AFL 2024: Richmond steps away from club leadership tradition

Richmond’s transformation under new coach Adem Yze has taken another step with the club breaking from tradition to name an expanded leadership group for 2024.

Liam Baker, Jayden Short and returning star forward Tom Lynch have been named joint vice-captains, with all assuming leadership roles at the club for the first time as the Tigers move away from the streamlined model implemented under Damien Hardwick.

The four-man group is Richmond’s largest since 2016, when the publicly announced leaders were limited to a captain and one or two deputies.

Lynch has been elevated to the Richmond leadership group for the first time after he was co-captain of the Gold Coast Suns in 2017-18 before defecting to the Tigers,

Richmond football boss Tim Livingstone said the appointment of the trio to support captain Toby Nankervis was a “terrific acknowledgment” of their standing among peers at Punt Road.

“We are fortunate to have a strong group of leaders right across the playing list, which is invaluable for our club,” Livingstone said.

“Part of our 2024 leadership model is having Toby as captain, and Liam, Jayden, and Tom as vice-captains, which is a terrific acknowledgment for them given our selection process is heavily driven by the players and endorsed by our coaches and staff,” he said.

“All four guys have great respect across our club and the broader competition, and it is exciting to have their support, along with the contributions of all of our playing group to lead us forward.”

Nankervis took the outright captaincy after Dylan Grimes stepped down from the shared role last month.

The restructure also comes after the retirements of triple premiership captain Trent Cotchin and fellow leader Jack Riewoldt, and has not been the only aesthetic change made at Punt Road since Damien Hardwick’s departure.

Yze had photos from the Tigers’ premiership dynasty relocated from the club’s main meeting room in a bid to free his players from the pressure of living up to the dominant side several years on.

Richmond midfielder Jacob Hopper said last week the change had been welcomed by current players, but had been done with respect towards the past premiership Tigers.

“To create that natural sort of change and new voice has got the whole group really bought in and excited about the year ahead and the footy that we’re going to play,” Hopper said about Yze’s arrival.

“I mean the (premiership references) are not down everywhere, because we definitely want to respect this great club that we play for and the success that they’ve had, but no doubt it’s such a new group.

“There’s so many new faces, so it’s about making it our own … the group we have now is what we are, and who we are is the Richmond Football Club.”