club in 2024, jumping to five wins this year, as compared to two last.
However, it is not a stat that he'll get too caught up in, as long as his side is growing in the right direction each week.
“Growth. We have spoken about it, if we win or lose, can we learn from it, and can we grow from it?” Yze asked the playing group in his post-season review.
“All I want you to think about from now until we finish this meeting… what is the next part of our climb going to look like?”
With a significant change made to the Club’s list for the start of 2025, Yze embraced the challenge of guiding a young team to successes, despite external expectations.
“The anxiety and the pressure around trying to fast-track the development when they come in, last year I felt like we were doing that on the run,” Yze told Richmond Media.
“We feel like we are getting there, but even then, we are still working on things. We are still working out what our best footy looks like.
“So, in that part of it, I felt like we did take a step forward, but we have to keep evolving and keep improving in all three phases.
“There was obviously a lot of naysayers and a lot of noise around how bad we were going to go, but for a coach, whether you are on top or on the bottom, it’s around keeping a level head and being really consistent from week to week.”
With nine debutants pulling on the yellow and black jumper this season, Yze admitted that he enjoyed telling the first-year players that their dream of playing AFL had come true.
“That’s easily the best part of my job; helping players fulfil their dream and giving them the chance to play at AFL level,” Yze said.
“Seeing those boys not only start their careers but also start to feel like they belong on an AFL field.
“Unfortunately, a few of them got injured in the middle part of the year, and they didn’t get to finish off the season like they would’ve wanted.
“I loved the way they have all started their careers, they have all scratched the surface, and right now they go into an offseason, hopefully coming better prepared for next year and can see some bigger and better things from all of them.”
Experienced midfielder Jacob Hopper echoed Yze’s statements, expressing that he was proud of how the group competed each week. Still, he doesn’t want to rest on the laurels of just being competitive.
“17 teams always sit at some moment throughout this year and reflect on it and would say that they haven’t lived up to expectations because we all want to play and win a premiership,” Hopper told Richmond Media.
“We are trending in the right direction, but there is always room to get better, and there were some missed opportunities, for sure.”
After mitigating injuries, the 28-year-old had a career-best season, playing in all 23 Rounds this year, the most he has played in a single season since joining Richmond in 2023.
“To play every game this year is pretty unbelievable,” Hopper said.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever done it in my career. Footy is a humbling game, and it’s nice to just get that consistency in my body.
“I’m very grateful for the guys at the club and all these guys who have a lot to do with making sure that all our bodies are in the best shape that it possible can be.”
Teammate and fellow midfielder Tim Taranto hopes to address some of the side's narrow losses this year by implementing a game plan that allows the team to deliver a full four-quarter performance in 2026.
“We want to win every game, and if we can develop a consistent game plan, eventually the wins will just come more consistently,” Taranto told Richmond Media.
“There were probably a couple of games where we were really poor, but there were a lot of games where we exceeded expectations.
“We won some games that you might not think we would, so it’s kind of a roller-coaster, but as we get on, we will just try and be more consistent and try and be competitive over four quarters.”
“We probably played a lot of two-or-three-quarter games and then let it slip in one quarter, and good teams beat you when you do that.”
Taranto also had one of his best seasons to date, averaging 25 disposals, five clearances and five tackles a game.
The 27-year-old also had high praise for Coach Adem Yze and his ability to connect with a young playing group.
“I think that he really had a great presence this year, he continued to build his relationships and his character, it’s such a strength of his, and we all love him,” Taranto said.
“He has so many strengths as a coach, and as we evolve as a young group, he is going to continue to evolve as well.
“We are all just going to continue to go on this journey together and continue to get better, but huge steps forward for everyone.”
With Richmond’s pre-season just around the corner, Yze addressed his team in reaffirming how crucial it is to stay fit and ready for their 2026 campaign.
“Getting better every day mentally, physically getting ready and then when your programs start, be really clear on what you are doing every day, so you can hit the ground running on day one,” Yze said to the playing group.
“The purpose and intent that our boys utilise the next three months before they walk in on day one of pre-season is going to set the foundation for our next season," Yze told Richmond Media.
“They have a big break and then they come back, and they don’t have a lot of time leading into Christmas, so every minute matters.
“Not only when they walk through the doors of pre-season, but every minute matters right now of what they are doing in their off-season.”
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1891080/leaders-look-back-on-growth-of-the-2025-season
