Brooke Cotchin reveals she was suicidal after breaching COVID rules while in AFL hub

The wife of Richmond captain Trent Cotchin says the barrage of abuse she copped for breaching AFL hub protocols pushed her to the brink.

Brooke Cotchin has revealed the shocking depths of her despair in the AFL’s Queensland hub last year, saying she contemplated suicide amid the fallout of accidentally breaching COVID-19 protocols.

The wife of Richmond captain Trent Cotchin tearfully spoke about how she considered ending her life in the dark days of being trolled following her visit to a day spa.

She detailed that she could not get out of bed for days, suffered panic attacks and even stopped receiving calls from her mum.

“I kept saying to Trent, the only reason, it sounds extreme, but the only reason I didn’t kill myself was because of my kids,’’ she said.

Speaking to the Curious Conversations podcast with Tully Humprey and Sarah Pasini, Cotchin said she became “so mentally depressed” because of intense media scrutiny and trolling.

“That’s my thing with the media and I don’t think they realise how damaging they can be,” she said.

Cotchin added: “I suppose you get painted as this person that you’re not and you’ve got no control so you just have to deal with it.

Brooke with husband Trent Cotchin after the 2020 AFL Grand Final.

“Even what the boys were copping in the hub. I think people were so angry and frustrated and people were just looking for a way to take our their frustrations.”

An emotional Cotchin added that she didn’t get out of bed “for a few days” or return her mum’s phone calls as she struggled without support from friends and family, including dad, former footballer Rick Kennedy.

“I had to get up because I had no choice because Trent had to train,” she said.

“I couldn’t speak, I actually had to bar my mums calls because I couldn’t bare to speak to her because I didn’t want her to know how bad I was.”

Cotchin also revealed that she “felt bad” for Tigers players, who said she had to see “how bad” she was.

“It was more as well I think because I couldn’t hide. I’m living in this hub, I have to get up, I was the only partner in our hub, my kids were the only kids in there. Every meal was with the team and I was a mess and they had to see that.

“And I felt bad for them to see how bad I was. And then for my kids, we had two rooms across a hallway so the kids were literally in our pockets 24/7 so I had various panic attacks and the kids saw that. It’s not nice.”

Brooke with their her kids Parker, Harper and Mackenzie. Picture: David Geraghty

Cotchin said she didn’t know she was breaching protocols, but despite the devastation she said the months in the hub were “one of the best times of my life”.

“The fact that people thought that I did it on purpose … like one, my husband is the biggest stiff in the AFL and he would not have let me go for a facial if I wasn’t allowed,’’ she said.

“And I wouldn’t have posted it on social media if I knew I was doing the wrong thing.

“It doesn’t even make sense and we’re not those type of people. The reason why I went for a facial was because we’d been up there for a month and I was homeschooling two kids and had Parker, he was not even one, he was teething.

“I was literally fried, my one thing (to release) is going for a facial or a massage, he’s like just go and have some you time.

“So I did and the only reason I posted on social media was because I had one of the best treatments I had because I wanted to support a business up there and COVID has challenged everyone and I wanted to share it for them because they made me feel amazing.

“I literally walked out crying and I don’t even know what I was crying about but just because I felt normal again. The messages, it was people that obviously had seen it on the news and had no idea who I was, but just attacking me for the opportunity to attack someone.”

In August last year Cotchin revealed to the Herald Sun that she was still haunted by the day spa visit which resulted in the club being fined $45,000.

It also emerged that the Cotchins threatened to leave the hub as Brooke’s father came out saying the situation was poorly handled and she was “muzzled”.