Updated ,first published
In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:
- Melbourne football boss to depart at season’s end.
- Essendon’s poor performances and horror fixture is set to hurt them financially.
- Tim Watson backs former rival’s appraisal of beleaguered Bombers.
- Richmond’s Nathan Broad pulls pin on AFL career.
- The Tasmania Devils have unveiled their new head of development.
Melbourne and football boss Alan Richardson are parting ways after seven seasons with the veteran official at the helm.
Richardson joined the Demons in 2020 after he finished up as St Kilda coach and was a key figure in Melbourne’s drought-breaking premiership in 2021.
Two competition sources with knowledge of the situation, but who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Richardson was leaving at the season’s end.
He informed key football department personnel in the past week that this season would be his last at the club.
Richardson was part of the group who told Simon Goodwin he was being sacked as coach last August after the Melbourne board decided to move on the coach.
The Demons then appointed a new coach, Steven King, and Ned Guy joined the football department as chief of football and innovation. The club has surged under their leadership, defying pre-season expectations to sit in sixth spot of the ladder.
The club had to apologise this year to the partner of premiership player Steven May after Richardson, then club CEO Paul Guerra and King held an online meeting with players’ partners to discuss his potential departure from the club.
They released a statement after settling the matter with May’s partner Sachi Dade after she had complained to the club and initiated legal action.
“In February 2026, the Melbourne Football Club leadership team divulged personal and sensitive information about Ms Dade. We acknowledge that this was inappropriate and constituted a serious invasion of her privacy.
“… Our senior leaders, including the board, the incoming CEO and our leaders in the football department, are committed to taking all steps necessary to ensure this does not happen again. We sincerely apologise to Ms Dade and her family for the hurt, distress and impact our actions have caused.”
Also on Tuesday, Demons premiership player Tom McDonald announced his retirement, effective as of the end of the season. He has played 256 matches, including last week’s win over Gold Coast, after being selected with pick No.53 in the 2010 national draft.
– Peter Ryan
How the Bombers’ season from hell stands to affect their bottom line
Andrew Wu
Essendon’s dwindling crowds could cost the club a low six-figure sum in revenue as the effects of their poor season come back to bite.
An industry source with knowledge of how crowd figures affect Essendon’s bottom line, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told this masthead the recent low crowds from a horror fixture could cost the Bombers about $200,000 across the year.
Bombers supporters have dropped off in alarming numbers lately, plummeting to levels not seen since 2016 when 34 players were suspended for the drugs saga, and their faith will be further tested in final rounds of the season.
The crowd of 14,601 for the Bombers’ shock win against GWS three weeks ago was the club’s lowest home attendance since round 21 in 1991, against the Brisbane Bears when the Dons still called Windy Hill home.
The turnout for the round 19 win against the Giants is one of the Bombers’ lowest crowds at home since the start of the AFL era in 1990. That figure was only marginally higher than the 14,463 who watched the Bombers take on the Giants in round 13 of their ruinous 2016 season when the club claimed its first wooden spoon since 1933.
Only 20,518 turned up for the Bombers’ 72-point hammering by Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. That figure is the lowest for games between those clubs at Docklands, including the 2021 season, when crowd restrictions were in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bombers refused to be drawn on the extent of the financial fallout but told this masthead any downturn in crowds at the end of the season were offset by strong attendances earlier in the year.
The Bombers drew 71,384 for their opening game of the season against Hawthorn, which was billed as a grudge match after former skipper Zach Merrett’s failed trade to the Hawks. Marquee games like the Anzac Day blockbuster and the King’s Birthday eve clash against Carlton were also their home matches.
Those crowds are a major reason the Bombers’ average home crowd of 44,505 is in the top six in the league, behind Collingwood, Carlton, ladder leader Fremantle, Adelaide and West Coast.
Essendon’s draw for the floating part of the fixture has not been kind commercially. With four of their final five games at home and against non-Victorian clubs, the Bombers were vulnerable to having their drawing power affected significantly by on-field performances. The Bombers have won just two of their past 33 games.
