Trent Cotchin announces retirement, exits AFL as a modern legend

Richmond’s dynasty of dominance is officially over after Trent Cotchin dropped big news on his teammates on Thursday.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 30: Trent Cotchin of the Tigers leads his team onto the field during the round 11 AFL match between the Richmond Tigers and the Adelaide Crows at GIANTS Stadium on May 30, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Richmond legend Trent Cotchin has retired.

The former Tigers captain’s decision to walk away brings the curtain down on the club’s recent dynasty, coming just weeks after former coach Damien Hardwick also announced his decision to leave the club.

The 33-year-old was widely tipped to hang up the boots at the end of the year — but his decision has still rocked the football club.

Cotchin, a three-time premiership captain, Brownlow Medallist, and three-time Jack Dyer Medal winner, has played 305 AFL games, including a club-record 188 as captain.

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It’s all over. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

The club released a statement on Thursday morning, confirming Cotchin told his teammates on Thursday morning.

“I am going to miss with all my heart the relationships, memories and experiences I have had these past 305 games,” he said.

“I accept reality and that my chapter has come to an end. My body is somewhat slowing down and is older than it once was.”

A snap press conference with Cotchin has been scheduled for 12pm.

“I look to the future with nothing but excitement, adventure, and opportunity, because of what I found here at Richmond and what Richmond people taught me,” he said in the club’s announcement.

“Finding out that creating an environment to help other realise and fulfil their potential not only inspired me but helped me to overcome my own fears.

“I found the move from ‘I’ to ‘we’ and that to be interested not interesting was so much more fun. I learned the power to dream big at Richmond, to say why not me. Why not us? And why not now.

Trent Cotchin carried off after his 300th game. Photo by Michael Klein.

“I have always given my best and left no stone unturned, in my dads words- I have strived to make every post a winner.”

Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale said the club will thank Cotchin “forever”.

“Obviously Trent has achieved so much as a player, however, it is the power and impact of his leadership that has impressed me the most,” Gale said.

“After being appointed Captain in 2012 at 22 years, Trent in his own way and through his own experience redefined leadership at our club. His renewed focus on self-understanding, self-acceptance, care, and connection was instrumental in unlocking the full potential of our players and team.”

Channel 7 had announced this week that Cotchin will be featuring as a co-host of the network’s new football panel show.

A finals-version of the channel’s Talking Footy show, which is set to be called Talking Finals, is set to return in a midweek timeslot during the bye week before the start of the AFL Finals series.

Cotchin’s Tigers are still in the hunt for the finals but, with three rounds left in the regular season, are six points out of eighth place in 13th on the AFL ladder.

It is a particularly sad day for the club, just weeks after Hardwick’s decision to quit in the middle of the season.

Cotchin and Hardwick are inextricably linked, being the captain and coach combination that ended the Tigers’ 37-year premiership drought — and then did it again, and again.

And they’re the second longest captain-coach pairing in AFL history, having had 188 games together, second only to Chris Scott and Joel Selwood’s 245 games

More to come...