The two sides of Trent Cotchin, the skipper who saved RichmondAs Trent Cotchin celebrates his 300th game, former teammates recall tales of the champion Tiger's brilliant career
By Sarah Black
afl.com.au
17 June 2023
MUCH has been written about Richmond's dynasty of late, following the departure of coach Damien Hardwick.
But the Tigers equation is not balanced without former skipper Trent Cotchin.
Cotchin – who on Saturday night becomes just the sixth Richmond player to reach the 300-milestone mark – is inextricably linked with the club's rise and revolution.
He was the rudder that steered the triple-premiership run, through the crashing waves of history, doubt and sheer Richmondy-ness.
When Tiger fans think back to Cotchin after his eventual retirement, there's every chance they'll remember his trademark hunt for the ball, somehow always lowering himself a centimetre closer to the ground than his opponent in quest of the footy.
It's a quality that's long been part of his DNA.
As part of their stint with the AFL Academy prior to being drafted, Cotchin and fellow 2007 draftee Addam Maric spent some time training with Richmond.
A particular pre-season training session still lingers in former teammate Shane Edwards' mind, 17 years later.
"We were at the beach, and there were five footballs out in front of us, with six players competing. You'd start on the line, you'd have to go and get a footy and the one that didn't was out," Edwards told AFL.com.au.
"We did it with the whole team, and obviously us young guys, we lost pretty quickly, we were just pushed out of the way.
"And 16-year-old Trent Cotchin won the whole thing. I remember he beat Nathan Foley in the grand final, he pushed him out and beat him to it. And it was like, 'oh my god, this guy is unbelievable. He's a year younger than us, and he's just won an AFL sprint and bodywork contest.'
"That was the first time I was like, 'Trent Cotchin, that guy's going to be an absolute superstar.' I suppose luckily or unluckily, we finished second-bottom and got him in the draft the next year, and it was like the saviour had come.
"I watched him his whole under-18 year. His name was pretty mythical amongst all the draft buzz, it was him and Matty Kreuzer, and we played Carlton, with one of us going to finish bottom. Fortunately, they finished last, we picked 'Cotch', and he was one of our best players almost straight away, and was one of our most mature players as well.
"It was an exciting time at the club. We were horrible on the field, but we had this guy who was clearly going to be our next captain one day."
Cotchin's early maturity is something that comes up time and time again.
He was acting captain at 20, and given the reins outright at just 22, taking over from Chris Newman in 2013, just as the Tigers were about to hit their three-elimination final stint.
"My first impression of Trent was a very mature young man. He also liked to have a laugh and a bit of fun, but he was mature and very clear in what he believed in as a person," retired teammate Ivan Maric said.
"We spent a lot of time together. During my first year at Richmond, we roomed together in Arizona (on a pre-season trip), and I'd pick him up before most games, as we lived near each other.
"We built a really good relationship, really deep friendship. I'd probably say 75 per cent of the time we'd talk about life, and 25 per cent about footy. We'd spend some good time trying to get the team better, but a lot of the time we'd just talk about life outside.
"Bachar Houli was always there too, and we're all similar guys who just enjoy the simple things. You'd have to confirm with Trent, but for me, I think that he thinks family is number one, and footy comes second, which is the way it should be."
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale was asked about Cotchin's impact at the club at a press conference earlier this week.
Gale stood still for a moment, leant on his lectern, and thought. He didn't rush his answer.
"Oh wow. Where do you start? It's incredible, what an incredible player he's been. His growth as a leader has mirrored the growth of the club. He's redefined leadership. He's obviously a three-time premiership captain. He's broken all sorts of records.
"And when I look back at Trent and I look back at the biggest games and the biggest moments when the whips are cracking, and I look at some of those big plays, that maybe some people don't notice the big tackles, the blocks, that he's right there amongst the thick of that.
"He's just been an incredible servant of footy club and we're so lucky, we couldn't have asked for a better captain over the last decade or so."
The hashtag #Cotch300 has been doing the rounds of Tiger Twitter this week, and what is most striking is the sheer number of favourite in-game moments.
A tackle on Rhys Stanley at the opening bounce of the second half of the 2019 preliminary final that kickstarted the Tigers' comeback.
His first kick: a crumb and goal against Geelong at a sodden MCG back in 2008.
A 35-disposal, three-goal game against the Western Bulldogs in what would turn out to be his Brownlow medal-winning year of 2012.
The spin out of the pack and goal against – you guessed it, the Cats – in the 2017 qualifying final.
Bringing down the fearsome Shane Mumford in the opening two minutes of the 2019 Grand Final, and his skipping goal celebration later that game after the broad expanses of the MCG opened up to him.
Charging in front of all 100kg of a leading Lance Franklin with a full head of steam in order to spoil the footy in a stock-standard home-and-away match against the Swans.
Carrying a hobbled Daniel Rioli around the MCG on his shoulders in the 2017 premiership lap of honour.
