Rebuilding Richmond: Tiger shapers on Dimma shock, Yze eraA bombshell Damien Hardwick call, Adem Yze’s contract and the multimillion dollar redevelopment at Punt Rd — the two men shaping Richmond take us inside the club’s transformation.
Lauren Wood
HeraldSun
15 Nov 2025John O’Rourke had been Richmond president for just 153 days when he got the call that Damien Hardwick had quit.
“I hope you’re sitting down, and you have a beer in your hand,” then-Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale later revealed he had prefaced to the president before dropping the bombshell upon leaving Hardwick’s place.
Long-time Tigers board member O’Rourke had assumed the mantle from outgoing leader and famed triple-premiership president Peggy O’Neal – the first woman to hold the role at any AFL club.
He didn’t have the Hardwick news to himself for long.
He found out during the day on the Sunday – May 21, 2023. The story broke on the Monday night, with defender Nathan Broad on live television at the time.
“I only had it for a few hours,” O’Rourke laughed this week.
“It wasn’t expected at that time. Obviously we had been thinking and discussing that there would be a time, where he would think that his impact was going to come to an end, and we’d started to think about when that could be. But certainly didn’t think it would come accelerated like that mid-season.
WHO IS JOHN O’ROURKE?
Installed as Tigers president in December 2022.
Is a former investment banker who co-founded Plenary Group in 2004, which is a global investor, developer and public infrastructure company.
Has previously been on the board of the Victoria Racing Club and is a current director of the Australian Grand Prix.
“But once we talked it through, and at that time you were wishing and hoping, he’s a great coach, a fantastic coach and fantastic Richmond person and great success that he would find the way, and we were more than content to allow that to happen.
“I think it was the right thing to give him that time, but then when he made his decision it was pretty clear-cut that there was no turning back from it.
“We turned the page pretty quickly and thought about well how do we think about this as an opportunity for the next phase.
“And I think as a club we handled that pretty well.”
That next phase began virtually immediately, and in many ways Hardwick’s shock move fast-tracked a transition phase for the team that is now well and truly underway.
Player departures followed Hardwick, allowing for reinvigoration of a powerhouse.
And what might have seemed at the time like disaster is slowly shaping as anything but for the Tigers under O’Rourke and Shane Dunne, who was appointed to the role of chief executive in August 2024 after the departure of Brendon Gale.
It was a catalyst for change, for a new era at Richmond, with the two men at the top tasked with rebuilding the club both literally and figuratively.
“There are events that have occurred, but it’s been really thorough planning as well,” Dunne said.
“We’ve got really experienced people, clearly led by (list boss) Blair Hartley, at the executive level. There’s been events but very well planned off the back of that.
“That’s experience, and understanding where we want to get to and how we want to get there and having a realisation of what it takes.
“We’re really well planned in that space.”
WHO IS SHANE DUNNE?
Was appointed CEO in August, 2024 after working at the club for 10 years which included overseeing its education project the Richmond institute.
Has previously been CEO of Aligned Leisure, a subsidiary company owned by the club.
Also worked at YMCA for 14 years and has been on the board of Life Saving Victoria
Thought quickly turned to who was next.
Andrew McQualter had assumed the interim role, with O’Rourke then central to the appointment of now-senior coach Adem Yze in September 2023, with the board and executive now considering this iteration of Tigers with Yze’s trademark and fingerprints.
Not long after his appointment, Yze had removed photos from the theatrette of the team’s recent premiership dynasty when he arrived – something of a symbolic move to encourage an eye to the success of the future rather than the past.
He’s always looking forward.
The contract he signed then takes him to the end of 2026, though an extension may not be far off.
“He’s contracted for next year, but we’re very happy with Adem. We’re going through the normal review process that we want to do every year, and that’s been positively worked through,’ O’Rourke said.
“I think you will hear more about an extension in time, but we’re not there yet but those conversations have started.
“Adem’s in a good place, so I’ve got no doubt he’s going to be a longer-term coach for Richmond, but we’ll get to that in due course. There’s no urgency.”
