Richmond has looked within its four walls to appoint a VFLW ruck coach.
After being approached by Richmond’s AFLW football operations manager Kate Sheahan, CEO Brendon Gale will offer his expertise to the Club’s inaugural group of VFLW players.
“I’m excited and proud to be the new VFLW ruck coach,” Gale said.
“The enthusiasm is infectious and there’s some real talent here.
“There are some girls who are really, really keen to get better. We’ve seen improvement in 20-25 minutes.
“I’m working with the taller girls who are likely to play key position or ruck and talking a bit about ruck and marking techniques.”
Gale is the third coaching appointment for the VFLW Tigers.
He joins VFLW and Academy coach Tom Hunter and assistant coach Shaun Smith.
Under the watchful eye of Sheahan, Richmond VFLW is building its list ahead of its Round 1 clash against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, May 5.
The Tigers were granted a VFLW licence for the 2018 season, before the Club enters the AFLW competition in 2020.
Click here to view the 2018 VFLW fixture.
Gale said the Club was excited about growing its female football program.
“We’re really excited to have a women’s program, we’re really excited about entering the VFLW competition and we’re really excited about AFLW in 2020,” Gale said.
“We’ve got some great coaches in Tom Hunter and Shaun Smith.
“I sit at a desk all day, I probably don’t have as much of a hands-on role with footy, in fact I have none, so it’s a great chance to get involved with the girls and almost feed off their enthusiasm.”
“We want to provide them with as much experience and support to help them thrive and grow as quickly as possible. Hopefully I can help with this process.”
Sheahan is still looking to expand her coaching panel and approached Gale – a former Richmond player.
“He’s in a unique position because he’s the CEO of the club but he also played 244 games as a centre half forward and ruck,” Sheahan said.
“We thought why not utilise him out here on the ground with the girls. He can teach them some of the things and tricks of the trade that he was taught when he was a Richmond footballer.”
Sheahan hoped Gale’s impact would be felt both on and off the field.
She said his willingness to get involved with the program showed that the Club embraced female football.
“I was trying to think of a way to give the girls a little bit of motivation and inspiration,” Sheahan said.
“I was thinking what we’re going to do is get some specialist coaches in every now and then to do some work with the girls whether it be a kicking coach, a tackling coach.
“Then Brendon crossed my mind and I thought ‘You know what, let’s get the CEO’s hands dirty’.
“I sold it to him as really good opportunity to get to know the girls, see what the program’s doing and have an impact not just in the office but out on the track.”
One of the players Gale had an impact on was Alice Edmonds.
Edmonds joined the VFLW Tigers from the Sandringham Dragons this year and standing at 192cm tall, she plays in the ruck.
“It was so great to have Brendon (at training), such a high influence at the club, taking time out to invest in our program,” Edmonds said.
“Going through some of the ruck skills and positioning was really great to see from an influential player. It really helped improve our skills and base knowledge of rucking game.”
Edmonds, 19, said Gale took players back to basics at his first training session on Wednesday night.
“We started with some basic drills, going up against the bag,” she said.
“Coordinating the hand and knee movement at the same time, for me particularly, doesn’t come as naturally.
“It’s not something we’ve done growing up, coming from all different sporting backgrounds, so the physicality of it is something we really focused on and protecting ourselves as we went up for the ball.”
