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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
Posted this here:http://www.puntroadend.com/yabbse/index.php?action=post;msg=882131;topic=34105.75
but this might be more appropriate here
"As part of the [AIS-AFL] Academy, each boy in the program spent the first week of January on work experience at an AFL club. Trent went to Richmond and did everything the Richmond players did, understanding for the first time how constant and demanding every single day at a league club was and would be. It made him believe that he could do it, and he wanted it even more. As part of his homework that week, he interviewed Brett Deledio, asking how he'd handled the physical demands of his first season, what part of his game he thought still needed work and what it had been like, being drafted so high. In his notes, Trent wrote: 'Think that you are just another draft pick.'
He wasn't the only person with wide, open eyes. Terry Wallace, the Richmond coach, had seen the Academy kids come along during previous pre-seasons and shy away from the parts of training that might expose or embarrass them. He noticed how Trent looked people in the eye, wanted to shake everyone's hand and did every single thing the other players were doing. One morning, the squad did some beach sprints: eight players would charge at seven flags, then seven players at six flags, and so on. They kept going until there were four players left: Nathan Foley, Nathan Brown, Brett Deledio and the last man standing, Trent. 'He beat all our guns and by the end they were all trying to get body on him and knock him off the line,' Wallace said. 'He loved the competitiveness. He didn't miss a beat.'
Trent made another impression on a treadmill at Monash University, where a group of players had their Vo2max levels tested. In a Vo2max test you had to run for as long as you could on a treadmill, with a mask covering your nose and mouth. The test measured how much oxygen you breathed in while you were running and how much oxygen your muscles were getting to use. The more you used, the greater your aerobic fitness should be. And the bigger 'tank' or 'engine' you had, the longer and harder you should be able to run. The elite midfielders in the AFL usually measured somewhere between 65 and 70.
When Trent started at Richmond, Wallace told him he had silky skills and was smart, but that if there was one question mark hanging over him, it was whether he had enough endurance to play as a full-time onballer. He wondered if being told that would tempt Trent to sit out the Vo2max test, which was optional, but Trent was curious and recorded a 60, which put him in the top four or five players at Richmond. 'It told us he had motor,' Wallace said. 'He had a V8 in there; he just wasn't using it yet.'
pp32-33
ch 19 'I'm in love'
Bocca [Greg Boxall, the Hawks' part-time recruiting assistant] began the Trent Cotchin review with a declaration. 'I'm in love,' he said, to laughter. Steve [Barker] was too. 'He's an absolute star, this kid. He's just about the full package.'
'Can we draw a line through him compared to players from the last few years? wondered Chris [Pelchen].
'He's very much like Brett Deledio,' said Steve. 'The only difference I can see with him and Brett is Trent's not quite as tall. But he does a lot of the same things. He's got explosive pace and movement, kicks beautifully with both feet, can jump on a pack and take the ball. Something happens when he's around the contest.'
'So what do you think he has to work on?' asked Chris.
'Getting taller...' said Bocca.
'That's all,' Steve added. 'He's an impact player. He's a ripper. He's a better player than Marc Murphy at the same age, talent-wise.'
'So he's the most complete player that you've seen this year, including Kreuzer?' said Chris.
'You rate Kruezer differently because he's 200 centimetres' said Steve. 'But I can't really find a weakness in what Cotchin does.'
p 122
ch 20 'It's like a spaceship just landed and that kid got off'
[David] Dickson [Coach Vic Metro] had to figure out where to play Trent, first of all. At the moment, he wasn't sure. He could kick goals, but he was also so good at reading the game; maybe he'd be of most use running off a half-back flank. 'That's the big question.' Dickson said. 'We're not really sure.'
The other question was smack bang in the middle. Trent started there in the trial game, looking from the very first second like he wanted to show the coaches how valuable he could be. The first quarter was almost all about him, as was the start of the second. Where Pat Veszpremi barged, Trent ducked and weaved. He was a glider: picking balls off the dewy ground with no hint of fumble, anticipating balls would spill free the split second before they did and plonking pass after pass on his forwards' chests, using either foot with complete confidence.
Midway through the quarter he got dumped in the forward-pocket, just as he was about to sling a quick shot at goal. The last player up off the ground, he threw the ball to the umpire and walked back to the back of the pack, where Patrick Dangerfield placed his right arm across him. The hit-out came towards them and they both stuck an arm on the ball. Patrick was quick, but somehow Trent got a metre on him in three steps. On the run and on a tight angle, he snapped a goal across his body and was promptly called off the ground. The selectors had seen plenty, and so had the recruiters.
