Richmond wants skipper Trent Cotchin to drift forward and kick more goals Glenn McFarlane
From: Herald Sun
February 23, 2014 7:18PMRICHMOND wants captain Trent Cotchin to push forward more often — and kick more goals — this season as the Tigers seek greater flexibility from its midfield brigade.
Cotchin gave a glimpse of what might be a valuable weapon for the Tigers this season when he kicked four goals in Saturday’s NAB Challenge clash with Collingwood in Wangaratta.
And coach Damien Hardwick said the plan was to see more of this when the home-and-away season kicks off for the Tigers, against Gold Coast on March 15.
“It is something we need for him to do,” Hardwick said. “He is such a valuable one-on-one player, as is (Brett) Deledio. They are really hard guys to match up on.
“We have got to make sure we continue to give him the chance to push forward.
“With Dustin (Martin) off half-back and Cotchin off half-back at various stages and up forward as well, it just creates flexibility for our side.
“It is something we probably didn’t exploit as much last year and we will be looking to do a bit more of that. We will continue to tinker.”
Incredibly, Cotchin only managed six goals from his 22 games last season, including two kicked in the Tigers’ elimination final loss to Carlton.
He has kicked 61 goals from his 108 games, including a career-high 21 in 2012, but Cotchin and the Tigers are confident he can prove a dangerous force, if given more time in attack.
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