Cotchin the class of 2007
Emma Quayle | November 18, 2007
TRENT Cotchin played his final game of junior football two months ago, and closed his last year 12 exam booklet on Friday. Early next Saturday morning he'll find out where his new life, as an AFL footballer, will finally start.
In the meantime, the 17-year-old has headed to Echuca for a few days of sun and his first real break in what has been a busy year. "I can't wait," said Cotchin, who will have his good friend Matthew Kreuzer alongside as, back in Melbourne, Carlton decides which of the pair it will choose with its No. 1 draft pick.
"The season's gone by really fast, but there hasn't been much time to think about things.
"It'll be nice just to have a few days to get my head around what's happened this year, and get ready for what's coming. I'm looking forward to knowing where I'm heading, and starting out all over."
It was not immediately obvious that Cotchin, a northern suburbs boy who played his first game for the West Preston under-9s, was AFL material. He was the tiniest member of most his junior teams, and would tell his sisters he'd have to be as good as Tony Liberatore to make it.
Then he grew, and people started to notice he could kick well with both feet, kick goals, bring teammates into games and have a big say in which team won.
Last year, Cotchin became one of only a few 16-year-olds to win a place in the Northern Knights' TAC Cup team. He played six games, scored goals in each of the team's three finals and, on the Champion Data stats sheet, turned the ball over with just three of his 80-plus kicks.
This season, he captained the Australian under-17 team in a game against Perth on his 17th birthday, then toured South Africa with the AIS-AFL Academy. He played for his school, Essendon Grammar, in two winning finals, and for Vic Metro in the under-18 championships.
Ken Fletcher, the long-time coach of Essendon Grammar, knew as soon as he saw Cotchin booting balls in the school's gym last year that he had a good one on his hands, and now ranks the onballer ahead of Scott West and his own son, Dustin, as the best boy he's coached.
"He's going to be a 200-game player, no doubt," Fletcher said. "He's got to be lucky with injury, but he's just a very good talent and a very good person to go with it. It's a funny thing to say, because Westy's won eight best-and-fairests, but Trent's just got that something special.
"The really good players have got that ability to bring others into the game, and that's what I like about Trent. A lot of kids at the top level like to do it all themselves, but if someone's in the right position Trent will give it to them. That's going to be a really good thing for him later on."
Cotchin's season has not been an entirely smooth ride, though. The under-18 carnival, in particular, did not pan out how he'd hoped, with West Australian Patrick McGinnity tagging him out of the opening game at Subiaco and a knee injury ending his final match, against Vic Country, by half-time.
Back with the Knights by the end of the year, he freshened up and played his most dynamic games, only to break his foot in the third quarter of the preliminary final and watch his injury-stricken side let a five-goal lead, and a trip to the MCG on grand final day, slip away.
That he had come back to make a difference was made very clear to the Knights. "You could see there was this quiet desire and determination about him. He was on a mission," said Peter Kennedy, the club's regional manager.
"He had a desire to really show people what he was capable of, and he was probably best on ground in our first final. In the next game he had a player pick him up and he just shook him off and ran him ragged, and he was shaping up well in the last game until he broke his foot.
"He's just an outstanding talent, with his balance and his kicking. He hits targets all the time and his work ethic during games was just outstanding for us."
Cotchin, who is eligible for this year's draft by only a few weeks, embraced each challenge, tried to improve his endurance so that taggers got the message, and said the season had taught him that there are always ways to improve. "With every level you get to your footy has to go up, and I like that side of it. It gives you a better idea of what it takes to be a top-level footballer," he said.
"This year the games have become more intense, and you have to learn and train yourself to recover and back up every week. At times I've been frustrated, but it's been a really good year. I just look forward to the future now, and getting on with that. One more week and I'll know."
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