Richmond star Trent Cotchin kicks Taylor Walker in boundary line skirmish
Richmond veteran Trent Cotchin faces a nervous wait after his dodgy act crossed the line and infuriated Crows star Taylor Walker.
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Trent Cotchin may have some explaining to do after footy fans accused him of kicking Taylor Walker during the Crows’ win over Richmond on Saturday night.
Adelaide beat the Tigers 15.11 (101) to 12.10 (82) to score its second win of the season and frustration looked to get the better of Cotchin when he was shovelled over the boundary line late in the third quarter.
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The former Richmond skipper got tangled up with Walker and Cotchin appeared to lash out with his left leg and strike the Crows spearhead on the knee with his studs.
Walker clearly didn’t appreciate it, reacting immediately as he turned around to shove Cotchin and grab hold of his guernsey.
Fox Footy commentator Jason Dunstall said: “There’s a little bit there.”
Viewers weren’t impressed with Cotchin’s stray leg, accusing him of crossing the line. Radio broadcaster Liam Flanagan tweeted: “Ummm MRO … seen this? Pretty sure you can’t kick blokes.”
Journalist James Mottershead wrote: “Cotchin kicking out at Walker isn’t a great look at all.”
Even though Adelaide didn’t receive a free kick, St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt believes Cotchin is “going to have to answer to that” when the Match Review Officer looks at the incident.
CHECK OUT THE INCIDENT IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
Richmond is now 11th with two wins and three losses for the season. It could have been a different story on Saturday night after the Tigers overcame a 25-point deficit to take the lead in the third term, only for Adelaide to keep its cool and register a second victory for 2022.
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick pinpointed what went wrong in his post-match press conference.
“The reason that we lost the game is that we gave up 10.5 from stoppage,” Hardwick said.
“It’s been consistently poor this year … we’ve got to get better at the contest behind the ball.
“You give up 10 goals from stoppages … that’s really, really poor.
“We should be able to defend those better especially when we’ve got a plus-one at most stages down there. We’ve got to get better.”
When asked his thoughts on Adelaide receiving 20 more free kicks in the match, Hardwick offered a wry smile and played a straight bat.
“I can’t answer that … why don’t you ask the question of someone (at the AFL),” the coach replied.
“I’m going to hold you to that – let’s see if you make the phone call.”
Later in his presser, Hardwick conceded his side’s struggles when defending stoppages had played a part in the disparity.
“Our defenders are vulnerable at various stages if they get the ball out, but we just managed to lose contests or give away a free kick,” he said.
“The free kicks are on us.
“We gave away some too-highs and some sloppy stuff so we’ve got to get that part of our game better.”
With Jason Phelan, NCA NewsWire
Originally published as Richmond star Trent Cotchin kicks Taylor Walker in boundary line skirmish
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