| Adem Yze | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Yze with Hawthorn in April 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Nickname(s) | Pencil | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-09-21)21 September 1977 (age 47) | ||
| Place of birth | Shepparton | ||
| Original team(s) | Shepparton United | ||
| Debut | Round 13, 1995,Melbourne vs.Richmond, atMelbourne Cricket Ground | ||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb)[1] | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1995–2008 | Melbourne | 271 (234)[2] | |
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 2022 | Melbourne | 1 (1–0–0) | |
| 2024– | Richmond | 25 (3–22–0) | |
| Total | 26 (4–22–0) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2008. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 2, 2025. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Adem Yze (/ˈuːzeɪ/OO-zay; born 21 September 1977)[2] is anAustralian rules football coach and former player. He played for theMelbourne Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL), and is senior coach of theRichmond Football Club.[3]
Yze, ofAlbanian descent and a Muslim, was educated atShepparton High School inShepparton,Victoria.[4] He has made the fourth-highest number of appearances in the history of the Melbourne Football Club.[5]
Taken at #16 in the 1994 National AFL Draft, and debuting in 1995 with Melbourne, he was a near-permanent fixture with the club throughout his career. He remained remarkably consistent in this time, moving from half-back to the midfield and towards the end of his playing career moving between half-forward and half-back. Yze led the league for kicks in 2001, 2002 and 2004, while coming third behindScott Camporeale andNathan Buckley in 2000.[6]
In2007, Yze struggled with his form during the pre-season. After a disappointing performance againstSt Kilda in Round 1, his streak of 226consecutive AFL appearances was put to an end, with Melbourne deciding to drop him for the Round 2 game againstHawthorn.[7] Yze was then selected for Melbourne's Round 4 match againstFremantle and picked up a career-high 38-possessions[2] and kicked one goal, being named as one of the best on ground for the day. Despite seeing very little first-team action in 2008—the last year of his contract at Melbourne—Yze declared his intention to continue playing football, even if that meant he entered the draft or played at VFL level. At 30, Yze felt he could play on for another two or three years.[8]
Due to Melbourne's youth policy introduced at the end of the 2008 season, Adem was delisted after only six senior appearances for the year, in which he kicked five goals. Yze expressed his desire to play on at another AFL club in 2009, declaring he would apply for the pre-season draft, yet he conceded he had "stuff all" chances of being picked up by another club.[9]
Yze played for Melbourne from 1995 until 2008 for a total of 271 games and kicked a total of 234 goals.[6]
However, Yze declared he would play on regardless in 2009, even if it was at a suburban club, such as East Burwood, where his brother Damian played. Yze played with theBox Hill Hawks and joined theShepparton Swans a year later.[10]
In 2013 and 2014, he played with second division clubsGlen Orden andWest Footscray in theWestern Region Football League.
