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Cotchin leads Tigers AFL trial comeback

Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin has helped inspire a comeback win for his side in their final AFL pre-season hit-out against Hawthorn.

AFL premiership points weren't on the line, but when Richmond needed someone to stand up skipper Trent Cotchin delivered.

The Tigers came from 40 points down at halftime to beat Hawthorn in Launceston on Saturday night in the clubs' final pre-season trial.

Cotchin was the linchpin in the last term, kicking two goals in the dying stages including one on the run off the centre clearance to finish with 24 possessions.

After being held goal-less in the second quarter, Richmond kicked 12 majors after the main break to win 14.11 (95) to 13.9 (87).

"He (Cotchin) does so many things that probably go unseen to the everyday fan. But we see it quite heavily in our coach's box," coach Damien Hardwick said.

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"Every time he gets the ball, good things happen. And he finished off with the centre-bounce goal, which was really impressive.

"I was really pleased that we started to get that out of him in the second half."

Richmond, who got to within one game of the grand final in 2018, were well off the pace early until after halftime but Hardwick wasn't concerned with the inconsistency.

"I look back at last year. And maybe we were too advanced," he said.

"This year we're not quite to the level we were. But reasonably happy to walk away with a win."

Jack Riewoldt slotted three of the Tigers' seven third-term goals, while Jack Higgins also kicked three for the match.

Richmond take two pre-season wins into the league's season opener against Carlton at the MCG in a little more than 10 days.


2 min read

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Source: AAP


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