Richmond triple premiership captain Trent Cotchin has called time on his illustrious AFL career as more change sweeps through Punt Road.
Two years after ending his reign as one of the club’s greatest captains, the tough midfielder reached his milestone 300th game this season.
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But he will soon bring the curtain down on his career after dropping in and out of a Tigers side in flux after his premiership coach Damien Hardwick left the club earlier this year.
“I am going to miss with all my heart the relationships, memories and experiences I have had these past 305 games,” Cotchin said.
“I accept reality and that my chapter has come to an end. My body is somewhat slowing down and is older than it once was.”
Trent Cotchin has announced his retirement. Credit: Getty Images
Cotchin took over as skipper in just his fifth season and ended the Tigers’ long premiership drought in 2017.
He was retrospectively awarded the 2012 Brownlow Medal, but where that is the crowning achievement of some careers Cotchin’s greatest feats surround his leadership in Richmond’s dynasty.
“I found my life purpose at Richmond,” he said.
“I look to the future with nothing but excitement, adventure, and opportunity, because of what I found here at Richmond and what Richmond people taught me.
“Finding out that creating an environment to help other realise and fulfill their potential not only inspired me but helped me to overcome my own fears.
“I found the move from ‘I’ to ‘we’ and that to be interested not interesting was so much more fun. I learned the power to dream big at Richmond, to say why not me. Why not us? And why not now.
“I have always given my best and left no stone unturned, in my dads words- I have strived to make every post a winner.”
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