RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin has signed a new two-year contract, tying him to at Punt Road until at least the end of 2015.
Cotchin's current contract expires at the end of this season but the Tigers have secured the young star's signature.
"I'm very excited. The club's going somewhere, and I want to be a part of the success that all involved with the Tigers crave," Cotchin told richmondfc.com.au.
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"We want to keep this young group together over the next period of our careers."
Cotchin said the shorter contract – the 23-year-old would likely have been able to secure a more long-term deal – was done to keep his motivation levels high.
"I think it's important to keep on the edge. I'm still young and I've still got a lot of areas to improve on, and that little bit of pressure on the back end of a contract negotiation is always going to keep me fighting," Cotchin said.
The two-time Jack Dyer medallist and 2012 All Australian is the first of a number of key Tigers to re-commit to the club, with Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin among those out of contract at the end of the season.
"We have spoken about it as a group," Cotchin said.
"We're really confident in the management group we have in place but also the players. We think the culture we have here is going really well."
Football manager Dan Richardson said the club was pleased to sign the 94-gamer.
"This underlines his commitment to helping the team achieve success. We hope that this leads to a number of our other key players extending their contracts in the coming months," Richardson said.
"Trent has slotted into the captaincy role really well, and we look forward to him building on his football and leadership from here."
Cotchin last week created headlines by saying the growing demands of an AFL player meant if the Tigers won a premiership within three years he would consider retirement, a comment he later said was "tongue-in-cheek."
Follow AFL website reporter Callum Twomey on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.
