Richmond captain Trent Cotchin backs Dustin Martin to produce another dominant season in 2019
RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin says his superstar teammate Dustin Martin is ready to launch into another dominant season for the Tigers after returning for pre-season in great shape.
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RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin says his superstar teammate Dustin Martin is ready to “go again” and launch into another dominant season for the Tigers.
Martin and Cotchin were back with the full Richmond list for the first day of the pre-season proper at Punt Rd today.
There was no easing into summer preparations for early Brownlow Medal favourite Martin as he pushed himself in a long and searching session.
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Cotchin said Martin, who had been under a fitness cloud heading into the Tigers’ preliminary final loss to Collingwood, had returned to the club in great shape.
“He looks good, he’s really excited to be back. He actually came back last week to do a session with the boys a little bitearlier,’’ Cotchin said.
“He spent a little bit of time in the (United) States and he’s just excited to sink his teeth into another season.
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“Obviously, everyone will be talking about the way that he finished off the year, but he had another fantastic season in 2018 and he will go again.’’
Cotchin said he had returned refreshed himself for the start of the pre-season after spending a month in the US during his off-season break.
The skipper said he had refused to dwell on the Tigers’ heartbreaking preliminary finals loss to the Magpies during the off-season.
“I think it’s the power of acceptance. It was what it was and there’s not much I can do about it now,’’ Cotchin said.
“We didn’t play really well on that night and Collingwood played exceptionally well. ... we didn’t quite get the reward we wanted to and we’ll be striving to go again throughout this pre-season along with some fresh faces.’’
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Cotchin said he had not intended to watch the Grand Final after the Tigers’ finals exit, but couldn’t help himself on a day out with his children.
“I actually watched it on the Telstra AFL app while I was at the Melbourne Show with the kids,’’ Cotchin said.
“I wasn’t going to watch it ... the way it panned out wasn’t exactly how we had planned or prepared for, the better team won on the night and went on to play in the Grand Final.’’
Cotchin said he was excited to welcome star recruit Tom Lynch to the club, but would not speculate on what the big forward’s arrival meant for the Tigers’ game plan.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the end (of the way team played), that’s probably something you have to speak to ‘Dimma’ (coach Damien Hardwick) about more so than me,’’ Cotchin said.
Full @Richmond_FC list back for start of pre-season proper today at Punt Rd @superfooty pic.twitter.com/Jyf5iaceNC
— Rebecca Williams (@BecHeraldSun) December 2, 2018
“They say change is as good as a holiday. As I said, without actually seeing it and training and seeing how the system works it’s hard to comment on.
“But I’m really excited to see what he brings, but also the way our group that are structured around him down there can help his game as well.’’
Star defender Alex Rance was an absentee today. He has an extra weeks’ leave and will return for pre-season training with the Tigers next week.
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