The Richmond coaching race is starting to heat up with plenty of targets being rumoured in the running for the job.
Ex-coach Damien Hardwick departed the club back in May and has recently taken up the coaching gig at the Gold Coast.
Interim coach Andrew McQualter has been taking care of the Tigers since Hardwick's departure and has emerged as a possible candidate for the head coach role in the future. The opportunity for an individual to coach Richmond is one of the most talked about openings in recent times, only matched with the North Melbourne signing of Alastair Clarkson at the end of 2022.
Speaking on SEN, reporter Tom Morris broke the news that Adem Yze (currently at Melbourne), Andrew McQualter, Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon), Xavier Clarke (Richmond) and former Tiger's skipper Chris Newman (coaching at Hawthorn) are seen as the leading contenders for the role.
After news broke of the possible targets for the Tigers, Melbourne's Head of Football Alan Richardson confirmed that Yze had indeed been targeted by the Tigers, with the former Saints head coach revealing he had answered a phone call from Tigers General Manager of Football Performance Tim Livingstone, enquiring about hiring Yze.
“Tim Livingstone gave me a call to have a chat about Yze, and my understanding is he's in the mix and we'll go through that process and we're incredibly supportive of that,” Richardson told SEN.
“The only deal that we've had to make with him is that if he is successful then we would want him to continue with us all the way through and hopefully we go late into the finals campaign and he's a big part of that and then he would go with our blessing, we'd be incredibly proud if that was to happen.
“He's a quality person and a quality coach, so we're supportive of that.”
Yze was been linked with a number of clubs over the last few years, most recently GWS and Essendon last year. Prior to that, he was linked with Collingwood at the end of 2021 after the departure of Nathan Buckley.
The Demons' midfield coach has been a staple in the club's coaching department since joining in 2020. He was a part of Melbourne's first premiership since 1964 in a historic year for the club in 2021.
Morris reported that Richmond want to make their decision either just before or just after the 2023 AFL Grand Final on September 30.