In essence, it was all fairly predictable . . . Trent Cotchin completes his first full pre-season at Richmond and, six months later, wins his inaugural Jack Dyer Medal.
For the first three years of his AFL career, the ultra-talented Cotchin was hampered with injury problems - predominantly a troublesome Achilles heel - which forced him to operate within the confines of a modified training program.
Such is his professionalism and sheer ability, he was still able to play some very good football and tantalise the Tiger Army with his on-field exploits.
But, being the driven individual that he is, the No. 2 pick (overall) in the 2007 National Draft was seeking more.
When Cotchin finally received the all-clear to embark on a full pre-season 12 months ago, he raised the bar appreciably in terms of his aims for 2011 . . .
“I’ve always wanted to impact a game to the best of my ability, and that was my focus for the whole year . . . how can I impact the side and get the best reward for the team, not just myself,” he said.
“Thankfully, my body held up and I was able to get through to the end of the season unscathed.”
Not only did Cotchin manage to play all 22 games, for the first time since debuting with the Tigers in 2008, he asserted a profound influence throughout with his work in the team’s midfield.
He racked up possessions, dominated the clearances and inside-50s, created numerous opportunities for teammates, and hit the scoreboard, too, with 18 goals. It was the total package performance from the young gun midfielder.
Not surprisingly, Cotchin walked into the Palladium at Crown on the Tuesday night of September 13, to attend the Club’s 2011 Best and Fairest count, a warm favorite.
A few hours later, he emerged as the proud winner of the prestigious Jack Dyer Medal . . .
“Going into the night, I thought I’d had a pretty consistent year, but I didn’t know what to expect,” he said.
“While I was there, so many people were coming up and saying, ‘Oh, you’ll definitely win tonight’. That sort of created a bit of pressure, which I hadn’t previously felt.
“So, in the end, it was a mixture of relief and excitement when I won.
“It’s obviously a very special award to win. You only have to look back at how many of the Club’s greats and quality players have won the award to realise that, like those who have just gone before me in Jack and ‘Lids’ and ‘Richo’ . . .”
The men formerly in white (now in green, red, yellow and various other colors), otherwise known as the umpires, concurred with the assessment of the members of Richmond’s Best and Fairest voting panel on Cotchin’s fine season.
They awarded him 15 votes in the 2011 Brownlow Medal, which was the most polled by any Tiger player, and the highest tally by any player in the entire competition aged under 23.
He polled two three votes for best-on-ground performances, four twos and a one, to finish equal 16th overall in the Brownlow count.
At just 21 years of age, Cotchin also had the distinction of captaining Richmond in the final five home-and-away rounds when regular skipper Chris Newman was ruled out through injury.
The Tigers subsequently snapped a six-match losing streak and finished with three wins in those five games - Cotchin leading from the front with his inspirational, high-quality output.
“It was an exciting time, filling in as captain,” he said.
“I suppose the best thing out of that, from a personal point of view, was that I had the opportunity to lead the side for a few weeks . . .
“The experience from just having those five games as captain has allowed me to develop my leadership skills. That’s experience you just can’t buy.”
Cotchin’s sense of anticipation for 2012 is such that once the 2011 season was finished, he couldn’t wait to get stuck into planning for pre-season training.
“Whereas in years gone by I would have just been happy to finish up and get away from it all and spend time on my own, this time I wanted to catch up with the other players and the leadership group to have lunch, talk about our year and where we’re going,” he said.
“It’s so exciting around the Club that you want to get back into it because you know that if we do put the hard yards in, something really positive’s going to come of it.
“Just getting this next pre-season in is critical to our overall development.
“Each time you’re going out on the park is giving you an opportunity to better yourself, whether it’s right then or in the future . . .”
