Tigers assessed all injuries “meticulously” to determine Serpell exit

Richmond went through a meticulous process to determine why they’ve had so many injuries over the past two seasons.

That determination led to the departure of high performance boss Ben Serpell who will leave the club this week.

SEN’s Tom Morris is reporting that the Tigers felt too many of their injuries were due to the fitness program, more so than just bad luck or unpreventable in-game injuries.

“They’ve played 39 players and they needed to make a change because they couldn’t have another performance review or full-scale review which is what they had 12 months earlier,” Morris said on SEN Breakfast.

“They did everything they could to support the players and Ben in his role.

“They changed the program. Earlier in the season they were doing more recovery before games and training earlier in the week, and they flipped this around.

“They then started doing recovery after games and training harder later in the week leading into games. They tried their best to make it work.

“They also went through every single injury meticulously to work out whether it was program or bad luck. What they determined was that too many were a result of the program.

“Someone had to fall on their sword and it ended up being their head of fitness, Ben Serpell. He does have another job in sport somewhere, we just don’t know where that is.

“It’s a big decision to make and now they’re going to share the role for the rest of the season. They cannot continue to have the same people who are overseeing a program that isn’t working.”

The club confirmed on Wednesday that Serpell is set to “take up another opportunity” and will leave the club after close to two seasons.

Serpell has overseen an injury-riddled two years with the club’s injury list constantly lengthy during that time.

“We thank Ben for his contribution since joining the Club at the completion of the 2024 season and wish him, and his family, the very best for what lies ahead,” said Richmond’s GM of football performance, Tim Livingston, in a club statement.

“Ben will finish with us this week. 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.

“The preparation of our playing group continues to be of the highest importance, and we will leave no stone unturned looking for the right person to lead our high-performance program into the future.

“Our new state-of-the-art facilities are due to be completed by the middle of next year, and we are really excited about what our playing group can deliver in the coming seasons. This appointment will be an important component of that future.”

Serpell joined the Tigers in late 2024, taking over from Luke Meehan.