Raw talent
Emma Quayle | The Age | September 2, 2008
Emma Quayle followed five of the hottest young football talents in the country on their journey to the AFL draft. All were drafted as fi rst-round selections and three have been nominated for today’s Rising Star award. These are a selection of edited extracts from her book. 
Trent Cotchin and Cyril Rioli as underage stars.TRENT COTCHINTrent was tagged in the first game of Vic Metro’s 2007 under- 18 championship game — a heavy loss to Western Australia.
After the match he told a couple of teammates — only jokingly — that he might not get drafted now.
The comments were used in coach David Dickson’s address ahead of Metro’s final match of the championships against Vic Country.
Dickson wanted to see a united team out there and decided to make a point before he began his pre-game rev-up.
He’d heard that Trent had been talking draft at the airport in Perth and wasn’t happy; Trent should have been thinking about playing for Victoria.
Also in the back of his mind was that Trent had said he liked the occasional jolt. But he’d forgotten there was a Fox Sports camera in the back of the room, and that what he said would later appear on their website.
Dicko told the players to run and not be afraid. Then he ran through the side, position by position, reminding each player what the team needed them to do.
He reached Trent, paused, and glanced around. Trent was where he always was, in the middle of the front row, so Dickson stood directly in front of him, looking down.
"It’s been an interesting carnival for you," he began, his voice steadily rising, his neck craning forward and his finger pointing directly at Trent.
"I heard a comment last night … and I’ll say it to you in front of the group. I’m going to really nail you and if it’s true I’m going to be really peeed off …"
He leaned back, with his hands out wide and his palms facing up. "Oh, I’m not sure I’m going to get drafted …," he said in a sing-song voice. "You are here to play for f------ Victoria. NOT ANYONE ELSE! I don’t care about draft people and if you’re talking to players like that then your mind’s not switched on to win today … YOU ARE A BLOODY GOOD FOOTBALLER and you start here. Not in a year’s time. I DON’T CARE WHERE YOU GO! This group needs you playing for Victoria, NOT WITH YOUR MIND ELSEWHERE!"
It was a sharp, fierce and confronting few seconds. Trent didn’t take his eyes off the coach, he didn’t move or change expression other than to clench his jaw and lose a bit of colour from his cheeks. Inside, though, he was churning.
He didn’t mind being yelled at, even in a room full of people. He liked Dicko and enjoyed playing for him, but what he had said wasn’t right. Why hadn’t he talked to him first, to make sure that’s what he had said? Trent felt like an idiot, like he’d been embarrassed for no real reason.
"It put me down. It made me feel like a idiot," he said. "It just felt negative."
Still, he was first out on to the ground, stopping to pat each teammate on the back as they followed him.
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