AFL Grand Final: Coach Damien Hardwick says Trent Cotchin is one of Richmond’s great leaders

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has lavished praise on Tigers captain Trent Cotchin for his team development.

Tigers captain Trent Cotchin and Damien Hardwick, coach of the Tigers, lift the Premiership Cup after their AFL grand-final win over the Greater Western Sydney Giants at the MCG. Picture: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has lavished praise on Tigers captain Trent Cotchin for his remarkable ability to lead a champion side without fanfare.

Cotchin missed part of the year through injury but his capacity to develop teammates such as Shane Edwards into distinguished leaders in their own right proved critical to the Tigers’ premiership.

The dual-premiership captain led the celebrations that continued in the centre of the MCG long after the crowds had departed the ground.

Three hours after their 17.12 (114) to 3.7 (25) victory over the Giants, Cotchin led another rendition of the Tigers’ theme song in the centre of the ground and then a congo line while carrying the premiership cup.

The Brownlow Medallist finished 15 disposals and a goal, with his leadership has been sublime again this season, according to Hardwick.

“What he is very good at, Trent, is that he doesn’t have to be at the front to be a leader,” Hardwick said.

“He parks his ego and drives from the bottom up. That is the most impressive thing about this kid.

“His form of leadership is on-ground, but he is prepared to step back to allow others to grow.

“I have said this for a long time. He copped a lot of whacks early in his career but he will go down as one of the great leaders and great players of the Richmond footy club and I am incredibly proud of what he brings.”

Coach Damien Hardwick, right, with Dustin Martin of the Tigers at a press conference after the AFL grand final. Picture: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Such was the Tigers’ dominance, Hardwick had the rare luxury for an AFL coach of being able to sit back and enjoy the triumph without pressure in the final term given Richmond held a 62-point lead at the final break.

“It was funny. It still felt incredibly long … but it was [a joy],” he said.

“It was a special time to sit down and reflect on all the people who have been an incredible part of our journey.

“There are the 22 players who represented the football club today but there are players past and present who have been enormous for us. That is the real pleasurable part. It is a great place to be.”

The Richmond coach praised Jack Graham, who injured himself in the preliminary final, superstar defender Alex Rance, who ruined his knee in the opening round, and young Tiger Jack Higgins, who suffered a bleed to the brain late in the season.

He said it was incredibly difficult to tell Kamdyn McIntosh and Jack Ross, who were put on standby and missed the VFL premiership, that they would not play in the AFL decider either but said the premiership was as much theirs as the 22 who took to the MCG.

Hardwick is the only multiple-premiership coach aside from his former mentor Alastair Clarkson still active in the league.

Tigers senior coach Damien Hardwick encourages his players during the grand final. Picture: Getty Images

He rated this year’s premiership as more enjoyable than the drought-breaking success of 2017, particularly given the adversity the Tigers faced through the loss of star players to injury.

“It is one of those things that will sink in eventually,” he said.

“This year I thought was more special. I think through the adversity we have been through, we were sitting there seven and six at the break and our skipper wasn’t playing and Jack [Riewoldt] was not playing at the time.

“We found some players who were going to take us forward. You look at our list and I think we are still the tenth-youngest list in the AFL, so it is really exciting going forward as well.

“I know we saluted this year, but we are really excited about the coming years also.”

Hardwick noted the shock loss to Collingwood in last year’s preliminary final proved a motivation to ensure the Tigers reclaimed their mantle as the AFL’s best club.

“We probably did talk about that at the start of the year,” he said.

“We went through a bit of a journey about the fact that sides could still have dynasties while still losing one along the way.

“We spoke about the fact that if we could continue to control and have faith in that, we would be OK.

“It is easy to sit here in hindsight and say it was, but I think we had absolute faith to think that we could get back and play to the very best of our ability from our pre-season camp this year.”