Richmond has secured the services of highly-regarded AFL assistant coach Blake Caracella.

Caracella, 39, joins the Tigers’ coaching panel following a successful seven-season stint as an assistant coach at Geelong, including the Cats’ 2011 premiership campaign.

Previous to that, Caracella spent three years as a member of Collingwood’s coaching panel.

He also had a decorated league playing career, winning premierships at both Essendon (2000) and Brisbane (2003), and also spending a couple of seasons on-field with the Magpies.

A talented small forward, Caracella played 126 games and kicked 151 goals for the Bombers from 1997-2002, then had 34 games and 33 goals at the Lions from 2003-04, before finishing with 27 games and 34 goals for the Pies from 2005-06.

Caracella worked under Richmond’s new General Manager – Football, Neil Balme, for five years at Geelong and was a teammate of the Tigers’ senior coach Damien Hardwick in Essendon’s 2000 premiership side.

He is renowned as an astute thinker of the game and in 2015 was one of nine league assistant coaches to be accepted into the elite level-four coaching program run by the AFL.

“Blake has impressive credentials, experiencing great success throughout his playing and coaching career, and we’re really excited that he’s joining our coaching ranks,” Balme said.

“I know what a quality person Blake is, and can’t speak highly enough of him, having spent a number of years working with him as both a player and a coach.

“We’re looking forward to him hitting the ground running along with Damien, the other coaches, and the players at the start of the 2017 pre-season.”