Former Richmond captain and triple premiership player Trent Cotchin has announced he will retire at the end of the 2023 season.
The club confirmed on Thursday that Cotchin will end his career with one final push for a premiership, with the Tigers still in the race for the flag with three rounds to go.
Cotchin has played 305 games in the yellow and black since joining the club as the second overall pick in the 2007 National Draft. He would make his debut the following season and play a total of 15 games in his maiden campaign.
The West Preston junior would quickly rise to stardom in the AFL, earning the 2012 AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award and would retrospectively be handed the Brownlow Medal for the same season.
Cotchin would also claim an All-Australian selection that year and would earn club captaincy for the following season. He would lead the club for a total of nine seasons, becoming the Tigers' longest-serving skipper.
In that time, Cotchin would lead Richmond to their drought-breaking grand final win in 2017 before adding a further two premierships in 2019 and 2020.
Speaking via a club statement, Cotchin said while the decision to retire was difficult, he acknowledged his body had begun to struggle to keep up with the game.
“I am going to miss with all my heart the relationships, memories and experiences I have had these past 305 games,” he 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.
“I found my life purpose at Richmond.
“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.”
Cotchin will end his career as a three-time Jack Dyer Medal winner and one of just six Tigers players to play 300 games for the club.
Richmond have three games remaining in their 2023 home and away season and are within reach of a finals finish.