There’s been growth in players and in Yze, who Dunne describes as “relentlessly focused” on a determination to improve.
“He is thriving on the feedback and putting things in place to make sure that he is our next premiership coach,” he said.
“And that’s what we want from him.”
Hartley and the list management team have “their grand final” on Wednesday night – the national draft, a pillar of redeveloping teams of youth and talent like Richmond.
It jagged No. 1 pick Sam Lalor last year, and holds a draft hand that includes picks three and four, which Dunne said it intends – for now – to keep.
“We’re open for anything, but at this stage we’re planning for that,” he said.
“But if opportunities arise, we’ll be ready for that as well.
“They are thoroughly planned and are ready for what can come, because it can change in an instant on draft night now, so you’ve got to be incredibly well-planned, researched so if something pivots, you’ve got to be ready to take it and know all the ramifications of that. It’s a real chess game, and becoming more so when you start to think about mid-season, trading future picks, moving up and down the draft board and having an understanding of what the talent is like in two or three years’ time. It’s a real challenge.
“But it’s just an exciting time. It’s a super exciting time. I get a lot of interest from fans – I had someone the other day saying they were ‘geeking out’ over the draft – that was their words – and they were just mining it. That’s what comes when you’re bringing in young, talented people.”
Exciting youngster Taj Hotton built into his season late after a cruel ACL injury derailed his first campaign, while Lalor has undergone surgery on his troublesome hamstring in the hope he can be firing for 2026.
There was unfortunate news this week with young gun Josh Smillie sent for surgery on a troublesome quad in the hope that he will be playing by February.
Sam Banks, Jonty Faull, Tyler Sonsie – they’re all part of the new wave.
“There’s a lot of optimism,” O’Rourke says, on and off the field.
“I think our fans have been great in that I think they understand where we’re at, but I think they also want to enjoy it.
“I think they’re enjoying the journey even so far, with the little wins and the progress and seeing young guys coming through. I’d say that there’s a lot more of that to come, but at the same time we know it’s not going to come easy, just because we’ve got talent and time. I think there’s a real energy around the place to really drive hard in a football program but across the whole club.
“Yes, we know there’s a hell of a lot of hard work ahead of us, and that’s what we’re all committed to. Not just letting it happen. Next year, we’re going to have to work really hard and Shane and his team … through to 2030. A big part of it was just everyday excellence in everything we do – to make the most of the opportunities, of which there are many on and off the field. Excitement and enjoyment is what we want to see through next year.”
There have been moments, over recent months.
Key defender Noah Balta was last January charged with assault, to which he pleaded guilty.
Premiership midfielder Dion Prestia will face court after he was charged earlier this month, alongside Demon Steven May, for their alleged involvement in a Sorrento brawl last December.
Both have staunchly maintained their innocence.
“He’s been honest with us from day one, we know he’s an honest person and we’ve believed him from the start,” Dunne said.
“He said he wasn’t there. He was certainly in the vicinity but wasn’t there for the incident. “The overwhelming thing with Dion is he’s looking forward to getting his name cleared. “That’s what he wants and to be able to get on with football and his life. That’s now got to play out in the courts.”
Standing over Punt Road Oval since 1913 was the Jack Dyer Stand, which was demolished in August to make way for a multimillion dollar redevelopment overseen by O’Rourke and Dunne.
Benches, beams and bricks from the historic stand will form parts of the redevelopment, which is striking in its size now that diggers and hard hats have replaced the famed vantage points with the vastness of the job evident.
It’s been years in the making, with the funding still ongoing and the club’s men’s and women’s teams quite literally in the middle of the rebuild.
The back wall of the club’s theatrette – home to team meetings – is the separation to the construction zone.
“You can feel it when you’re sitting in team meetings. They’re not complaining or whinging that you can’t hear the coach for 30 seconds while they’re drilling right there,” Dunne said.
“They’re just embracing what’s to come and it’s a really good metaphor for where the club is at.
