The ghosts of September past fired up Richmond captain Trent Cotchin for his massive performance in their AFL qualifying final win over Geelong.
While Dustin Martin was best afield in Friday night’s 51-point triumph, coach Damien Hardwick and AFL legend Leigh Matthews were among those lavishing praise on Cotchin for his crucial role.
The Tigers midfielder not only led his team superbly but also exorcised personal demons.
In their most recent final, the 2015 elimination final loss to North Melbourne, Cotchin managed just nine disposals.
He was clearly on a mission from the start of Friday night’s blockbuster clash and Cotchin kicked the goal of the match in the last quarter as Richmond ran riot.
“You go into every week trying to (influence) the contest. Sometimes it works better than others,” Cotchin told 3AW.
“I don’t know – maybe a little bit of extra energy and effort, given some of the results in the past.
“But yeah, I was just really confident with all the week we’d done, not only across the last month or so but the last 10 or so months and even before that.
“With that confidence, you just play the way you know you can.”
The quality of the opposition also helped.
“Coming up against quality players like Danger and Selwood, who you know impose themselves at every contest, you have to give yourself every opportunity as well,” he said.
Cotchin also appears to have taken a leaf out of the All Blacks’ book – he was seen picking up rubbish in their change rooms after the match.
Hardwick said his captain had played a complete game.
“He was really important on Dangerfield. He was like a battering ram all (game),” Hardwick said.
“He was outstanding – nine tackles, just smashed in, contested ball, all the things you want your captain to do. He led from the front.”
Cotchin was a spectator on Saturday as a first-rate weekend continued for the Tigers.
The day after they made the AFL preliminary finals, their VFL team did the same with a win over Casey.