Richmond has announced that Jade Rawlings and Craig McRae will not continue at the club next season, with both agreeing to join the Brisbane Lions Football Club in coaching roles.
Fellow Tigers’ coaching panel members Brian Royal and David King have also departed Punt Road since the end of the 2009 season.
Rawlings joined Richmond in 2007 as an assistant coach, combining that duty with a senior coaching role with the Club’s VFL affiliate, Coburg, in 2008.
He became a development coach at Richmond in 2009, while continuing as Coburg’s senior coach. But when Terry Wallace vacated the senior coaching role at Richmond mid-year, Rawlings took over as the Tigers’ caretaker coach for the rest of the season. He subsequently guided the team to three wins, a draw, and seven losses in the final 11 home-and-away rounds.
McRae, a triple premiership player with Brisbane, spent three years at Tigerland as a development coach. He stepped into the senior coaching position at Coburg midway through the 2009 season, replacing Rawlings.
Royal had stints as an assistant coach at the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, before joining Richmond in an assistant coaching role in 2005. He was initially in charge of the team’s midfield, before taking over forward line duties this season.
King also spent five years at Punt Road as defensive coach, following a decorated 241-game career at North Melbourne.
Richmond Forward Scout Gordon Casey also departed the club following the 2009 season.
Wayne Campbell will continue as the Tigers’ midfield coach in 2010, while announcements on replacements for the departing coaches will be made in due course.
