Trent Cotchin could never have imagined where his career was about to go at the end of the 2016 season.
He had spent nine years at the club and was yet to win a final, while the Tigers had just finished 13th with an 8-14 record alongside a dismal percentage of 79.49.
We all know what happened after that though, with Richmond going on to win three of the next three of the next four premierships with Cotchin captaining the side in all of those successes.
The midfielder even contemplated whether being traded could have benefited the club at the stage and the recent retiree admits he was stunned with how quickly things turned around.
“I definitely was (surprised at the turnaround),” Cotchin told SEN Breakfast.
“I mean, sitting there at the end of 2016 if someone had said, ‘Oh, you'll be a premiership captain next year’, I would have laughed in their face.
“Probably to be fair, I didn't think it was going to happen in my career at all.
“But once I went through that journey of re-establishing who I was and connecting with other players and what they wanted to stand for as well (we started to turn things around).”
With connection key in Richmond’s dynasty era, Cotchin says success on the field came surprisingly after they stopped thinking so much about winning the big prize and instead being grateful for the jobs they were lucky enough to hold.
“I realised that it actually wasn't about the premierships, it was more about the way that we were living and playing and enjoying the amazing opportunity we had to be at such a proud footy club. To do that as a job was pretty special,” Cotchin said.
“Connecting with people and even now when we reflect on premiership years and so forth, it's not actually the day that you reflect on.
“It's all the stories and little moments throughout that season that were so special and made that journey so worthwhile.”
Cotchin retired a 306-gamer in the yellow and black. He was a three-time premiership captain, 2012 Brownlow Medallist, 2012 AFLCA Champion Player of the Year and 2012 All-Australian.
He recently released his memoir titled From The Heart: The inspirational memoir of how a captain became a leader.