New Richmond VFL coach Jake Batchelor is loving his time back at Tigerland.
Batchelor, who played 84 senior games with Richmond from 2011-17, returned to Punt Road following a four-year stint as Sandringham’s coach, and he’s relishing working with the vast number of talented Tiger cubs on the playing list, including the eight top-notch teenagers recruited in the 2024 AFL national draft.
The prospect of coaching many of them at VFL level this season genuinely excites him.
“I think I’ve got one of the best roles at the Club,” Batchelor said on this week’s episode of the Talking Tigers podcast.
“I’m so bullish, because the (football) program is so strong and the VFL portion of that has done a really good job.
“Being able to see and help and guide some really talented, good people as well, it’s going to be really exciting . . .
“Hopefully, in three, four, five years’ time, whenever it may be, they’re (the young players) at the peak of their powers.
“It will be good to look back and go, you started with your time in the VFL. It might be one week for some, it might not be at all. Some players never play VFL at all, but some take two or three years to burn away . . .
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“Whatever it is, we’ve got a great program and I’m looking forward to it . . .
“The program’s running really smoothly, really well, so a lot of my role is to not stuff the momentum up.
“The players are in place, the people, the staff, they’re all in place, so a lot of it’s just around managing the expectations, sticking to similar protocols to the AFL program, on and off the field.”
Batchelor has a strong people-first focus as part of his coaching philosophy.
“I’d argue that being connected as people is probably more important than being on the same page game plan-wise . . . If you’re on the same page, you can communicate with each other, or you can give each other feedback. You can celebrate all the little wins together,” Batchelor said.
“I want to have fun, I want us to get the best out of ourselves, and I want us to not be content playing VFL either, for the AFL program.
“I think there’s an opportunity and an expectation that if you’re playing VFL you buy into that program, but knowing that it’s there, to challenge the AFL, so this club can get back to where it needs to be.”
