Did Richmond great Trent Cotchin make the right decision in playing on in 2023?
A superstar of the game, the Tigers decided to give the former captain a one-year deal late last year, extending his time at the club to a 16th season.
Battling with injury and form in 2022, Cotchin has struggled to get going this year, so much so that he was subbed out of his side’s Friday night loss to the Sydney Swans.
Averaging just 15 disposals this year and showing some signs of slowing down, Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton says he felt for the three-time premiership star but wonders whether he and Richmond made the right call in playing on in 2023.
“I felt for Trent Cotchin last night,” Brereton told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“It was one of those times I thought to myself 'what does the club think right now', because they would’ve had a chat with Trent in the off-season.
“From all the noise from when we’ve questioned this, it sounds like Trent Cotchin has been such a wonderful servant, the Richmond Football Club have left the choice in his hands.
“I saw Ollie Florent, who is your standard-paced league player, he ran away from Trent in the middle of the ground and it was glaring, when you get those one on one exposures it’s glaring that Trent can’t run anyone down.
“He’s still monstrous with the way he attacks the footy and the way he supplies that leadership which some teams lack so it can be valuable with what his assets still are but it was glaring that he physically couldn’t do the things that made him a great player.”
Richmond and Cotchin will be looking to get their season back on track on Monday night against Melbourne in their annual Anzac Day eve fixture.