Richmond coach Adem Yze has paid tribute to his former coach Neale Daniher following the news of his death yesterday.
Yze played under Daniher from 1998 to 2007 and highlighted Daniher's role in spruiking his coaching interest.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the (family) at the moment. It's really raw. He fought for so long but then it's happened so quick. It's a sad day for footy in general, but an amazing man and a mentor for me personally,” Yze said.
“He was a father figure and triggered my emotion to coach. In my last few years, he called me into one-on-one meetings to talk tactics and how to beat them and that triggered my coaching nerve and post that we kept in touch about coaching and philosophies.
“He's had an impact on a lot of people on the field and off the field. We use terminology we used back in the day when I played.”
An 18-point win over Essendon was Richmond's second win of the season, with the Tigers able to close the game out after leading by 12 points at three-quarter-time.
Yze highlighted the important lessons that came out of the match.
“We want to win, we want to be competitive, we want to play the right way,” Yze said.
“We understand what we're doing and what the plan is but we want to win every week. When you do, we want to celebrate that but whether you win or lose, we want to celebrate that.
“There was great excitement in the rooms for our players. Winning close game scenarios, adjustments in the last quarter when the game was close and you get three goals up and you're trying to shut the game down.
"Learning on the run for some of these young players in front of a big crowd is fast tracking their development. Winning's a big part of that.”
The Richmond coach also indicated he would reach out to recently sacked Essendon coach Brado Scott in the coming days.
