Rising Richmond star Trent Cotchin has signed a new, three-year extension deal with the Club that will bind him to Tigerland at least until the end of 2013.
Cotchin, who turns 20 in April, revealed the decision to remain a Tiger was a fairly easy one to make . . .
“I am very, very happy that I am going to stay here,” he said.
“One of the things you want to be as an AFL footballer is a one-club player.
“Another factor for me, was seeing how much support the Club has outside, from members, as well as from people inside the Club . . . It’s just a good place to be.
“I was having dinner with a friend last night and was saying how you probably couldn’t find a bad person (at the Club). You’d be happy to catch up with any of them outside the Club and hang out with them. That’s not only the players, but the staff, whether it’s in administration, in development, or the coaches . . . They’re all good people and very easy to get along with.
“You can share a lot of thoughts with them and work through things together. That’s the best thing about it - the togetherness.
“I’m really confident we’ve got the right people in place to eventually achieve sustained success, and that’s what we’re working towards at the moment.”
Cotchin was particularly pleased to set the record straight on rumors that he may have secretly signed a confidentiality agreement to join the new Gold Coast club in 2011.
“I was disappointed that some people would actually think that I would do that behind the Club’s back,” he said.
“No, my plan always, was to be with Richmond and stay with the Club . . . it was just a matter of time until I signed.
“We spoke about it, initially, before Christmas and agreed that we’d see how the start of the year panned out. But then, obviously, a bit of pressure came with the media speculation, although it didn’t affect my decision, or the way we were going about it.
“In the end, we decided that it was the right time, and I’m very glad it’s happened.”
Cotchin, taken by the Tigers as the second selection overall in the 2007 National Draft, was hampered by an Achilles injury throughout his first couple of seasons in the AFL, and managed just 25 games. But he has shown enough in that time to suggest he’s more than capable of developing into one of the competition’s elite midfielders.
The modified training regime he’s been on over the pre-season has him in good shape to tackle the 2010 season.
“The conditioning staff has been terrific in managing my program and making sure that I got through the pre-season unscathed,” Cotchin said.
“I’ve been running pretty well and I’m feeling pretty fit. So, I’m just looking forward to getting the next couple of games under my belt and then, hopefully, hitting Round 1 full of steam with the side and, hopefully, we can have some wins.”
