Richmond have confirmed the sub-committee that will lead the club's coaching search process, with the Tigers moving into the next phase of their hunt to find Damien Hardwick's successor.
The club has handed the keys to interim coach Andrew McQualter for the remainder of the season since Hardwick's resignation in May, with a thorough process now commencing to ensure Richmond finds the best-suited candidate for the vacancy.
McQualter, who is set to be part of the search as a candidate, is viewed as the favourite to land the role.
A six-person panel has been revealed ahead of the search process, which is anticipated to be finalised by September, with president John O'Rourke confirming four Richmond key figures and two external administrators will help with the coaching search.
Club CEO Brendon Gale, football performance boss Tim Livingstone, talent manager Blair Hartley and club vice-president Henriette Rothschild have been confirmed as part of the panel alongside former Tigers player Paddy Steinfort and Melbourne Storm football manager Frank Ponissi.
Steinfort is currently the performance director at Football Australia and has held previous high-performance roles with North American sporting franchises the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Ponissi has been with the Storm since 2007 and has led the Victorian-based NRL club through a successful period, working in tandem with legendary coach Craig Bellamy.
"Since Damien Hardwick resigned, the Club has spent significant time clarifying exactly what attributes and skills we are looking for in our next senior coach. This process has been completed and we will now move to the next stage of developing a short-list of candidates to participate in panel interviews," O'Rourke said in a letter to members.
"The panel conducting these interviews will be led by CEO Brendon Gale and include General Manager- Football Performance, Tim Livingstone and our General Manager- Football Talent, Blair Hartley. Club vice-president Henriette Rothschild will also sit on this panel; her vast experience in key executive appointments and shaping high performing teams, will be invaluable.
"Externally we have engaged Paddy Steinfort and Frank Ponissi to be involved with the panel interview process.
"Paddy is a former Richmond player who is now Performance Director at Football Australia. Prior to Football Australia, Paddy has held many high-performance roles at sporting organisations including the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Eagles. He brings a wealth of diverse experience to our deliberations.
"We look forward to providing further updates as the process unfolds. While there is no firm timeline on appointing our senior coach, we anticipate the process to be completed by September."
The candidates potentially in line to join McQualter in the running for the senior coaching vacancy include Melbourne assistants Adem Yze and Troy Chaplin, Port Adelaide assistant Josh Carr and former Brisbane coach Justin Leppitsch.
Richmond have five games remaining in their 2023 home and away campaign and remain in contention for a finals placing.