Maric is now the Tigers' ruck coach after spending six years on Richmond's list, and has seen first-hand the impact Cotchin can have on games with a single action.
"The feeling it gave people, when you'd see him do that tackle we needed, it gave us energy," Maric said.
"It was a short-circuit for everyone to realise that was what we needed to do. That's where his lead by example comes from.
"I still get that feeling even though I'm not playing anymore."
There are two clips that sum up the dichotomy of Trent Cotchin.
The first was from the aftermath of the breakthrough 2017 qualifying final win, the victorious skipper cleaning up the changerooms after the club's first finals victory since 2001.
Where once that would have indicated Cotchin's nearly self-destructive strive for perfection, it's now balanced out by the second video.
Pre-game footage from a practice game in 2019 caught Cotchin inexplicably wearing a milk crate on his head, handballing the footy to himself and chatting to Jack Riewoldt, who didn't bat an eyelid.
"He was the most mature 17-year-old, just perfect, and was more mature than I am now at 35. But has this really immature side that rears its head every now and then where he just lets loose, he's a kid and can be really silly," former housemate Edwards said.
"The only movies he'd ever watch had Adam Sandler in them, if Adam Sandler wasn't in it, he wasn't interested in borrowing it.
"And the only music he'd listen to would be Kings of Leon, because he could sing it. We used to carpool to training and anytime it was on, he'd sing, and he'd always start a little bit earlier than the music, and finish a little bit later, so everyone could hear his voice. I'm not sure he can sing anything else."
The 2016 season was tough for the club. Underperforming, under pressure, and challenges coming from all angles, with Cotchin's leadership in particular scrutinised by some in the media.
What happened next changed the course of the long-suffering Tigers, and resulted in three premierships and a preliminary final in four years.
Cotchin embraced imperfection and silliness, and his actions as captain encouraged others to do the same, fostering an environment that eventuated in Jack Higgins cracking nonsensical gags at three-quarter time despite the game being on the line.
The relaxation and the joy of simply playing footy was infectious throughout the club for that magical four-year period, but it took a very brave public acknowledgement to kick it off.
It was something he'd discussed at length during those pre-game car trips with Maric, but to which the wider playing group had not necessarily been privy.
"All things point to the end of 2016, and the start of the 2017 preseason. 'Cotch' got up in front and was extremely vulnerable for a captain, I hadn't heard a captain talk like that before, about his insecurities, about leading, the challenges that he had faced over the period of being captain," Edwards said.
"He's not just saying it to get it off his chest, and that's what he might have thought it was, but he inspired me – and I've known him his whole time at Richmond – to follow better, not just, 'he's Cotch, he's the captain and he can do it all.'
"You can easily fall into that, with someone who's such a good player and so stable off-field, you just look at him like a safety net. But it actually made me want to help and that I can spread what he's preaching, that I can help make his job easier.
"Imagine if 'Cotch' did the same stuff, but he didn't have to carry the baggage of the whole club.
"That's what happened when he stood up in front of us. He was vulnerable and shed a tear and it was a realisation of 'our captain's human'. I feel like that might have been a turning point. All the stuff afterwards might have happened anyway, but that's something I really remember, as seeing him as actually human, not just a person who's absolutely built to captain and play well on the weekend."
On-field, the three-time best and fairest's game has evolved over his 16-year career.
Achilles trouble plagued his first few seasons, but the glimpses of his hunched, Gary Ablett jnr-like burst from stoppages indicated the Tigers had a special player on their hands.
The 2012 season saw him rack up disposals and kick goals (a career-high 21) for fun, retrospectively receive the Brownlow Medal and win the AFLCA award.
The sheer number of touches has gradually come down over time – he even came under scrutiny for the impact of his disposals when the Tigers ran with a very safe, chip-backwards game plan in the mid-2010s – and his output has shifted, as greater midfield support has been brought in around him.
The emergence of Dustin Martin as the best player in the competition for a period also took the pressure off Cotchin to be "the" match-winner.
Richmond's changing game style suited Cotchin's strengths – the knock-ons, the one-percenters, the unrelenting ferocity around the contest in order to move the ball forward at all costs.
Cotchin plays on the edge, and it's endeared him to supporters over the years, and definitely got under the skin of opposition fans.
But it's a costly way to play the game, and the soft-tissue injuries and knocks and bruises have mounted for the 33-year-old over the years.
He stood down from the captaincy at the end of 2021, passing the torch onto Dylan Grimes and Toby Nankervis.
"I'm not putting a ceiling on anything," Cotchin told reporters on Thursday.
"Jack (Riewoldt) and I have had plenty of conversations this year where it's just about smelling the roses and enjoying each moment.
"We've shared moments where we just look at each other and we know that's a time to take in and celebrate and be present.
"You can get caught up in all the hoo-haa around what's next but I'm really just trying to celebrate what is right now."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/950900/the-two-sides-of-trent-cotchin-the-skipper-who-saved-richmond
