Cotchin dismisses thoughts of last year, expects a tough test
RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin insists the Tigers will not reflect on their upset exit from last year’s finals series as they prepare for Friday’s showdown against Geelong.
The Tigers’ premiership defence was brought to a screeching halt in 2018 with a 39-point loss to Collingwood in the preliminary final.
The Tigers are just as favoured to win this week as they were in the corresponding match last season before the Magpies blew them out of the water.
But Cotchin said that shock upset was not “relevant”, instead emphasising focus on “little moments” within Friday’s game.
“You have to be at your best for the majority of the game to give yourself an opportunity but you need to focus on the little moments,” he said.
“They’re the ones that you want to control going into a clash against a great team.”
Cotchin said he could not remember his initial reaction to last year’s loss.
“There’s obviously a little bit of disappointment and frustration,” he said.
“But the reality is I think, as a football club and team, we’ve just celebrated the journey for a long period of time now.
“And that’s what we get our enjoyment from — all the little moments, the nuances that make football and being part of a special organisation is what we love about it.
“We won’t be dictated to by a result or an outcome, we just want to make sure we give our best in each moment.”
Last year, the Tigers enjoyed a dominant home and away season and easily accounted for Hawthorn in their qualifying final before they were knocked out by Collingwood.
This year, Richmond enters the preliminary final on a 10game winning streak but Cotchin did not think his side was any better or worse placed than in 2018.
“We’re in exactly the same place,” he said.
“We have an opportunity to play in a prelim final against a quality opposition, much the same as last year, and what I can say is that we’re really confident about what we can bring to games of footy.”
Heavily criticised after their qualifying final loss against Collingwood, Geelong responded with an impressive victory over West Coast last Friday night and Cotchin said he expected a difficult test this week.
“They were obviously challenged from the external last week, responded really well, started the game strongly and they’ve got amazing talent with the number of guys who are in their first and second seasons that are really contributing,” he said.
“I don’t think you get to a prelim final without having a pretty sound system and process.”