Brendon Gale was a Tassie boy who grew up in a large Catholic family and attended a Catholic school like his mother and father before him. Family, faith and sport have always been important parts of his life.
After Brendon matriculated from Marist College in Burnie, he started university in Hobart with the intention of studying law. He stayed at John Fisher College and enjoyed student life to the full.
His love of football led to him to play with the Sandy Bay team and John Fisher Old Boys, but when Burnie entered the state wide competition he knew he needed to give a career in football a proper chance, so he left university and was drafted into AFL side Richmond. He hasn’t looked back. He played for Richmond for twelve years and was able to continue his studies at Monash University at the same time. His great love of learning led to him completing a master’s degree in law. Brendon is now CEO of the Richmond Football Club.
He is happily married with two daughters and a son who attend St James Catholic School in Brighton, Victoria. His son is in Prep, but already Brendon says, “He assumes he will be playing for Richmond”.
Brendon’s Catholic faith is important to him, although he says he is ‘a less than perfect Catholic’ and is thinking about his faith more and more as he gets older. He looks back with gratitude at the sacrifices his parents made to send their eight children to Catholic schools and he remembers the lifestyle of the North West Coast and his time at Marist with much fondness. He says he enjoyed great opportunities, dedicated teachers and good facilities.
His advice to today’s students? “Don’t limit your potential and be a doer not a knocker.”