RICHMOND'S new coach Adem Yze is already daring to dream of steering the Tigers straight back into the top four, with Dustin Martin front and centre of his new era.
Richmond confirmed on Thursday night that Yze had won the job ahead of caretaker Andrew McQualter as Damien Hardwick's full-time replacement.
The Tigers finished 13th this season and are in transition following the retirement of club greats Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt.
But on Friday, the same day first-year coach Adam Kingsley leads Greater Western Sydney in a once-unlikely preliminary final, Yze could not help but eye a similar turnaround at Punt Road.
"We're not going to put a ceiling on where we could finish," Yze said.
"I get huge upside on watching what other teams have done.
"GWS have gone from the bottom half of the ladder to playing in a prelim tonight.
"Not to say that's what we're going to do but that's what we're going to strive to do.
"I want our players walking into the footy club thinking that they can make the top four next year, but we won't put a ceiling on it."
If Richmond is to deliver something special, it'll need Martin firing.
The 32-year-old superstar will remain at Richmond for at least the next year, rather than joining Hardwick at Gold Coast, as he pushes to play 300 games.
"I can't wait to work with him," Yze said. "He's an amazing player, amazing person, an amazing Richmond man.
"To be at the footy club when he plays his 300th game's going to be an amazing opportunity for me.
"He had a terrific season last year and I can see not only the next year, I can see a fair few solid years out of Dusty.
"I'm hoping I can just help deliver that with a nice clear role for him and (he can) have some impact on games like he normally does."
Yze was told of his appointment on his 46th birthday by club president John O'Rourke.
Chief executive Brendon Gale said the introduction of a fresh voice was a factor in the decision to appoint Yze, after Richmond at times looked "unrecognisable" early in the season.
"Clearly there was an appetite for some change," Gale said.
Yze never doubted he could coach, but admitted he had started to "second guess" whether he should keep applying for roles.
He was second choice for the Adelaide job which Matthew Nicks won in 2019, narrowly missed out to Kingsley for the GWS senior coaching role and was beaten to the Essendon hot seat by Brad Scott.
Yze played 271 games for Melbourne before starting his coaching career at Hawthorn in 2012, working under Alastair Clarkson during the Hawks' 2013-15 flag three-peat.
He returned to Melbourne as an assistant in 2021 under Simon Goodwin and helped the Demons snap their 57-year premiership drought that season.
Triple-premiership coach Hardwick quit Richmond in May after 13-and-a-half seasons, with stand-in McQualter leading the Tigers to seven wins from 13 games to end the season.
Yze said he would welcome McQualter as his right-hand man but the former caretaker appears destined for a fresh start elsewhere.
"If he stays I'd love him to stay at the footy club," Yze said.
"He's created some strong relationships, he understands the place.
"So I'd have no issue with him staying around and being my right-hand man.
"But if he does move on - we'll find that out in the next few days - he'll go with our blessing and I'll try and fill that spot."
Last year, McQualter was chased by his former coach Ross Lyon to join the St Kilda panel before opting to remain at Richmond.
Gale said whether McQualter would stay "remains to be seen".
"We'll give him some time and space and Adem will sit down with Andrew and Tim Livingstone and Blair Hartley and work through that," Gale said.
"He put 10 years into this club, he put his heart into it, he did a wonderful job. He'll be disappointed, naturally and we'll address that with some time.
"It's tough. The club's been like a family to him, he's been a really important part of our club and a really important part of delivering great success.
"So these decisions are never easy, you've got to make a decision based on the based interests of the club and the club's needs now and future needs.
"So they're hard decisions but we think we've made a really, really strong one."
Former Carlton and St Kilda coach Brett Ratten, who was caretaker at North Melbourne this year, is among those in the mix for a role in Yze's new set-up.
