Richmond captain Trent Cotchin explains philosophy of life, success

RICHMOND skipper TRENT COTCHIN explains his attitude to life and success — and how he answers that question about another Tigers finals campaign.

Richmond captain Trent Cotchin in action.

WHETHER you think you can or think you can’t, you’re absolutely right.

That’s why my teachers used to say, “choose your perspective carefully”.

It’s one of the greatest lessons, and one that I will likely never stop learning because perspective is everything.

Was last year the worst year of my life or perhaps one of the best years creating the biggest breakthroughs and learnings? It’s the glass half-full, half-empty scenario.

When I was first drafted to Richmond I moved in with our skipper Kane Johnson.

“Sugar” was a great leader and taught me many things and one of his favourite sayings was that the journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.

One night he sat me down and forced me to watch the movie Peaceful Warrior, which is definitely not a film I would ever have picked while settling in for a night on the couch with a pizza and TV guide.

Kane Johnson was a housemate of Trent Cotchin in his first years at Richmond.

Trent Cotchin says he learnt a lot from the former skipper.

Anyway, the movie is about a talented gymnast who makes so many sacrifices facing adversity when he shatters his leg.

The relevance for me was huge.

I was a young and impatient, both my Achilles were failing me way too early in my career and I had a choice: complain, blame and whinge or think positively and get on with it.

One of the movie’s best lines is: “there is never nothing going on”.

It related to perspective and the power of now or just being still, and I’ve used this my whole life when I’m at a park or somewhere out in the open, to just take a moment to absorb as much information as you can about the surrounds, other people, animals, cars and so forth.

It is incredible how much is actually going on when you stop.

I do this in my pre-game walk every week and it helps activate my brain and awareness.

I’ve been reflecting this week along with the other 700-odd players who have had the absolute privilege to either watch, compete against or be towelled up by five brilliant captains ... Luke Hodge, Bob Murphy, Nick Riewoldt, Jobe Watson and Sam Mitchell.

All five are different, with different body shapes and personalities.

But all five are also very similar and share similar ingredients for success — they’re passionate, they’re humble, they’re caring and they’re courageous.

They’re also positive and love a good laugh.

All five have been highly successful yet all would have very different perspectives on success.

Two played in multiple premierships, one inspired a premiership, one came agonisingly close and one missed the big day altogether.

But all five are legends of the game and have had an extraordinary impact on so many others. Isn’t that living a successful life?

So while all of us have the ultimate goal of winning a premiership, how do you define success if you don’t get there or, in my case, haven’t got there yet?

It must be what my first roommate was talking about — the answer lies somewhere in our mindset and how we travel along the way to our destination, wherever that destination is.

Trent Cotchin is a thinker.

Football is game where your season is ultimately defined by the number of wins and losses.

People will ask me, are you fearful of going into finals again? Is there anxiety associated with your recent history?

And for me the answer is simple: Anxiety and pressure are only truly present when the focus is solely on the result.

My focus going into any game or training session whether it be this week, next week or a final will remain the same, it will be on the things I can control and ultimately encouraging my teammates to focus on the same, as well as the things we can control as a team.

Everything else is a distraction.

There is a lot of noise that follows you in the AFL and the moment you allow that noise to dictate your thinking is the moment your perspective changes and you focus incorrectly.

That then puts a different perspective on failure.

Failure is less about winning or losing or making a mistake. Failure is more about not being authentic, not going for it and not dreaming big.

As the saying goes: “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”.

The world today is obsessed by stats and results. But the more you focus on results the more you lose sight of the here and now and what you can control.

Your perspective shifts and at least in my case you become completely distracted by things you can’t control. You forget your strengths, or the things you’re passionate about. The things that matter. You lose perspective.

You also lose joy.

One of the greatest things about playing football is the joy you can bring to young kids.

I remember looking up to my idols as a kid and whenever I go into the Royal Children’s Hospital with teammates it’s a privilege and an honour to put a smile on the dial of a young boy or girl who’s suffering.

It puts our entire world in complete perspective. I wish I could remember that more than I do.

Children have an amazing ability to keep things real. So do wives.

I remember prior to having my own children what it was like to come home after a tough loss or carrying a niggling injury. It would totally consume you, own you, and sitting on the couch, eating dinner or lying in bed, it would be your focus and distract you from everything else. That’s where children are brilliant, they don’t care too much about how you are feeling when you walk in the door, they just greet you with a massive smile, a big cheer and most of the time a big, big cuddle.

BANG ... I’ve dropped my baggage at the door, forgotten for a moment about all the negative things and engaged in one of life’s most simple pleasures.

Just before retired AFL Chairman Ron Evans’ passed away he was interviewed about his time in the AFL and his perspective on the AFL industry and in particular his definition of success.

The interview was played at his funeral and he said that success to him was leaving a place in better shape than when you found it, but that his greatest success for him was really his family and how grateful he was for them.

I like his perspective.