Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell receive Brownlow Medal in unusual ceremony

THERE were 150 guests instead of 1400 and the red carpet was only 5m long, but it wasn’t too late to mark a champion as Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin received Brownlow honours.

THERE’S Christmas in July — and now there’s the Brownlow in December.

On a hot summer afternoon inside a Docklands function centre, a four-year-old Brownlow was handed to 2012 joint runners-up, Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin.

If it sounds strange, and perhaps a tad awkward, that’s because it was.

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A month after Essendon captain Jobe Watson surrendered the 2012 medal ahead of an AFL Commission meeting, Mitchell and Cotchin were thrust into his place.

Yet the pair navigated the most unprecedented of events with the sort of class and poise they displayed on-field to ­finish tied on 26 votes that ­season.

Trent Cotchin with daughter Mackenzie at the Brownlow Medal ceremony. Picture: Michael Klein

There were 150 guests instead of 1400 and the red carpet was only 5m long, but there was champagne flutes and Bruce McAvaney.

“It’s an unusual Brownlow ceremony, but we are here to celebrate you both,” McAvaney said.

The TV doyen looked out over a collection of the players’ closest teammates, friends and family.

Seating was split down the middle with Mitchell’s essentially on one side and Cotchin’s on the other.

Indeed, it was almost like a wedding.

“We had to embrace it. It was an exciting opportunity to invite those who have supported us,” Cotchin said.

It’s easy to forget how sublime Cotchin’s 2012 season was.

He won the second of his three Jack Dyer Medals, made the All-Australian list and claimed the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award.

The Tigers skipper had the medal put around his neck by the last Richmond player to win a Brownlow, triple winner Ian Stewart.

There was the usual trip down memory lane with McAvaney that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing under brighter lights.

The start in the under-9s, the growth spurt, the parents, the teammates, the draft where he went No.2 and best mate Matthew Kreuzer went No.1 and the time he housed Dustin Martin.

“He was our first child,” Cotchin said.

With wife Brooke and daughters Harper and Mackenzie looking on proudly, Cotchin paid tribute to the family he didn’t have in 2012 — another reminder of how much time had passed.

AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick then raised his glass before realising this wasn’t Crown Palladium.

“Toasting without drinks might be difficult but ... please be upstanding,” Fitzpatrick said.

Cotchin is awarded his medal by triple Brownlow winner Ian Stewart. Picture: Alex Coppel

Cotchin’s father Peter said his son had been intentionally measured.

“He’s a proud customer and there’s no question deep inside he’d be the happiest kid in the world, but it’s not the sort of thing you gloat over because of the circumstances,” Peter said.

“But it was the best season he’s ever had, no question.”

For Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, it was another reminder of his skipper’s ­talents.

“You very rarely sit down as a coach and watch a highlights package like that, but the pleasing thing for me is he’s still relatively young at 26,” Hardwick said.

“He’s an incredible player and I’m very fortunate to see this player up close. He had a wonderful year in 2012 and he’s been a wonderful captain since.”

TRENT COTCHIN

2012 Brownlow Medal winner

Richmond

Age: 26

Games: 173

Drafted: Pick 2, 2007 national draft

Debut: 2008

Recruited from: Penleigh and Essendon Grammar

Other honours

Best-and-fairest: 2011, 2012, 2014

All-Australian: 2012

Richmond captain: 2012-

Originally published as Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell receive Brownlow Medal in unusual ceremony