Richmond's ongoing injury crisis has led to their high performance boss leaving the club.
Joining the Tigers after the 2024 season, Ben Serpell has failed to turn around a crippling injury toll that has hampered their rebuild.
Serpell will depart Richmond this week to take up "another opportunity".
"The club is well placed to manage through the balance of the season with our existing high-performance staff while we commence an extensive search for a replacement," Richmond football boss Tim Livingstone said.
Richmond have fielded 39 different players this season, with 12 currently on the injury list.
Prized No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor has been restricted to just 18 games in almost two completed campaigns at Punt Rd.
Lalor is currently sidelined with a partial Achilles tear and is pushing to be back for three or four games before the end of the season.
Fellow 2024 first-round pick Josh Smillie is yet to make his AFL debut as he battles ongoing quad issues, while highly-rated defender Josh Gibcus has been cruelled by knee injuries that have restricted him to four games across three years.
Richmond Football Club advises that High Performance Manager Ben Serpell is departing the Club to take up another opportunity.https://t.co/QBsWEP9ebS
— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) July 8, 2026
Adem Yze has battled with availability issues in all of his three seasons in charge, but refuses to use injuries as an excuse for winning just 10 of his 63 games as Tigers coach.
"It (injuries) affects it a little bit, but you lose a soldier and you replace the soldier," he said after Saturday night's two-point loss against Carlton.
"There'll be some bumps along the road when that's happening and it is a lot harder when you've got high talent or really important players like 'Lynchy' (veteran forward Tom Lynch) missing.
"But we want to play the same way. We expect to play the same way with the ball and we want to be playing an attacking brand of footy that our 'Tiger Army' really enjoy watching."
