In his 14th season with Richmond, there are signs creeping in that Trent Cotchin is beginning to slow down.
There are a number of things it could be - a lack of motivation after three flags in four seasons, years of combative footy catching up with him or simply just a form slump.
Cotchin, 31, had just 13 disposals in Sunday’s loss to Collingwood and is averaging below 19 touches per game in 2021.
Former Tigers assistant coach and three-time Brisbane flag winner Justin Leppitsch went through something similar to the triple premiership captain late in his own career.
Some believe Cotchin’s time has come while some believe he is in a chronic form slump that he will fight his way out of, but whatever it is, Leppitsch says it is understandable for the heart and soul Tiger to have feelings of contentment.
“It’s one of the two, isn’t it? It’s either just a form slump that he’ll get out of…,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.
“I guess (that’s) the big concern with anyone that’s filled their boots, so to speak, which Trent has. He’s been a premiership captain three times over the last four years.
“He’s done everything he probably wanted to achieve in the game. When that happens, I remember being there. I had a career-ending injury, but I had the option to fight it out and do the 12-month rehab. I went, ‘Nah, I’m done, I’m happy, I’m full’. You do get like that. I’m really happy with what my career had done.
“Only Trent knows if he’s having those thoughts, but they’re real. People actually have those thoughts, we all have them. We might go, ‘I want to leave and do another job. I’m tired of this right now’.
“He will be somewhere in that phase. It’s a really difficult job being captain of such a big footy club. The way he plays, he’s so combative and those type of players don’t last as long as your wiry types.
“There’s a possibility he might be thinking it’s enough, but only Trent would know.
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Trent about it, but there is a chance.
“There’s probably more than just Trent on that list that might be thinking I’m happy, I’m done.
“Time will tell.”
Cotchin, who won the 2012 Brownlow Medal and has claimed three club best and fairests, has played 263 games for the Tigers and is contracted until the end of next season.
Alongh with the skipper’s apparent decline, Richmond’s hopes of a three-peat have taken a hit in recent weeks.
Damien Hardwick’s side has lost four on the trot to West Coast, St Kilda, Gold Coast and Collingwood which has them sitting 12th on the ladder and a game out of the eight.
They have had to deal with a number of injuries to premiership players this season, most recently losing four of their first-choice back six with Noah Balta, Bachar Houli, Nick Vlastuin and Nathan Broad all on the sidelines.
Leppitsch believes a downturn in form for a successful side is always bound to happen, especially when list depth becomes an issue.
“I feel for them. Their list profile has changed considerably over the last three years,” he added.
“Their depth players leaving like (Oleg) Markov, (Brandon) Ellis, so on and so forth. We see it now. When you see their defence and it’s (Ryan) Garthwaite and (Rhyan) Mansell, it’s just not even close to what you’d picture a Richmond team looking like.
“It’s one of the most important parts of the ground, your back half, because if you’re strong in your back 50 the game is always a chance to be won in my opinion.
“They’ve got too many personnel issues at this point in time. They used to bat down to maybe 26 players, but they probably only bat to 22 now, just, and eight of those are on the sidelines.
“They’ve got their own things in the back ground, and you know what? It’s just life. It’s footy life, it happens to every team.
“You’ve had pick 18 for the last four years, you haven’t had pick one, two or three, it’s not your fault, it’s not like Matt Rowell didn’t want to come to your footy club, so don’t take it personally.
“It’s just what the game does to you.”
Regarding another flag tilt, Leppitsch concluded: “I think they’ve got the best 22 to have a crack at it (again), but the best teams have 26, not 22.
“It’s an interesting time, it’s a difficult time. Not many teams have got it right after the dynasty within a short period of time, it’s very hard to do.”
The way the bottom half of the eight is shaping up still gives the Tigers some chance of playing finals, but their current form suggests they are not quite up to it.
They meet fourth-placed Brisbane at the MCG this Friday night in Jack Riewoldt’s 300th game before taking on third-placed Geelong in Round 19 with their season well and truly on the line, if it wasn’t already.
