Former North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell has joined Richmond's coaching ranks for next season following his retirement with the Kangaroos.
Ziebell called time on his 280-game, 15-year tenure at Arden Street this year, where he served as skipper across six seasons before handing over the captaincy ahead of the 2023 campaign.
The 32-year-old has been involved with North Melbourne's AFLW program in a coaching capacity for their current campaign, with the forward-defender utility now set to venture to Punt Road in the next step of his coaching journey.
The Tigers announced the addition of Ziebell on Friday, with former Roo joining newly-appointed senior coach Adem Yze and returning ex-captain Chris Newman at Richmond from this coming pre-season.
โThis is a great opportunity to work with Adem and the coaches as they embark on a new and exciting journey at the Tigers,โ Ziebell said in a club statement.
โI'm looking forward to getting to know the team and to draw on my experiences as a player to hopefully teach and guide the team to getting back up the ladder.โ
Yze was appointed to the senior coaching role last month, succeeding triple premiership coach Damien Hardwick following his resignation in May.
Andrew McQualter had led the Tigers as a caretaker coach following Hardwick's exit, but would lose out to Yze in the coaching race as the latter made the move from Melbourne.
The Tigers have since bid farewell to McQualter, who has joined the Demons, and fellow assistant Xavier Clarke, who has joined the Kangaroos.
Richmond football boss Tom Livingstone spoke highly of Ziebell following the club's latest coaching change.
โJack is a high character leader who has had 15 years experience at the top level. Whilst the majority of his career was played on ball he has also played forward and behind the ball so he has studied the game from all angles and that's important for the role he will play for us.
โHe's a driven professional who has spent the last part of his career developing his leadership skills with the ambition to take on a coaching role. He exudes passion and excitement about coming to Richmond and helping to contribute to our success.
โAs a recently retired player he will bring great benefit to our players and we in turn bring him into a coaching team that is highly experienced and supportive and will help him to develop into the coach he wants to be.โ
Ziebell's role at Richmond is set to officially get underway later this year.