They were banished from the prized Thursday and Friday-night slots and dealt three home games in the dreaded late Sunday-afternoon graveyard shifts, including the two matches against the Giants and Crows.
Their run home features another late Sunday-afternoon game, against Sydney at the MCG next weekend, before a season finale against lowly Port Adelaide on a Sunday at 12.20pm.
– Andrew Wu
Bombers great Watson takes aim at former club
Jon Pierik
Essendon’s coaching exodus has continued with another assistant coach about to leave the club, while Bombers great Tim Watson has taken aim at his former club for “dobbing” in Leigh Matthews for his comments about the club’s coaching process.
The Bombers confirmed on Tuesday that forwards coach Cam Roberts would leave the club at the end of the 2026 season, just like football department general manager Dan McPherson, whose departure was announced five days earlier.
They join senior coach Brad Scott, assistant Ben Jacobs and head of psychology Ben Robbins among those departing the club this year.
It was Matthews’ comments about the Bombers’ search for Scott’s replacement that lit a fuse on Saturday. The four-time premiership coach – one of the AFL’s most respected voices – told 3AW he would have “no confidence” to coach the Bombers under the current administration, adding: “If I was a coach, I wouldn’t be going to Essendon”.
The Bombers were privately upset with Matthews’ comments on Saturday when contacted by this masthead, given the Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend is a Brisbane Lions club director, but they went a step further on Sunday when chief executive Tim Roberts sent a transcript of Matthews’ comments to the AFL, as reported by Seven’s Agenda Setters.
Bombers president Andrew Welsh also contacted Lions chairman Andrew Wellington for an explanation of Matthews’ comments.
Three-time premiership great Watson, speaking on SEN on Tuesday, said Matthews, the former Hawks hard nut who clashed against the Bombers in three grand finals in the 1980s, was within his rights to comment.
“Leigh is very considered and has powerful conversations from time to time, and he’s very direct in what he has to say,” Watson, the former Bombers skipper, told SEN.
“He’s not somebody that goes out there looking for clickbait, he’s not a hot-taker. There’s enough evidence around to suggest that what he’s saying not completely untrue, either.
“I don’t know whether I would have gone to that degree, had I been at Essendon, that I thought, ‘OK, I need to go to the AFL and get some sort of comment from them’.”
The AFL will not take action against Matthews, insisting it’s a club-based issue.
When asked if there was an insecurity at the bottom-placed Bombers, Watson said: “I think there’s a lot going on at the club at the moment.
“They’re staring down the wooden spoon, they haven’t got a coach. I would have thought you’ve got much bigger things to worry about than dobbing someone in about what they’ve said.
“I would think the best thing you can do in this business is point at the scorecard. At the moment, their scorecard looks miserable, but when it looks better you can point at it and say this is where we’re at. But they’ve got a long way to go before they are at that point.”
A Bombers spokesman said on Tuesday the club had dealt with the Matthews matter on Saturday afternoon.
Cam Roberts’ stint at Essendon lasted seven seasons, starting as a development coach for the 2020 campaign.
“When I first arrived, I simply wanted to contribute and help people improve. To have had the chance to work alongside such committed players, coaches and staff over the past seven seasons has been a privilege,” Roberts said.
Jacobs and Robbins quit in May in solidarity with Scott, while McPherson confirmed last week he would step down at the end of the season.
Tim Roberts thanked Cameron Roberts for his contribution.
“We appreciate that prior to appointing a senior coach there is always a level of uncertainty at AFL clubs. While we’re disappointed to see him leave, we completely respect his decision and thank him for everything he’s contributed to Essendon,” the CEO said.
The Bombers’ hunt for a new senior coach has been reduced to four candidates: club legend James Hird, Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham, Sydney assistant and former Bomber Mark McVeigh and Adelaide director of coaching Murray Davis, a former long-time Brisbane Lions assistant.
Caretaker coach Dean Solomon, a friend and former teammate of Hird and McVeigh, will this week have his first formal discussions with club hierarchy about the full-time job. But Solomon has publicly remained tight-lipped on whether he’ll seek the head coaching role.
