AFL 2026 Richmond v Melbourne: As the Tigers and Demons clash on Anzac Day eve, it’s clear just how hard Adem Yze’s task as coach has become
Opinion
“We never weaken til the final siren’s gone.”
The Richmond Football Club’s spine-tingling song has many great lines in it, and evokes the passion and vigour among the Tigers’ supporters that few clubs can match.
The MCG is a cauldron when the Tigers are “risking head and shin” and playing “strong and bold”. Their raucous supporters legitimately become the team’s 19th man on the field.
But the players have to give them that energy to get it in return.
Adem Yze, I think, can coach. But, at the moment, he is being asked to do the job with blindfold on and one arm tied behind his back. The club has embarked on a clear direction – rebuilding with youth. But the Tigers have so many injuries – to new and experienced players – and many of their senior leaders are not in their best form.
AFL football is hard enough at the best of times, but it’s been even tougher for Yze’s men in the past two years. They just haven’t had a stable side to pick from, and that has robbed the coach of an opportunity to implement a noticeable game style either side of the ball.
On Friday night, they play Melbourne. Revitalised under Steven King, the Demons have their senior players in great form, with Max Gawn, Kysaiah Pickett and Jack Steele leading the charge.
To cause an upset, Yze will need his team to concentrate on a basics of football, become the “fighting fury” and be uncompromising.
The Tigers could look back to their upset win of round three, 2024, when they rolled Sydney, at that time one of the hottest teams in the competition and on their way to playing in a grand final. The relentless pressure the Tigers put on their opponents that day was infectious. They played like the Tigers of old (well, the Tigers of a few years earlier). Sydney were given no space to move, and the MCG felt like it was going to lift off as the fervent support from the stands reached fever-pitch.
No one expects Richmond to play finals in 2026. But that doesn’t mean meek performances are acceptable.
Winless from their first six games, their losses have been by four, 68, 60, 42, 56 and 75 points.
In that situation, it’s important to keep things simple. The players need instructions that are clear, concise and measurable, as a former coach once told me.
If I was in Yze’s position, I’d be getting a “best-of” video to give the players positive reinforcement and show them examples of the efforts and acts they need to deliver. The theory is, if they see it, they will believe it.
Tell the players: “We are going to win the tackle count. Don’t you dare come back into the huddle at quarter-time without a tackle to your name. We are going to have a pressure factor above 185 for each quarter. Finally, we are going to restrict Melbourne’s uncontested marks; nothing easy is coming the Demons’ way. Force them to kick long to a contest, and when we bring the ball to ground our tackling and pressure will take over.
Coaches these days know they can’t rely on emotion every week. But, at a packed MCG, on the eve of Anzac Day, against a traditional foe with the team’s back against the wall, it is time for Yze to spike the emotions of his players.
The test of his coaching will be in how he gets each of his players to respond.
Yes, the Tigers are in a tough spot, but it’s time for this talented, but young, group of players to show a bit more of what they have got. Not just their talent, but their character, their desire, their will to win and their ability to do something inspiring that gets the Tigers’ faithful out of their seat.
And if they do, the Richmond masses just might get the opportunity to reprise that spine-tingling song again: “For we’re from Tiger, Yellow and Black, We’re from Tigerland.”
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Jimmy Bartel won three premierships with Geelong, is a two-time All-Australian, is a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, and works for Nine and 3AW.
