Richmond coach Damien Hardwick all praise for skipper Trent Cotchin despite Tigers’ tough season
by: Staff writer
From: News Corp Australia
June 18, 2014 9:49AM
RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says Trent Cotchin is growing into his leadership role, saying the Tigers skipper has been “nothing short of sensational” in recent weeks despite the club’s on-field woes.
Richmond is 3-9 heading into Round 14 with finals now out of the picture after a horror season.
Many have pointed the finger at the Tigers’ leaders inability to stand up this season, but Hardwick says Cotchin has lacked support at times and is now starting to shine.
Asked if his club was getting enough from its leaders on match day, Hardwick said the majority of his experienced players — such as Ivan Maric, Brett Deledio, Alex Rance and Daniel Jackson — had missed significant chunks of the year and it was unfair to point the finger at the club’s leaders.
“We’re asking a lot of Trent to lead the footy club at the age of 24 and funnily enough I think he’s had his best five weeks as captain over the last five weeks when we’ve needed him most,” Hardwick told SEN.
“He’s been nothing short of sensational leading from the front, playing some good footy but more importantly being more demanding of the guys below him which is an incredible feat for a guy that’s starting to play some really good footy.
“Look he’s always been a very good captain, but I think when we’ve needed him most — in our time of need — he’s been nothing short of sensational.”
Hardwick said Cotchin’s leadership style was similar to Blues captain Marc Murphy.
“Both Cotch and Murph are very good at leading by example with the way they play,” Hardwick said.
“Trent’s had to work a lot on that area and that’s one thing he’s done — he speaks to a lot of people, he’s constantly getting feedback on how to get better and we’re starting to see the benefits of that.
“There is a little bit of a lag effect ... he’s only going to get better as he goes on.”
Despite the Tigers’ miserable season, Hardwick said any talk of disharmony at Punt Road was off the mark.
“I get really upset by that because I don’t think I’ve ever felt as united as a footy club as what we have now,” Hardwick said.
“We’ve got outstanding leadership through Peggy (club president Peggy O’Neal), Brendan (CEO Brendan Gale), all the way down ... I feel really strongly that we’re in a really good spot going forward.
“We’ve just got to make sure we continue to demand better of ourselves.”
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-coach-damien-hardwick-all-praise-for-skipper-trent-cotchin-despite-tigers-tough-season/story-fndv8t7m-1226958402217