Tigers face Cotchin suspensionJesse Hogan
May 30, 2011RICHMOND'S disappointment at squandering the chance to break into the top eight before this week's bye could be compounded by the suspension of elite midfielder Trent Cotchin.
Cotchin, who before the round was in the top 20 in Brownlow Medal betting, heads the list of players likely to be scrutinised by the match review panel today in its weekly review.
The 21-year-old showed his anger at a lingering tackle by Port Adelaide's Kane Cornes on Saturday night by jabbing the veteran Power midfielder in the midriff.
Even though Cornes was not inconvenienced by the strike, the classification of the incident as intentional, or at best reckless, should be enough to ensure a suspension.
The expected penalty, 125 points, would be inflated to 175 because of the 40 per cent loading for the four-match ban Cotchin received for charging North Melbourne's Sam Wright in round 16 last year.
When combined with the 25 carryover points on his record, Cotchin's overall penalty would be 200 points - a two-game ban if not overturned at the tribunal or a one-week ban with 50 carryover points with an immediate guilty plea.
Cotchin, in that case, would miss the round-12 trip to Sydney, and potentially the round-13 trip to Brisbane.
http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-face-cotchin-suspension-20110529-1favn.html#ixzz1NkrKWky0
