Trent Cotchin is set to dominate debate after his high hit on Dylan Shiel on Saturday

VOTE: SHOULD Richmond captain Trent Cotchin be suspended for the Grand Final? Herald Sun experts Jon Ralph and Jay Clark look at the for and against.

THE immediate future of Richmond captain Trent Cotchin is set to dominate debate this week after his high hit on Dylan Shiel on Saturday.

Herald Sun experts Jon Ralph and Jay Clark look at the for and against arguments.

Vote and have your say on whether the Tigers skipper should be able to take on Adelaide.

THE TACKLE: PARK THE RAGE, KB, YOU CAN’T WIN

NERVOUS WAIT: I WAS GOING FOR THE BALL: COTCHIN

HIGH HIT: IS THIS THE VISION THAT SAVES COTCHIN?

LIKES, DISLIKES: STEVIE J, THE FOOTY WORLD SAYS THANKS

WHY COTCHIN MUST BE SUSPENDED

- Jay Clark

THIS should all boil down to one heartbreaking aspect.

When the match review panel members anxiously sip their cups of tea this morning and stop the tape just before the crucial moment of impact, all eyes will zero in on Trent Cotchin’s right arm.

Is it outstretched for the ball, as part of a genuine attempt to win the footy, when Cotchin smashes into Dylan Shiel’s chin?

Trent Cotchin and Dylan Shiel come together in the first quarter. Picture: Channel 7

Or is his elbow tucked-in tightly and braced for a bump, which will reverberate to the core of Richmond’s premiership chances?

Worryingly for the Tigers, it’s the latter.

The panel members have to put aside the devastation of missing the Grand Final and assess Cotchin’s crucial movements before he collies with Shiel’s face.

And in the stone cold moment of truth, Cotchin folds his arm into his side, rotates his body and leans in with his right shoulder.

Then, bang. It was bump first, ball second.

We are all looking for wiggle room on this one, but bracing yourself to plough into Shiel like that is technically careless under the rules.

And because Shiel misses the rest of the game, it’s medium impact. That triggers a suspension.

Really, no footy fan outside of South Australia would want to see Richmond’s inspirational skipper miss next week because of a slight split-second mistake.

Trent Cotchin could be suspended for Richmond’s first Grand Final since 1982.

And Cotch probably didn’t sleep a wink last night if the incident rolled on repeat in the back of the captain’s mind.

Richmond is guaranteed to fight any guilty verdict all the way to the Supreme Court if you ask Eddie McGuire, and they really don’t have anything to lose on an appeal, anyway.

But the game can be as cruel as it is kind.

And if we want the match review panel to be transparent, accountable and consistent as we all keep saying, the emotion and misery of missing the ‘Big One’ has to be swept aside.

We want to better protect the head, and that means the game has changed.

And no case will be more hotly debated or perhaps more important than this one.

WHY COTCHIN CAN GET OFF

- Jon Ralph

TRENT Cotchin could be cleared to play in Richmond’s first Grand Final in 35 years.

But he might need to wait until tomorrow to get permission.

There is no doubt Cotchin is right on the borderline of suspension for his collision with Greater Western Sydney star Dylan Shiel.

The AFL can’t crack down on concussion and all its repercussions but then condone acts which put players out of preliminary finals.

It might be Cotchin’s own testimony about going for the ball which is required to save him. That would occur at a tribunal case tomorrow if he gets suspended today.

The Match Review Panel will clearly be worried about his approach to the football and why he didn’t actually reach for the ball.

It needs to justify the fact he was genuinely contesting for the ball.

(From left) Jacob Townsend, Toby Nankervis, Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin sing the song after Richmond’s preliminary final win.

If the panel members judge he was contesting for the ball in a legal manner, any injury that occurs to a rival player is irrelevant.

Cotchin is a killer on the field, determined to mete out as much pain as is legally allowed.

And as he approached the GWS star, he clearly wanted to kill two birds with one stone — attack one of the opposition’s stars while also winning the ball.

His issue is that he led with his shoulder rather than reaching out for the ball. The MRP only has two seconds of vision to assess his motivation, his body position and the distance his hands are from the ball.

Yet if this goes to a tribunal, Cotchin can mount the stand to deliver a more emotional and forceful testimony about his determination to find the Sherrin. He can describe the incident in forensic detail, explain his motives, and the panel to allow him to play a Grand Final.

That human element can help to free him to play much easier than the AFL’s tick-a-box match review panel system.