“We’re rebuilding, but from this position of strength. Everyone is embracing it and enjoying that there’s things that are going to be thrown at us, but we’re up for the fight.”
The club is expected to relocate temporarily from the end of next season for around seven months, with Waverley Park thrown up as one potential option after it was purchased by the AFL earlier this year.
Though Dunne – who wouldn’t be drawn on specifics – said another option closer to home was also being eyed.
“(Waverley) is one of the considerations. There’s another that is probably our preference, but there’s a bit to play out on that,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that it’s central to here. Richmond is an important part of why we wanted to stay here. We could have gone and got bigger land and less compromised sites, but Richmond is a really key part of our DNA and who we are, so staying home in Richmond is really important.”
The club has also recently finalised its next strategic plan – its most famous coming from Gale in 2010 when he outlined the club’s wildly ambitious intent to win three premierships and reach at least 75,000 members by 2020.
It worked.
While this latest plan “doesn’t have a headline, as such”, Dunne says, the determination remains.
“Unashamedly, we want to win our 14th AFL premiership and our first AFLW premiership,” he said.
“That’s what we’re shooting for, but there is a lot of hard work that needs to go into that now, both on field and off-field.
“But we’re doing this from a position of strength. We’ve got people in the club that know how to do this. We’ve done this in recent years. It’s now about using all that expertise and building this next generation through, in both programs which is really important. There’s an overwhelming sense of enjoyment, confidence, but a lot of work to come.”
Financially the club is stable, Dunne says, with the redevelopment still not fully funded, the club grateful for the support of government and generous members.
Tasmania looms as a home destination for the next two seasons after the club this week announced it would play one home game on the Apple Isle for the next two years with commercial considerations a reality.
It would also like to exit from po-ker machines in time, when it can source a suitable replacement stream for that revenue – which has netted millions.
Anything but outspoken, O’Rourke – an esteemed businessman and co-founder and non-executive director of Plenary, an independent investor, developer and manager of public infrastructure projects – has served on the Richmond board since 2015.
To have followed the success of the formidable O’Neal and Gale force could be seen as big shoes to fill for this pair.
O’Rourke doesn’t see it that way.
“Obviously there’s been some great highs and some great people in leading that … but there’s a realisation that you’ve got to go and rejuvenate and go again, and you can’t get too high and low about that,” he said.
“The good thing about our board is that the focus is always on three, five, seven, 10 years ahead and not getting too caught up in the day-to-day of the results. I think we’re very good at that. We’re very good at steering the course. And just enjoy the journey. The journey is a lot of fun. I think we’re in a really sound place.
“I’m really proud of the way we’ve come from 20 years ago and 10 years ago to now.
“The foundations, thoughts and ideas will be handed on and good people will come in and we’ve got good processes in place to ensure that good people roll through and pick it up.”
Term limits are in place at Punt Road, meaning he is always looking ahead – though don’t expect him to be too vocal publicly.
“At Richmond, I think we’re very conscious not just individually but as a collective around the board, that we’re employing a great executive team and it’s our job to give them guidance and counsel when we can,” he said.
“But they’re the ones to be front and centre with our football department. If there’s a way that I can contribute, I’m happy to be out there and happy to be the public face. I’ve enjoyed being in front of our members and at events more so than perhaps media coverage, but I think that’s the appropriate role. There’s enough to do behind the scenes.”
Looking ahead, O’Rourke said the club would be open to welcoming back its heroes wherever possible, with triple-premiership defender David Astbury joining the board last month.
“To have a person of his integrity and values and high performance smarts to come onto the board is a brilliant appointment so we’re looking forward to that. But the door is always open to other players to make a contribution,” he said.
“In some respects, I think it’s been good for them to have a bit of a break, but I think knowing a number of them, they love the Tigers and in good time, we’ll create the conditions where if they want to give back, they can and they’ll enjoy doing that.”
https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/president-john-orourke-and-ceo-shane-dunne-on-richmonds-new-era/news-story/d6f064840834e7d3c84413536fb76acf
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