The Roar
The Roar

AFL
Advertisement

WATCH: Will this high contact cost Trent Cotchin a grand final?

Roar Guru
23rd September, 2017
Advertisement
Trent Cotchin of the Tigers looks dejected after a loss during the 2017 AFL round 21 match between the Geelong Cats and the Richmond Tigers at Simonds Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Geelong, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
23rd September, 2017
153
2614 Reads

Richmond captain Trent Cotchin is set for a nervous wait over the next two days, after an incident during the Tigers’ huge preliminary final win over GWS Giants.

Cotchin attempted to win the ball away from Dylan Shiel, however in attempting to bump the Giants midfielder out of the contest, he collected him high.

Though the initial concern regarding Shiel was for his shoulder – which he has regularly had issues with – things quickly changed.

Shiel was ruled out of the remainder of the match after suffering the effects of a delayed concussion.

The match review panel will surely scrutinise the incident.

The incident may well draw a one-match ban from the MRP or longer, given the AFL has often been happy to pull the trigger finger on incidents involving high contact or concussion this year.

However, even if the MRP does not rate the incident as being worthy of a ban, Cotchin could still miss a week if he is instead fined for his actions.

Cotchin, having already been fined twice during the 2017 season, will incur an automatic one-match ban if he is fined a third time.

Advertisement

If that is the case, then he will miss Richmond’s first grand final in 35 years, and the Tigers will be without their captain on the big stage.

Cotchin’s only hope of playing in the grand final is if the match review panel decided he has no case to answer and give him no penalty of any kind.

The match review panel will announce their findings from this week’s game on Monday afternoon.

Richmond won through to their first grand final in 35 years with a thumping victory over the GWS Giants on Saturday at the MCG.

The match was tight in the first half, but Richmond pulled away in the third quarter and ran home in the last to confirm their grand final berth.

They’ll play the Adelaide Crows in the decider next Saturday.

close