Mark Robinson: Time we stopped pretending Lance Franklin was victim in Trent Cotchin strike
Lance Franklin’s strike on Trent Cotchin might not have been cowardly, as the AFL has admitted. But as Mark Robinson writes, it’s time we stopped pretending Franklin is the victim.
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Please, Lance Franklin is not the victim here and he hardly warranted an apology from the AFL.
His hit on Richmond’s Trent Cotchin was described as a cowardly act by AFL counsel Andrew Woods, a description which ruffled feathers at Sydney, and you’d think a phone call between the aggrieved Swans and AFL headquarters on Thursday might’ve helped caress those ruffled feathers.
The outcome was the AFL apology to Franklin.
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True, it wasn’t cowardly. If Cotchin wasn’t looking at Franklin and Franklin swiped him from behind, then cowardly would be appropriate.
No, it was a good ol’ fashioned cheap shot, delivered spontaneously in anger to a person who rightfully shouldn’t have expected it.
Not sure that’s cowardly, but it’s close to it. It was certainly a free hit to the chin of a bloke who wasn’t shaping up for a fight.
You have to wonder if the AFL would’ve apologised if Franklin’s punch flushed Cotchin and broke his jaw? Or knocked him out?
Of course, they wouldn’t have. So, once again, the outcome rather than the act played a role in the proceedings.
If anyone required an apology for what took place last Friday night and for the ill-mannered comments made by Sydney’s counsel Duncan Miller on Wednesday night, it is Cotchin.
Cotchin was the one who got a clip to the jaw, yet it was Cotchin who had his character questioned by Miller at what turned out to be a spicy tribunal hearing.
Miller accused Cotchin of acting.
“I’m tempted to say he might be invited to the Logies and not the Brownlow this year,” he said during proceedings.
“The exaggerated head movement back and the rest of the pictures show exactly what it was — there’s a wry smile on Mr Cotchin’s face.”
What a crock.
Cotchin has earnt the right to be treated with respect by anyone associated with football, including courtroom lawyers wanting to be dramatic with their arguments.
The three-time premiership captain is hardly a stager and the events later in the game, when he placed himself in front of a rampaging Franklin, is evidence enough that Cotchin is not a shirker, either.
It was a pathetic choice of words from Miller and although the Tigers were disappointed with the comments, they chose to not let it ruffle their feathers. Publicly, at least.
The sort of punch which Franklin threw is, thankfully, a rarity in football.
Even more rare was that it came from Franklin. He’s aggressive and he has a penchant for tackling players with a swinging arm to his opponent’s head, but punching is not in his kit bag.
But the fact is he did it and somehow Cotchin was made to look like the villain.
If anything, the AFL apologised to the wrong man.
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Originally published as Mark Robinson: Time we stopped pretending Lance Franklin was victim in Trent Cotchin strike
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