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Richmond captain Trent Cotchin says the Tigers are determined not to let Saturday night’s AFL blockbuster against Essendon turn into another big-game let-down.
The Tigers were in hot form leading into their much-hyped round four encounter with Collingwood, but were blown away by a Travis Cloke-inspired Magpies burst.
Their round six meeting with another AFL powerhouse Geelong also proved disappointing as the Tigers’ in-game injuries and ill discipline contributed to the Cats ripping that match out of their grasp.
They plan on not letting something similar happen in Saturday night’s annual Dreamtime at the `G indigenous-themed clash.
“We’ve probably let ourselves down in a couple of the big clashes this season,” Cotchin told reporters on Thursday.
“So it’s our focus to make sure that our training sessions this week have been the best they’ve been all season.
“It’s important that we continue to rise to the challenges and set the standard.
“And it’s exciting, it’s a big clash, there’s a massive vibe around it.”
Cotchin said the Tigers had learnt some lessons from this season’s previous blockbusters.
“We’ve just let ourselves down for whether it’s five-10 minutes in a game and that’s where the margin gets blown out,” he said.
“I think our offence probably wasn’t at the standard we really wanted it to be at the start of the season.
“Over the last two to three weeks we’ve really worked on some of the key areas we needed to get better at and I think we’ve started to see a little bit of reward.”
Cotchin also backed away from a comment reported in The Age newspaper on Thursday that he could retire in three years if the Tigers won a flag in that time.
“I obviously made the comment so it’s not out of context, but I think the way some people have reacted is the incorrect way,” he said.
“It was a tongue-in-cheek comment that has obviously taken a fair bit of attention away from our actual game this week, which is the Dreamtime clash against the Bombers.”
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