Is Cotch in trouble with the MRP?

[one-eyed]

Five questions for the MRP on Cotchin clash

afl.com.au
24 September 2017

RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin will dominate the first 48 hours of Grand Final week as the Tigers sweat on his availability to face Adelaide. Cotchin's collision with Greater Western Sydney opponent Dylan Shiel has divided experts, so how will the Match Review Panel make sense of it?

These are the questions that need to be asked when the Panel sits on Monday.   

1. Is this rough conduct or forceful front-on contact?

The difference between rough conduct and forceful front-on contact is critical. To be charged with rough conduct the MRP has to find that Cotchin elected to bump. If his actions aren't viewed as a bump then they can rule out rough conduct. To charge a player with forceful front-on contact, however, a player does not need to have elected to bump. They just need to have made forceful front-on contact to a player who has his head over the ball. In this case, Shiel has his head over the ball and forceful front-on contact is the most likely charge.

2. Was Cotchin contesting the ball?

This is the question that should ultimately clear Cotchin. If the MRP decides he was contesting the ball and had no realistic alternative way to contest the ball, he will be cleared of both rough conduct and forceful front-on contact. This is the question the Panel members will spend most of their time debating on Monday. It is easy to say Cotchin was contesting the ball, because he ultimately won it. But there is the possibility the MRP will say he was first clearing a path to win the ball. What he is doing with his arms will be interesting. His right arm is tucked, an action that suggests Shiel is his focus, but his left arm is attempting to collect the ball. That should be enough to give the midfielder the benefit of the doubt.

3. Does Cotchin breach his duty of care to Shiel?

The argument to suspend Cotchin will centre on his duty of care to Shiel, who suffered late onset concussion and was unable to play the last three quarters of the preliminary final. It's a heavy price to pay for sticking your head over the footy. Shiel was first to the ball and, as a courageous ball-winner, he left himself exposed and vulnerable. In that situation the onus is on Cotchin to approach the contest with a reasonable duty of care to his opponent. Cotchin cannons into the contest low and at ferocious speed. In a game of millimeters, with the ball in dispute, that should be considered reasonable.

4. Are there precedents?

The first incident that comes to mind is a collision between Sydney's Dan Hannebery and Essendon's Michael Hurley in 2014. Hannebery is one of the best in the game at protecting himself while winning a disputed ball. In this contest, he turned his body while Hurley came at the ball front on with his head down, coming off second best. Hannebery was cleared because the MRP deemed he had no alternative way to contest the ball. 

5. Does Cotchin's bad record impact any penalty?

Cotchin's two fines for low-level offences this season will be irrelevant when the MRP sits on Monday. Given Shiel was concussed, the most lenient grading Cotchin could hope for if charged would be careless conduct with medium impact to the head. That would carry a two-match suspension, down to one with an early guilty plea, before any bad record is factored in. It would take a grading of low impact for Cotchin to be fined, then bringing his record into play and elevating the penalty to a one-match suspension for a third strike. 

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-09-24/five-questions-for-the-mrp-on-cotchin-clash

[Dougeytherichmondfan]

Patrick Keane has also tweeted Cotchin in the clear and no other cases.

[Andyy]

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Re: Trent Cotchin [merged]
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Tyson Ottonews.com.au
RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin is free to play in the AFL grand final, according to a report.

The star midfielder’s high bump to the head of Giants gun Dylan Shiel was reviewed by the AFL Match Review Panel on Monday morning.

Cotchin collected Shiel across the chin with his shoulder while cannoning into the contest to try and win a disputed ball in the first quarter of Richmond’s preliminary final victory of GWS at the MCG.


Channel 7 reported on Monday morning that Cotchin has been cleared, less than two hours after MRP members began their review of reportable offences across both preliminary finals.


http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/afl-match-review-panel-announces-trent-cotchin-grand-final-fate/news-story/b75273764d6d81a41dcbfbdaca7f7af0?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF

[Andyy]

On RFC Twitter also.

[tony_montana]

Correct decision

[Dougeytherichmondfan]

My day just got a whole lot better.

Funnily enough I reckon as good as he's been so far, Cotch might find another gear on Saturday.

[tony_montana]

My day just got a whole lot better.

Funnily enough I reckon as good as he's been so far, Cotch might find another gear on Saturday.

agree dougey, has enhanced his rep enormously this finals series, is playing like an enforcer like a Hodge or Voss, setting the tone physically for the rest of the side. Gun!!

