Is Trent Cotchin the right man to captain Richmond?
TRENT Cotchin’s leadership is under fire again after Richmond gave up a 17-point lead against Collingwood. Are the critics right? VOTE
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TRENT Cotchin’s leadership is under fire again after Richmond gave up a 17-point lead against Collingwood.
Cotchin is not seen as inspirational on the field, has struggled against taggers — notably in last year’s elimination final — and now critics say he can’t turn the tide when close games slip out of Richmond’s grasp.
Is he the right man to lead the Tigers to the elusive promised land? Read the case for and against and cast your vote below.
THE CASE FOR CAPTAIN COTCH
TRENT Cotchin is not Luke Hodge. But neither are 750 other AFL players, or 17 other captains.
Trying to pin Richmond’s loss to Collingwood on Cotchin is easy, but wrong. The skipper had 38 touches on Friday night and while you can argue about how effective they all were, he was one of Richmond’s best. The Herald Sun’s Glenn McFarlane gave him one vote in the paper’s Player of the Year Award (behind Alex Fasolo and Bachar Houli). The AFL coaches also judged Cotch among the best three players on the field in their votes following the match.
In the crucial final play, Cotchin was front and centre of the marking contest at the top of the Collingwood goalsquare. Unfortunately the ball spilt off about a dozen hands over the back of the pack, straight into the lap of Brodie Grundy.
Cotch wasn’t pointing at teammates telling them where to stand, as it’s been argued Hodge would have, but Scott Pendlebury wasn’t waving his arms around either.
Where was Joel Selwood in the tense final minutes against GWS in Canberra? Why couldn’t Hodge stop those late Geelong goals in Round 1?
Cotchin is a scapegoat for a big Melbourne club with a history of underachievement.
He is a very good player. He is never going to crash a pack like Wayne Carey and he doesn’t have the “top bloke” persona of Hodge. But he is a complete professional who sets the right example for his teammates on and off the field.
He’s also the best candidate. Tiger fans love Jack Riewoldt but when the players and coaches voted on the 2016 leadership group, he didn’t make the cut. That doesn’t mean he can’t still inspire the team and he has certainly become more of a team-first player (I loved that he was at full-back trying to fist Darcy Moore’s kick into the grandstand, shame it didn’t come off).
Brett Deledio could do the job but he has to worry about getting on the field first. Alex Rance? Superstar but still prone to occasional brain fades (like kicking across goal to Taylor Hunt in the dying minutes against the Pies) and he said last year he wants a balanced life with footy not his only priority.
And what message would it send if Cotchin stood down now?
He’s no Hodge. But Cotchin carried the Tigers to a comeback win against Sydney at the SCG last year with a brilliant solo performance and I’d love to see him do it again against the Crows on Saturday. But if he doesn’t, it doesn’t make him a failure.
- Al Paton @al_superfooty
THE CASE AGAINST CAPTAIN COTCH
RICHMOND must stop the rot, unshackle Trent Cotchin the burden of captaincy and move on.
It’s a win-win for both Cotchin and the Tigers.
Pre-captaincy Cotchin was a wonderful footballer. But to slightly alter a Jack Dyer-ism: Cotchin is a good ordinary captain.
He says the right things.
He plays the right way.
He sets an example off the field a Tibetan monk would be proud of.
Of course, it’s not Cotchin’s fault the club and players voted him in after a standout 2012 season in which he came within a whisker of winning the Brownlow.
He was the obvious replacement for much-loved former captain Chris Newman.
But times are changing and Richmond is running out of time to win a flag with this group.
The Tigers needs strength at the top.
Brett Deledio fits the bill but, like Newman before Cotchin, is in the twilight of his career.
A short-term fix is not what is needed at Punt Rd.
Jack Riewoldt is another name raised in future captaincy discussions.
Why would you risk messing with Riewoldt when he has matured so much after dropped from the club’s leadership group in 2014.
Alex Rance is the obvious choice for me.
He signed long-term deal last year to remain at Tigerland, was elevated to the leadership group this year, and, importantly, is already the general in Richmond’s backline.
The shoe fits for now and allows the next generation of Tiger leaders (think Nick Vlastuin) to grow into the role.
If Richmond is to succeed it must make the tough call, just like Hawthorn did when it replaced premiership captain Sam Mitchell with Luke Hodge in 2010.
Both have gone on and flourished and you can bet your bottom dollar neither would change the course of history if given the chance.
— Gilbert Gardiner (@gilbertgardiner)
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