NEW RICHMOND chief executive Brendon Gale will play a part in appointing the club’s next senior coach.

Gale, who on Monday announced his resignation as CEO of the AFL Players’ Association to take on the main job at Punt Road, said he would finalise in the coming days exactly when he would begin work at his former club.

However, the man who will take over from Steven Wright – who will step down due to health concerns – says he will be kept abreast of any coaching developments.

The first round of interviews have already taken place for Richmond’s next full-time coach, with current caretaker coach Jade Rawlings among a host of candidates.

“I think the club has been very robust in the process it put in place and they’ve stuck to that process, but given the importance of that decision, I’d certainly have an involvement in the appointment of that coach,” Gale said upon his announcement on Monday morning.

“I think it’s extremely important for me and the coach.”

Gale, who has been chief executive of the AFLPA since 2005, said it was “appropriate” that he resigned from his duties at the AFLPA immediately.

Current AFLPA general manager of operations, Matt Finnis, will assume the position of interim chief executive officer. Gale will play a role in the handover process.

“In the meantime, I’ll be getting briefings on the respective [coaching] candidates and where they’re at and I’ll look forward to joining the club towards the end of the season,” Gale said.

Gale, who played 244 matches for the Tigers from 1990-2001, knows the significance of the coaching position.

He admitted Richmond had had “issues” in the past, but he didn’t believe the club possessed a losing culture.

“I think clearly we’ve under-performed, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“The club is a very successful club, it’s been a very powerful club – often regarded as a ‘Big Four’ club.

“I think it’s fair to say it’s not a 'Big Four' club right now.

“I think the expectations that our supporters, our community, the Richmond family have of the club are very, very high, and so they should be.

“I think when our club falls short of those expectations, we get marked pretty hard. And that’s okay, we’ll deal with that - but we’ve got to do what we can do, and we’ve got to build for the future and be the best we can be. And I’m sure we will.”