[1885]

My day just got a whole lot better.

Funnily enough I reckon as good as he's been so far, Cotch might find another gear on Saturday.

agree dougey, has enhanced his rep enormously this finals series, is playing like an enforcer like a Hodge or Voss, setting the tone physically for the rest of the side. Gun!!

What beautiful attack at the ball 

Almost took off the blokes head , a limb off and got the ball.

Just a shame scully got him 

[Yeahright]

They have loosened his leash and he's showing what made him a brownlow medalist

[Chuck17]

Word is he has been holding back a bit lately so he wouldnt get a ban and now is ready to unleash the full beast for the GF

[Diocletian]

My day just got a whole lot better.

Funnily enough I reckon as good as he's been so far, Cotch might find another gear on Saturday.

agree dougey, has enhanced his rep enormously this finals series, is playing like an enforcer like a Hodge or Voss, setting the tone physically for the rest of the side. Gun!!

Lethal compared him to Voss just yesterday.

[Diocletian]

Heh....it's like the salt mines of Siberia on the BF main board....

....one prominent North flog has even changed his team to Adelaide for the week.....

[1885]

Word is he has been holding back a bit lately so he wouldnt get a ban and now is ready to unleash the full beast for the GF

[one-eyed]

Ellis cleared also.

Match Review Panel full statement: preliminary finals

 Contact between Richmond’s Trent Cotchin and the GWS Giants’ Dylan Shiel from the first quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. The ball is loose between Cotchin and Shiel. Both players are seeking to win possession and are coming towards each other from right angles. Cotchin moves down low and braces for contact as Shiel approaches to pick up the ball. It was the view of the panel that Cotchin was seeking to win possession as his line of direction was always towards the ball and not his opponent. The panel determined that Cotchin was seeking to contest the ball and therefore contact was not unreasonable in the circumstances. No further action was taken.

Contact between Richmond’s Brandon Ellis and the GWS Giants’ Lachie Whitfield from the fourth quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. The ball was loose with both players coming to the contest. Ellis runs through the line of the ball and seeks to win possession as Whitfield approaches the contest. Ellis braces for contact with Whitfield and high contact is made to the Giants’ player. It was the view of the panel that Ellis was contesting the ball and no further action was taken.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-09-25/match-review-panel-full-statement-preliminary-finals

[one-eyed]

Relieved Cotchin feared for Grand Final dream

afl.com.au
25 September 2017

A RELIEVED Trent Cotchin admits there were times over the weekend when he feared he could miss Richmond's Grand Final through suspension before he was cleared by the Match Review Panel on Monday.

Cotchin was scrutinised for his clash with Greater Western Sydney's Dylan Shiel in the clubs' preliminary final on Saturday, when the pair collided contesting the ball and left Shiel with concussion.

However, the MRP ruled that the Tigers skipper had no case to answer and would be free to play in Saturday's premiership decider against Adelaide after deliberating on Monday morning and then delivering the news to the club.

"I was cross-training at the time," Cotchin said on Monday about when he was told he was given the all clear.

"[I was] obviously relieved in a sense, given there was so much attention about it, but as it always has been, it's about the process and we're looking forward to a big week on the track and hopefully an even bigger Saturday."

Cotchin, who has had a brilliant finals series and gathered 26 disposals against the Giants, said he hadn't spent all of Sunday stressing about the MRP's decision.

"I was pretty relaxed. My intention was always to go for the footy, so I was glad that was the way they ruled it and that's about all that was in my control," he said.

"It was my three-year-old's birthday earlier in the week, but obviously there was a bit of distraction going on so we celebrated that yesterday, and obviously had the VFL Grand Final as well.

"It was out of my control so there was no point worrying about it and sitting there concerning myself with what could be or couldn't be. I just wanted to show up and do what I normally do."

However, he did concede that there were times when the thought of missing the club's first Grand Final since 1982 flashed through his head.

"It comes and goes [that thought], but the reality was the decision was going to be made today, so there was no point worrying about it," he said.

The MRP stated its view that Cotchin was attempting to win the ball, that his line of running was always towards the ball and not Shiel, and that the contact was "not unreasonable".

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-09-25/relieved-cotchin-feared-for-grand-final-dream