Welsh, Tim Roberts, football director Ted Richards, vice president and ex-Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro and Essendon’s general manager of people and culture, Caroline Monzon, are on the selection panel. Melbourne Victory great and former coach Kevin Muscat, and long-time opposition analyst at Collingwood and Hawthorn John Wardrop have supported the panel, challenging the candidates on their leadership credentials and game style.
Formal interviews are continuing this week, the Bombers hoping to confirm their appointment by the end of next week as they restructure their football department, including the men’s and women’s programs.
Broad calls time a Tigerland
Three-time Richmond premiership defender Nathan Broad has decided to retire, rather than accept an on-field leadership role at West Coast.
Broad, who has played 189 games for Richmond, told his teammates on Tuesday of his plans to bow out.
His departure leaves just six Tigers left at Punt Road from their grand final-winning teams in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
The 33-year-old’s final AFL match will be in round 23 against St Kilda, leaving the Tigers without him for the final match of the season a week later in Geelong.
Originally from Western Australia, Broad will relocate with his family back to his home state after he finishes up at Richmond.
Already planning to move back to WA, Broad was weighing up the idea of continuing playing at the Eagles, where former Richmond caretaker coach Andrew McQualter is in charge.
Former Tigers Liam Baker, Tylar Young and Jack Graham are already at West Coast.
Broad did not make his debut until he was 23 after being taken by Richmond as a mature-aged recruit, but he enjoyed immediate success, and by 2020 he became the quickest player in VFL/AFL history to win three premierships, achieving the feat in just 70 games.
With Broad exiting, the only premiership players left at Richmond from Damien Hardwick’s sides will be Nick Vlastuin, Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia, Jayden Short, Tom Lynch and Noah Balta.
Broad hoped the Tigers, who have endured a difficult three seasons under coach Adem Yze, will recover quickly.
“The culture here is our competitive advantage, but it does not just happen, it has taken years to build,” he told teammates.
“It can also be lost in a matter of moments. Continue to water and feed this culture because it is our biggest strength.”
AAP
Lappin on Tassie’s shore
Greg Dundas
The Tasmania Devils have landed another key off-field recruit, luring Nigel Lappin away from Geelong to be their head of development and work alongside senior coach Ken Hinkley.
A triple premiership player at the Brisbane Lions, Lappin spent 18 years in various roles at Geelong, most recently head of development. He first assisted Mark Thompson before becoming a key lieutenant to his former Brisbane Lions teammate Chris Scott. The Cats won AFL premierships in 2009, 2011 and 2022 while Lappin was at the club, and he was widely respected for helping develop players.
Unlikely recruits such as Mark Blicavs, Tom Stewart, Tom Atkins, Mark O’Connor and Oisin Mullin were among those who benefited from his tutelage.
“Nigel is one of the most respected development coaches in Australian football,” Devils CEO Brendon Gale said.
“The role of head of development is exceptionally important to the build of the club’s football lists, [and] we are confident that Nigel’s experience, humility and values make him an outstanding fit for what we’re creating.
“With the recent appointment of Ken Hinkley and now Nigel, I am confident that we are building a team that will lay the most solid of foundations for us to build upon.”
Hinkley worked with Lappin at Geelong in 2009 and said he was thrilled with the appointment.
“He’s got a wealth of experience from both his playing and coaching career, but what stands out most is the way he connects with people and helps players get the very best out of themselves,” the coach said.
The Devils trumpeted their signing about the same time Geelong announced Lappin’s departure.
“I leave with mixed emotions,” Lappin said in a statement released by the Cats. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities this club has given me and the stability it has provided my family over the past 18 years.”
“While leaving is difficult, I’m excited for a new challenge – the opportunity to help build something at a foundation club, in a football-obsessed state with strong personal ties, and in an area of the game I’m deeply passionate about.”
Geelong’s football boss Andrew Mackie congratulated their outgoing development boss.
“We’re excited for Nigel and this new opportunity in his career,” Mackie said.
“Nigel has worn plenty of hats in his 18 years at the Cats and has been a constant source of support for our players, coaches and staff.”
Lappin will continue his role at Geelong until the end of the season.
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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