THE ABSENCE of Richmond's most influential leaders this season has allowed Trent Cotchin to accelerate his skills as captain, says coach Damien Hardwick.
A repeat finals appearance is all but out of the question for the Tigers, with Richmond winning just three of its opening 12 games.
While Hardwick won't solely blame injuries for Richmond's plight, the fact the likes of Ivan Maric, Brett Deledio, Alex Rance and Daniel Jackson have missed chunks of football hasn't helped.
But if there's a positive to be gleaned from the Tigers' recent form, it's that Hardwick believes Cotchin – after his leadership was publicly questioned earlier in the season – has stood up.
"We're asking a lot of Trent to lead the footy club at the age of 24, and funnily enough, I think he's had his best five weeks as captain over the last five weeks when we've needed him the most," Hardwick told SEN on Wednesday morning.
"He's been nothing short of sensational, leading from the front, playing some good footy, but more importantly being more demanding of his players below him.
"He's always been a very good captain, but I think when we've needed him most, in our time of need, he's been nothing short of sensational."
While Cotchin has never had trouble setting an on-field example with the way he plays, he has at times attracted criticism for what appears as an inability to passionately project his direction.
However, Hardwick praised him for his work in improving his demonstrative side.
"He speaks to a lot of people, he's constantly getting feedback on how he can get better, and we're starting to see the benefits of that," he said.
"There is a bit of a lag effect so it does take some time, but we're really happy with how he's progressing at the moment.
"He's only going to be better as he goes on."
Hardwick said the Tigers revisited their game plan over the round eight bye after a number of elements dropped off in the month leading up their week off.
He said while the way they were playing remained unacceptable, there had been improvement since the break.
"There were a couple of areas that we trained heavily in trying to improve over the summer and at the start of the season, but unfortunately if you're working a lot in one area, you're probably letting slip another," he said.
"What we found in our game plan, we just weren't executing it to the level we'd like.
"You can have as many injuries as you want but the reality was, our players and our coaching staff, we weren't delivering on what we wanted overall.
"From round nine onwards we've addressed a few of those issues and funnily enough our numbers have started to improve.
"We haven't won the games we require but overall our standard of footy I think has improved over those weeks."
Hardwick said the Tigers would continue to refrain from giving players games if they hadn't earned them in the second half of the season.
He also said the improvement had to come from across the board for the team to move forward.
"We don't want to point fingers – everyone can improve, we accept that as a coaching group and a playing group," he said.
"We've disappointed our supporters, our members, these type of people who come week in, week out.
"The way we're playing is not good enough and it's unacceptable, so we've got to make sure we earn the respect back of our supporters and also the AFL in general and play the way we know we can play."
