Trent Cotchin too nice, young Richmond players need timeDERMOTT BRERETON
Herald Sun
April 15, 2016HOW about we just settle down a little bit, Tiger supporters.
It is Round 3 and the Tiges were just 20 seconds short of being 2-1.
Even though my old coach Allan Jeans used to tell us that the worst sentences made in football start with the word “if”.
It is worth noting that Richmond fronted up against Adelaide last Saturday with eight players who were not in the team that took on North Melbourne in last year’s finals.
Yes, the obvious suspects are missing because of injury — Deledio, Maric, Grimes — but all up one in three players are different.
That is an enormous turnover to what is perceived as your best team just three games ago.
In the forward line alone there are three new faces — Daniel Rioli, Jayden Short and Sam Lloyd.
I have no doubt that all three would get their chances to be introduced at some stage this year, but playing all three this early would not be what Hardwick and Co would have been planning during the pre-season.
In fact, at least one of them on any one of the last three weeks would have been left out of the team to learn more in the VFL, in a perfect world.
Lets not forget that the Tigers have had a severely hamstrung pre-season. And it is still having its effect.
The toll in Round 2 of the Nab Challenge when they finished with 15 men on the field is still being felt.
So when Damien Hardwick says that his club has to take one step back to take two steps forward, it is a very valid comment.
Rather than play a journeyman that might offer a known quantity and quality at a slightly lesser level, a level that has not cut it in the last three final series, Hardwick is forced to make changes.
And he is using this forced change situation to give greater exposure to the likes of Connor Menadue, David Astbury, Kane Lambert, Ben Lennon, Rioli, Short and Lloyd.
Some of them have had limited exposure before at the level, but for the likes of Astbury and Lambert, they are now trusted with vital roles.
There is a belief that one of the key areas to seize up Richmond is to play someone very tightly on Brandon Ellis.
When Richmond wins the ball back in their own backline, they look out to the other side of the field and Ellis is there to give them a safe exit.
Choke up Ellis and the likes of Houli and Rance are forced to pump the ball back down the line to where the ball came. That spells danger.
It is imperative that they find another winger with a real good set of wheels that can supply the same role as Ellis if the opposition wises up to the Tigers’ plan.
Enter Connor Menadue. He is light and seemingly still just a little underdone physically, but Richmond must put ground time into him.
If the premiers Hawthorn are the model to emulate (albeit a model which Richmond routinely trouble) Menadue would be well served to study Isaac Smith.
Much has been made of Trent Cotchin and the leadership at the club.
Football has changed over the years and indeed the role of the captain has changed dramatically in the past three to five years.
In my day a captain like Leigh Matthews or Michael Tuck led purely by example. Matthews would demand effort from you and even better decision making when you had the ball. But by and large he never interfered with me and my starting points, or even end points.
Tuck was even less verbal. All their captaincy was done by deeds.
But football has changed dramatically for a leader in this era.
A captain, or even a leader in a specific area of the ground now has to almost position his teammate into an exact starting position.
As an example, if a Paul Puopolo comes into the centre circle for a centre bounce, Sam Mitchell will order him to reposition himself a half a metre differently if he thinks Puopolo’s starting position is fractionally wrong.
In the backline one kick behind play, Luke Hodge might scream at the likes of a Taylor Duryea if he thinks Duryea is 10m in from the boundary, when he wants him 12m in.
They must be verbally brutal and the same in playing.
This is the short suit of Cotchin’s captaincy. His actions are fantastic, his organisation of others, not so much.
Trent Cotchin was presented with the captaincy early, perhaps earlier than he was really ready for it.
Strangely enough, he would have been ready for it at this stage of his career if he was born 20 years earlier.
That is because it would have been predominantly about his leadership by way of his example and his deeds.
I loved his physical games that he played against Collingwood and Hawthorn last year. They were the type of deeds that make a teammate say, “I’m going to follow this captain any and everywhere he goes”.
He needs to play like that more frequently. It will be tough on him to do that week in, week out.
And I can honestly attest to the fact that it will eventually limit your career by a season or more, but it leaves a legacy and a reputation that will last forever.
If there is one way of describing the difference between Cotchin and the great leaders of recent times such as Selwood, Hodge, Ling, Lenny Hayes, Sam Mitchell, Nick Maxwell etc, they are all like grizzled war veterans that have been to the Western Front.
They have seen the physical demands and the spitefulness of their craft and it has shaped their on-field persona.
To me, Cotchin’s image is of a charming young man that is superbly gifted, unbelievably talented, scrupulously fair and in possession of a very balanced view of the football landscape.
An overall brilliant player, but nice. And nice to his teammates as well.
Unfortunately this era requires captains that are not.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/footy-form/trent-cotchin-too-nice-young-richmond-need-time/news-story/a7bed698f2f5d5698dcf9bca3459d5b0
