Before Trent Cotchin became an AFL premiership captain, he gained perspective.
The Richmond star has spoken of sitting in coach Damien Hardwick's office last September on the eve of their qualifying final win over Geelong.
Regardless of what happened in the finals, Cotchin told Hardwick he felt they should celebrate the year because of the way the club had grown.
By the end of the month they had broken Richmond's 37-year premiership drought, a year after they had slumped to 13th.
"It wasn't the achievement I wanted to celebrate, it was the little things we had learned along the way and that no-one ever sees, but led to our achievement," Cotchin said at Wednesday night's AFL season launch.
"What we learned essentially more than anything else in 2017 was perspective - in particular, that's what I wanted to celebrate."
Cotchin shone last year, ending the talk about whether he was the right man to captain the Tigers.
He thanked president Peggy O'Neal and chief executive Brendon Gale for their leadership after 2016, with Richmond holding off a board challenge and supporting Hardwick when he was under immense pressure.
"We learned as an entire club that our greatest growth and learning often comes from our darkest places and hardest times," Cotchin said.
"This was a big lesson for me personally and I want to thank Peggy, Brendon and the whole club for sticking together when things could have easily gone down a very different path."
Cotchin will miss the annual captains' day on Thursday at Etihad Stadium for personal reasons, with Jack Riewoldt to take his place.
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