Coaching great Allan Jeans’ sole year at the helm of Richmond was spent dealing with the debilitating effects of mental illness, according to then-Tigers chief executive Cameron Schwab.

Four-time premiership coach Jeans spent just one year at Punt Road, coaching Richmond to five wins in 1992 after replacing club legend Kevin Bartlett. He was replaced at the end of the season by John Northey.

Allan Jeans during his year at Richmond. Credit:Craig Sillitoe

Speaking in an episode of The Greatest Season That Was: 1993 podcast to be released on Monday, Schwab revealed Jeans, who died in 2011, had been suffering from anxiety.

“It was no later than round one or two. He came to me and said that he was ill. I was assuming it was something to do with [his] brain injury a few years earlier. He didn’t coach in ‘88. But he actually was dealing with anxiety,” Schwab said.