TIGERS PREPARE FOR CROWS
RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin is convinced his team is the “real deal” and capable of achieving something “special” in Saturday’s drought-breaking Grand Final appearance.
Putting his match review panel concerns aside for the moment, Cotchin put the focus back on his teammates following Saturday’s preliminary final win over Greater Western Sydney.
“There have been plenty of moments during the year where I have been laying in bed and said (to his wife) Brooke, there is something special about this group’,” Cotchin said.
“There has been plenty of times when I thought ‘these guys are the real deal’.
“The evidence stacks up with our footy. Sometimes it isn’t pretty, but we know it works for us.
“I am really proud of the way the guys have gone about it, and the way we have embraced that as a group, and the environment we have created, whether that be players (or) coaches.”
Only a year ago the Tigers finished 13th, and Cotchin’s own leadership was being questioned. No one is questioning the club or its inspirational captain anymore.
Cotchin said the collective hard work from within the club had lifted Richmond into its first Grand Final in 35 years, while joking the exuberance of his teammates had kept him young.
“Twelve months is a long time in footy, that’s how it feels right now,” he said. “You always had confidence in your own ability.”
“The reality is that I am 27 (years old) with lots of grey hair, and I just love the energy the young guys bring to our group, and it is not just the young guys.
“Footy environments are good fun.”
Cotchin said he had watched Adelaide’s big win over Geelong last Friday, but said the Tigers will now go to work on looking closely at the Crows’ strengths and weaknesses.
“They are an impressive team,” he said of the Crows.
“I watched the game without trying to do my head in, (but) we will look at it during the week and where their strengths are and where they might be vulnerable.
“We are a professional organisation. Recovery starts now. Not much has to change inside our four walls..
“I think you have to embrace it, being a Richmond footballer. Guys want to come to the club and that’s why guys stay at the footy club.
“Our supporter base is passionate. They love it, sometimes they hate it, but that’s the beauty of it, and that’s the beauty of footy.”
Cotchin said there was nothing he could do about the match review panel speculation, but insisted he was simply going for the ball when he collided with Dylan Shiel.