RETIRED triple-premiership captain Trent Cotchin believes Andrew McQualter has the attributes to make a "brilliant" senior coach and can steer Richmond back into the finals next season.
McQualter took the reins when Damien Hardwick stepped down in May and remains in contention to be appointed the new Gold Coast coach's full-time successor at Punt Road.
AFL.com.au has reported that Melbourne assistant Adem Yze is also in the running having narrowly missed out on the Greater Western Sydney job to former Tigers assistant Adam Kingsley last year.
Fellow assistant coaches Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon), Chris Newman (Hawthorn) and Xavier Clarke (Richmond) had also been on Richmond's shortlist but, as AFL.com.au reported on Tuesday, the trio is no longer part of the process.
Cotchin worked closely with McQualter after the former St Kilda and Gold Coast utility's arrival at Richmond in 2014, initially in a development role, and backed the 37-year-old to step into the full-time senior coaching position.
"From an attributes point of view, he's got everything that's required to be a brilliant senior coach," Cotchin told reporters on Wednesday.
"His ideas and plans, if he was to be the successful candidate, are really exciting for the club.
"But I'm sure the club are doing everything they can to select the right person for the role to take (them) forward."
McQualter had a positive 7-6 record as interim coach but Richmond finished 13th, two wins outside the top eight.
Cotchin was not at all surprised by the way McQualter seamlessly stepped in to fill the void left by Hardwick.
"I expected him to be brilliant at what he did," Cotchin said.
"He's so invested in the players and the care and making sure that he maximises the talent that's on the list.
"It's always hard when the finals opportunity gets taken away from you, which happened probably two or three weeks out from finals. Keeping a team motivated is really hard.
"But the way that they performed in the last round with a few players out was really special and significant."
Cotchin, who retired after his farewell match in round 23, has stepped away from Richmond after 16 years at Punt Road.
The 33-year-old has found a new role in professional sport with National Basketball League club South East Melbourne Phoenix, which has announced Cotchin as its new No.1 ticket holder.
Cotchin will also engage with the basketball outfit's high-performance team as a leadership consultant.
"It's definitely something that I'm really passionate about and the club is really excited about," Cotchin said.