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Brendon Gale

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Brendon Gale
Gale in his role as club CEO at the unfurling of Richmond's 2017 AFL Premiership flag.
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-07-18) 18 July 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth Burnie, Tasmania
Original team(s) Burnie Hawks
Draft No. 27, 1987 national draft
Debut Round 1, 31 March 1990, Richmond vs. Brisbane, at Carrara Stadium
Height 198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s) Centre Half-Forward / Ruckman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1990–2001 Richmond 244 (209)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2001.
Career highlights
  • Tasmanian Representative Games:- 4
  • Richmond Life Member 1997
  • Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame (Legend)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Brendon Gale (born 18 July 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

As a qualified lawyer, he practised law with a commercial law firm for some time after his retirement from football, and then served as CEO of the AFL Players' Association from 2005 to 2009. In 2009, he began what would become a successful 15-year stint as CEO of Richmond, overseeing three premierships. In 2024, it was announced that he would be leaving Richmond to become inaugural CEO of the incoming Tasmania Football Club.

Early life and education

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Brendon Gale was born on 18 July 1968.[1]

He studied at Monash University in Melbourne, graduating with Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Arts degrees.[2]

Playing career

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Gale played for the Richmond Football Club from 1990 to 2001 as a centre half-forward and later ruckman. For five seasons he played alongside his older brother, Michael, who transferred from the Fitzroy Football Club at the end of the 1993 season. Brendon was appointed vice-captain of the club between 1994 and 1997. Their father, Don Gale, was a champion Tasmanian footballer who became the first player from the NWFU to achieve All Australian selection. Their grandfather, Jack Gale, played three games for Richmond in 1924.

For a period during his playing days Gale played guitar in a small band called Trial By Video, which included other footballers Mark Zanotti, Tony Woods, and Paul Bulluss.[3]

Post-football career

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After his AFL playing career, Gale practised law with commercial law firm King Wood Mallesons, until serving as chief executive officer of the AFL Players' Association from 2005 to 2009.[4][2]

He was also a member of the AFL's "Laws of the Game" or Rules Committee.[citation needed]

In 2009, he was appointed CEO of Richmond, leading over 150 people. Under his leadership, the team's Punt Road Oval headquarters was transformed into a high-performance facility, with the club growing extensively both commercially and in fan numbers. It has been competing in most of the AFL finals series, and won the Premiership in 2017.[2]

On 10 May 2024, Gale announced his departure as the CEO of Richmond Football Club at the end of the 2024 season. The same day, Tasmania Football Club announced his appointment as their inaugural CEO, commencing in the role in 2025.[5]

Other activities

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Gale is a director on several boards, and advocates for diversity. From 2009 until 2013, he served on the board of the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and has been involved in the "Male Champions of Change" program.[2]

In media

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Gale features in the 2021 fly-on-the-wall documentary TV series Making Their Mark, which showed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on several AFL clubs, players, and staff.[6][7] Players Nic Naitanui, Eddie Betts, Stephen Coniglio, and Rory Sloane were featured, as well as Gold Coast Suns football club coach Stuart Dew, and staff leaders Peggy O'Neal, Damien Hardwick, and Gale.[8][9]

Statistics

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Player statistics for Brendon Gale:[1]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
1990 Richmond 25 22 21 22 150 75 225 100 24 14 1.0 1.0 6.8 3.4 10.2 4.5 1.1 0.6
1991 Richmond 25 21 16 15 159 104 263 118 16 39 0.8 0.7 7.6 5.0 12.5 5.6 0.8 1.9
1992 Richmond 25 18 7 9 162 112 274 103 15 51 0.4 0.5 9.0 6.2 15.2 5.7 0.8 2.8
1993 Richmond 25 16 26 21 162 91 253 134 10 64 1.6 1.3 10.1 5.7 15.8 8.4 0.6 4.0
1994 Richmond 25 21 27 24 191 101 292 144 14 62 1.3 1.1 9.1 4.8 13.9 6.9 0.7 3.0
1995 Richmond 25 24 30 15 210 95 305 133 28 117 1.3 0.6 8.8 4.0 12.7 5.5 1.2 4.9
1996 Richmond 25 22 34 25 178 88 266 129 20 42 1.5 1.1 8.1 4.0 12.1 5.9 0.9 1.9
1997 Richmond 25 19 12 8 168 93 261 102 26 206 0.6 0.4 8.8 4.9 13.7 5.4 1.4 10.8
1998 Richmond 25 21 4 1 191 144 335 128 22 393 0.2 0.0 9.1 6.9 16.0 6.1 1.0 18.7
1999 Richmond 25 18 6 3 137 77 214 93 17 297 0.3 0.2 7.6 4.3 11.9 5.2 0.9 16.5
2000 Richmond 25 20 22 3 165 86 251 107 15 239 1.1 0.2 8.3 4.3 12.6 5.4 0.8 12.0
2001 Richmond 25 22 4 1 102 149 251 92 24 308 0.2 0.0 4.6 6.8 11.4 4.2 1.1 14.0
Career 244 209 147 1975 1215 3190 1383 231 1832 0.9 0.6 8.1 5.0 13.1 5.7 0.9 7.5

References

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  1. ^ a b "Brendon Gale". AFL Tables. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Brendon Gale". Alumni. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Gale on The Front Bar" (Video). richmondfc.com.au. Seven Network. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  4. ^ Ryan, Peter (17 March 2011). "Breaking the cycle". Richmond Football Club.
  5. ^ "Club appoints Brendon Gale as inaugural CEO". Tasmania FC. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  6. ^ Bilton, Dean (16 March 2021). "Making Their Mark, Amazon's AFL documentary, offers genuine insight into the faults and fears of modern professional athletes". ABC News. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  7. ^ Baum, Greg (9 March 2021). "AFL 2021: Amazon documentary reveals the tension of Richmond Tigers' premiership season". The Age. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  8. ^ Knox, David (15 February 2021). "Making Their Mark: trailer". TV Tonight. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Richmond president won't set expectations of another Tiger flag in 2021". 3AW. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2024.

Further reading

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