Richmond captain Trent Cotchin focuses on Tigers’ win over his five-goal bagGlenn McFarlane
Herald-Sun
June 28, 2014 6:42PMRICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin kicked his first bag of five goals since his under-18s school days, but it was the performance of his team that brought a bigger smile to his face.
After a winless month of football and being anchored near the bottom of the ladder, Cotchin knew the importance of making a statement against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
And he produced a best-afield performance, starting with a superb opening half, which turned out to be a significant in the Tigers’ fourth win of the season, by 44 points against the Saints.
“Hopefully this year is seen as a bit of a stepping stone for us,” Cotchin said. “Hopefully, we can look back on it as a really critical time in this club’s history.
“You would love to be in the hunt for the finals. But what we can do now is make sure we are challenging the opposition every week — no matter who it is.
“The boys were good today, and they deserve a bit of a reward. Hopefully, it is something we can carry into next week.”
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick put the acid on his senior players leading into yesterday’s game, and Cotchin received some external criticism about where he has been getting his possession in recent weeks.
But the 24-year-old skipper responded in the best possible fashion, finishing 31 touches — 10 of them contested — along with five goals, with four of them kicked in the first half.
“I haven’t done that (kicked five goals) since the juniors, probably back in under-18s school footy,” he said.
“When you don’t re-tweak something that is sore for a couple of weeks, you start to feel a little more free, especially when you feel like you are running on top of the ground.
“It is a credit to the boys; the way we are playing is pretty predictable and that makes it is easier.
“The greatest thing from us from an improvement point of view is that we are willing to look in the mirror and start challenging each other first before we start challenging guys below us.”
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-captain-trent-cotchin-focuses-on-tigers-win-over-his-fivegoal-bag/story-fndv8t7m-1226970034467