Richmond have announced a change in reserves management, appointing former Tiger Jake Batchelor to steer the club's VFL program as its newest head coach.
Former teammate of Batchelor, 35-year-old Steven Morris has been promoted to take on an AFL assistant gig, vacating the role for his old mate to snatch.
Batchelor was delisted by the Tigers at the end of 2017 after an 84-game career, missing out on the drought-breaking flag that season, and subsequently announced his retirement at just 26 years old.
He joined the Frankston Dolphins in 2018 as a playing assistant coach before he was made senior coach of the Sandringham Zebras at the conclusion of the 2020 season.
Having spent four years in that role, as well as holding a development position with St Kilda, Batchelor is now making the move back to his former club and has expressed his excitement upon return.
“The place is the same, but there are plenty of new faces,” he said.
“That is the exciting part… building new relationships and being able to create something together is what I am really looking forward to.
“I love the idea of being able to help and contribute to the start of a new journey with lots of young players coming through and seeing how far we can progress as a Club.”
Richmond's Football GM Tim Livingstone echoed Batchelor's excitement before sharing a brief compliment for the promoted coach Steven Morris, who has finalised a successful tenure for Richmond's reserves, winning well over 50% of his games and pulling a 10-8 record out of a tumultuous 2024 campaign for the entire club.
“Jake has a passion for working with athletes to challenge, motivate, and inspire them to reach their potential,” he said.
“He is a young, energetic, and relatable coach with excellent game knowledge and of course also a great person.
“We are thrilled to be welcoming Jake back to Richmond.
“Steve has done a great job with our VFL program across a number of years and stepping into the role as an AFL assistant coach will be another great step for his coaching development.
“As a captain and coach, his contribution to the VFL set-up has been profound.”