Tiger Trent Cotchin burning bright Rebecca Williams
Herald Sun February 06, 2010 RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says the Tigers will continue their conservative approach with Trent Cotchin, but the exciting youngster showed his pre-season was on target in last night's intraclub hitout.
Cotchin, whose first two pre-seasons at the club were marred by injuries, has been forced to fend off rumours over the summer that he'd broken down again, but looked sharp in the club's scratch match against VFL affiliate Coburg at Craigieburn last night.
The 19-year-old was among the Tigers to impress in the intraclub match, with Brett Deledio, Dean Polo and Ben Cousins also showing strong pre-season form.
Cotchin, like Cousins, Deledio and Graham Polak, played the first three (of five) 25-minute terms before they were rested.
Hardwick said earlier Cotchin had performed at the level the Tigers had expected of him over summer, but the club would continue to be patient with him.
"There have been some various rumours over the course of the pre-season that Trent was finished, but our fans will be pleased to see him running around today," Hardwick said.
"He has done (everything) at a level we want him to. We could have pushed him, but we are prepared to wait. We have got to be patient with him because we expect him to be a player of the future for this club.
"We're not prepared to rush him at any stage."
Hardwick had flagged one-time defender Polak as a forward option and the mature-age rookie presented well in attack. He took a couple of impressive marks, but his accuracy suffered in the blustery conditions.
Troy Taylor also put a difficult few weeks behind him to show some encouraging signs on the field, but Hardwick denied the youngster would be going out to play with more of a point to prove.
"Like all young players, they have all got a point to prove at this time of the year," he said. "They want to get up and going and push their name for Round 1. From that point of view, he is no different from the others."
Troy Simmonds, Daniel Jackson and Nathan Foley, who had ankle surgery last week, sat out the match, but with 14 new signings, there were plenty of new faces to put to the test.
Top draftee Dustin Martin, the Tigers' No. 3 pick in last year's national draft, was a standout among the new brigade.
Hardwick said he was looking forward to facing his former side Hawthorn, where he coached alongside Alastair Clarkson, in the first round of the NAB Cup at Aurora Stadium on February 13.
"It could have been a better draw for me first up," Hardwick joked.
"But it will be great. There is nothing better than our side playing against a good-quality side. Hawthorn will be up and going. They had an injury-ravaged year last year, so they will be fully prepared.
"It will be a great experience for our group."
While Hardwick said development was key for his young team heading into the pre-season competition, he said the Tigers wouldn't hold back.
"On every weekend, we will be playing to win, there is no doubt," Hardwick said.
"So from that point of view we will be picking the side we think will take us into the future.
"It's all about long-term success for us, so whatever we think is best going forward, we'll do."
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