Yze was known for his straight kicks and ability to kick goals from seemingly impossible angles. He kicked five goals in a game on five occasions.[11] He is also noted for being one of fewMuslims to play Australian rules professionally, although he does not actively practise his faith.[12]
In January 2012, Yze joined Hawthorn as a part-time assistant coach under senior coachAlastair Clarkson .[13]
On 14 November 2014, Yze replacedLuke Beveridge as Hawthorn's backline coach under senior coach Alastair Clarkson, after previously working with the Hawks as a specialist goal-kicking and development coach for the past three seasons. Yze was credited for playing a key role in harnessing the Hawthorn players' elite kicking skills as they developed into the AFL's deadliest team in front of goal over the past two seasons, with the team's accuracy increasing from 48 per cent to 57.1 per cent during his tenure as goalkicking coach.[14]
After six seasons as aHawthorn assistant coach, Yze was appointed assistant coach atMelbourne under senior coachSimon Goodwin for the 2021 season.[15] The Demons would have an outstanding 2021 season in which they finished on top of the ladder and were a dominant team throughout the regular season and the finals series which was capped off with a commanding victory over the Western Bulldogs to win the 2021 premiership. Yze was a key architect in creating their league best defence that was a key factor in their historic premiership win. In the 2022 season Melbourne would continue their dominant ways extending the winning streak to 17 games, until the second half of the year in which momentum was halted and they struggled with consistency. Yze continued his role as midfield coach overseeing arguably the best midfield in the competition while their team defence still remained elite and one of the top in the competition. Near the end of the season Yze was heavily linked to the vacant GWS and Essendon senior coaching roles,[16] however the roles were eventually awarded to thenRichmond assistant coachAdam Kingsley andBrad Scott respectively.[17] Yze left the Melbourne Football Club at the end of the 2023 season.[18]
Yze was appointed senior coach of theRichmond Football Club on 21 September 2023.[19][20] Yze replaced caretaker senior coachAndrew McQualter, who replacedDamien Hardwick after Hardwick stepped down in the middle of the 2023 season.[21][22][23][24]
In Yze's first season as Richmond senior coach, the club won only two matches for the year, finishing with thewooden spoon for the first time since2007 as they underwent a significant rebuild of its playing list.[25]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Led the league after finals only | |
| Led the league after season and finals |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1995 | Melbourne | 44 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 55 | 23 | 78 | 17 | 8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 6.1 | 2.6 | 8.7 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 1996 | Melbourne | 13 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 136 | 40 | 176 | 48 | 16 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 9.3 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 1997 | Melbourne | 13 | 19 | 9 | 16 | 203 | 34 | 237 | 62 | 21 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 10.7 | 1.8 | 12.5 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 1998 | Melbourne | 13 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 394 | 95 | 489 | 110 | 37 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 15.8 | 3.8 | 19.6 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 1999 | Melbourne | 13 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 269 | 79 | 348 | 54 | 26 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 12.2 | 3.6 | 15.8 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0 |
| 2000 | Melbourne | 13 | 25 | 37 | 23 | 411 | 123 | 534 | 104 | 42 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 16.4 | 4.9 | 21.4 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 14 |
| 2001 | Melbourne | 13 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 417 | 72 | 489 | 105 | 37 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 19.0 | 3.3 | 22.2 | 4.8 | 1.7 | 8 |
| 2002 | Melbourne | 13 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 441 | 105 | 546 | 106 | 67 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 18.4 | 4.4 | 22.8 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 17 |
| 2003 | Melbourne | 13 | 22 | 17 | 8 | 340 | 113 | 453 | 74 | 43 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 15.5 | 5.1 | 20.6 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 5 |
| 2004 | Melbourne | 13 | 23 | 19 | 21 | 410 | 104 | 514 | 99 | 54 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 17.8 | 4.5 | 22.3 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 14 |
| 2005 | Melbourne | 13 | 23 | 41 | 34 | 270 | 52 | 322 | 99 | 34 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 11.7 | 2.3 | 14.0 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 7 |
| 2006 | Melbourne | 13 | 24 | 30 | 16 | 356 | 120 | 476 | 128 | 44 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 14.8 | 5.0 | 19.8 | 5.3 | 1.8 | 5 |
| 2007 | Melbourne | 13 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 111 | 54 | 165 | 36 | 16 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 13.9 | 6.8 | 20.6 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2008 | Melbourne | 13 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 86 | 26 | 112 | 35 | 5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 14.3 | 4.3 | 18.7 | 5.8 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Career | 271 | 234 | 194 | 3899 | 1040 | 4939 | 1077 | 450 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 14.4 | 3.8 | 18.2 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 71 | ||
| Legend | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Wins | L | Losses | D | Draws | W% | Winning percentage | LP | Ladder position | LT | League teams | ||
| Season | Team | Games | W | L | D | W % | LP | LT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022* | Melbourne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% | 1 | 18 |
| 2024 | Richmond | 23 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 8.7% | 18 | 18 |
| Career totals | 24 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 12.5% | |||
* Caretaker coach
 | ||
Coach:Brereton | ||