With Round 1 against Carlton fast approaching, Senior Coach Adem Yze joined SEN to share key insights into the 2026 campaign, including an update on the progress of young defender Josh Gibcus.
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Having endured an injury-riddled start to his career, Gibcus has worked diligently to get himself back to the level of senior footy and is looking to make a real impact this season.
“I feel on the weekend he really started to back himself and trust his body,” Yze told SEN.
“To be fair, he has had a horrendous two years, so you can understand in the first couple of games why he could be a bit tentative, but by the time we hit the ground on Thursday night, we expect him to go out there and just be really confident in the body of work that he has put in.
“We got him into the seniors last year, so he could go away and understand how fast the game is and what it means to be an AFL footballer.
“He has had a great off-season and has done some sprint training off his own bat, so he is ready. It’s just going to take a bit of time to get that belief and confidence in his body.
“I expect him to play like the Josh Gibcus we know and the guy that showed his form in his first season; which was outstanding.”
Building on Richmond’s two pre-season practice matches, Yze has gathered valuable data that will help his young Tigers prepare for Round 1.
“We have gone into each game wanting to try different things, and in both of those games we have had some positives. That is what you want heading into the season,” Yze said.
“You want to see what you have been working on, and see how players execute that and see that it does work against other teams.
“Other areas in games haven’t been good enough. So, the first game you are just trying to get game time. Over the weekend we tried a few different things early, and then we wanted to really settle our team from quarter-time onwards.
“It was more around getting minutes into players and then trying to fine-tune our game plan, so we have had some positives and then realised that there were parts of our game that we are still trying to work on.”
One success Yze has taken from Richmond’s shortened hit-out against Melbourne in Ballarat, was the work from the midfield group.
Sam Lalor and Kane McAuliffe look to be building strength, offering up their explosive running and ability to win the ball cleanly at stoppage.
McAuliffe finished the match with 17 disposals, seven marks and 461 meters gained to cap off a dominant performance. Yze is confident that his midfield crop has really stepped up its output over the course of the pre-season.
“I feel like we have a really strong midfield group,” Yze said.
“Our midfield numbers weren’t good enough last year, so we have put a lot of time, effort and coaching into that area of the ground, so I really want to see a spike, and our players understand that and are driven by their craft.
“I’ve been really excited from what I have seen at training and in parts of the game against Melbourne. That’s one area of the ground that I’m really enjoying and can’t wait to see against Carlton next Thursday.”
As he begins his third season as Richmond's Senior Coach, Yze remains focused on the development of his playing group, rather than getting caught up in the wins and losses.
“I think as a Football Club and as a person, we are always impatient to try and get back and win every week, because you want to taste that success as quickly as you can, but not when you’re coaching a young side,” Yze said.
"Obviously, the main reason we coach is to win a flag and win games, but the reason why you start coaching is to help players improve. My eyes are purely on helping fast-track the development of our players.
“We understand as a footy Club how long that can take. But there is no way I’m going to be telling my players leading into Round 1 that we will be talking about [winning a flag in] 2028. We want to win now, and we want to win week-to-week.”
