Richmond captain Trent Cotchin says the Tigers are out of excuses for poor results and wants to lead the fightbackSam Landsberger
Herald-Sun
May 07, 2015RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin says the Tigers are out of excuses and he will demand improvement from teammates as the club’s season teeters on the brink.
Cotchin told the Herald Sun the Tigers’ brains trust had increased its communication in a bid to help reverse the form which has them at 2-3 with a brutal five-week block leading into the bye.
Cotchin said this was not the toughest period he had faced as captain but urged players to revert back to enjoying their football and to sharpen their delivery inside 50.
“We’ve been in games,” he said.
“We missed last week (against Geelong) and we probably played a half the week before against the Dees.
“But it’s enough of the excuses for us. We need to start performing for four quarters and give ourselves a chance to win games of footy.
“From an individual point of view I have to lead the way with the way I play and hopefully others follow, and then from there demand it of players.”
The Tigers have started favourites every week but are unlikely to hold that tag again before Round 12 with matches against North Melbourne (Hobart), Collingwood, Port Adelaide (away), Essendon and Fremantle (away) ahead.
Cotchin said the Tigers needed to carry the freedom they showed in the last quarter against the Cats into Saturday’s clash against the Kangaroos.
The Tigers have not beaten the Roos since 2011 and have posted just three wins against them in the past 14 seasons.
Superstar Brett Deledio and target Ben Griffiths are chances to return, while Reece Conca collected 19 disposals in his VFL comeback.
“North have had the wood over us the last couple of years,” Cotchin said.
“Nothing changes with the way we’ve been playing, it’s just about backing yourself in most importantly, and your teammates.
“I think the individuals just need to back themselves in when they have the footy and take care with the ball.
“Our entries inside 50 haven’t been quite as damaging as other opposition teams. We’ve won the inside 50 count in every game this year but haven’t put the score on the board.”
The Tigers slumped to 3-10 last year before peeling off nine-straight wins to reach September and asked if 2015 was following a similar track, Cotchin said “I certainly hope not”.
“The position the club is in now is we have a great coaching staff, a really good playing group, we’re far more mature than we have been in the past and we’re coming together more often to talk about what we can do to make sure we’re performing every week,” Cotchin said.
“We’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes and we want to see the results starting to appear and that comes back to everyone taking ownership.”
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