After Trent kicked that goal, Francis Jackson turned to the person beside him. Richmond was sitting in last spot on the ladder that day, and would lose to Fremantle later that afternoon. 'It's like a spaceship just landed and that kid got off it,' he said. Craig Cameron, rugged up on the wing, wasn't desperate to see more either: Melbourne was second-last on the ladder, which meant he was holding pick No. 2. 'How good was Cotchin?' he asked at the break. 'a little bit too good...' he replied."
pp125-126
The Draft by Age journalist Emma Quayle; published by Allen & Unwin. $29.95
but this might be more appropriate here
"As part of the [AIS-AFL] Academy, each boy in the program spent the first week of January on work experience at an AFL club. Trent went to Richmond and did everything the Richmond players did, understanding for the first time how constant and demanding every single day at a league club was and would be. It made him believe that he could do it, and he wanted it even more. As part of his homework that week, he interviewed Brett Deledio, asking how he'd handled the physical demands of his first season, what part of his game he thought still needed work and what it had been like, being drafted so high. In his notes, Trent wrote: 'Think that you are just another draft pick.'
He wasn't the only person with wide, open eyes. Terry Wallace, the Richmond coach, had seen the Academy kids come along during previous pre-seasons and shy away from the parts of training that might expose or embarrass them. He noticed how Trent looked people in the eye, wanted to shake everyone's hand and did every single thing the other players were doing. One morning, the squad did some beach sprints: eight players would charge at seven flags, then seven players at six flags, and so on. They kept going until there were four players left: Nathan Foley, Nathan Brown, Brett Deledio and the last man standing, Trent. 'He beat all our guns and by the end they were all trying to get body on him and knock him off the line,' Wallace said. 'He loved the competitiveness. He didn't miss a beat.'
Trent made another impression on a treadmill at Monash University, where a group of players had their Vo2max levels tested. In a Vo2max test you had to run for as long as you could on a treadmill, with a mask covering your nose and mouth. The test measured how much oxygen you breathed in while you were running and how much oxygen your muscles were getting to use. The more you used, the greater your aerobic fitness should be. And the bigger 'tank' or 'engine' you had, the longer and harder you should be able to run. The elite midfielders in the AFL usually measured somewhere between 65 and 70.
When Trent started at Richmond, Wallace told him he had silky skills and was smart, but that if there was one question mark hanging over him, it was whether he had enough endurance to play as a full-time onballer. He wondered if being told that would tempt Trent to sit out the Vo2max test, which was optional, but Trent was curious and recorded a 60, which put him in the top four or five players at Richmond. 'It told us he had motor,' Wallace said. 'He had a V8 in there; he just wasn't using it yet.'
pp32-33
ch 19 'I'm in love'
Bocca [Greg Boxall, the Hawks' part-time recruiting assistant] began the Trent Cotchin review with a declaration. 'I'm in love,' he said, to laughter. Steve [Barker] was too. 'He's an absolute star, this kid. He's just about the full package.'
'Can we draw a line through him compared to players from the last few years? wondered Chris [Pelchen].
'He's very much like Brett Deledio,' said Steve. 'The only difference I can see with him and Brett is Trent's not quite as tall. But he does a lot of the same things. He's got explosive pace and movement, kicks beautifully with both feet, can jump on a pack and take the ball. Something happens when he's around the contest.'
'So what do you think he has to work on?' asked Chris.
'Getting taller...' said Bocca.
'That's all,' Steve added. 'He's an impact player. He's a ripper. He's a better player than Marc Murphy at the same age, talent-wise.'
'So he's the most complete player that you've seen this year, including Kreuzer?' said Chris.
'You rate Kruezer differently because he's 200 centimetres' said Steve. 'But I can't really find a weakness in what Cotchin does.'
p 122
ch 20 'It's like a spaceship just landed and that kid got off'
[David] Dickson [Coach Vic Metro] had to figure out where to play Trent, first of all. At the moment, he wasn't sure. He could kick goals, but he was also so good at reading the game; maybe he'd be of most use running off a half-back flank. 'That's the big question.' Dickson said. 'We're not really sure.'
The other question was smack bang in the middle. Trent started there in the trial game, looking from the very first second like he wanted to show the coaches how valuable he could be. The first quarter was almost all about him, as was the start of the second. Where Pat Veszpremi barged, Trent ducked and weaved. He was a glider: picking balls off the dewy ground with no hint of fumble, anticipating balls would spill free the split second before they did and plonking pass after pass on his forwards' chests, using either foot with complete confidence.
Midway through the quarter he got dumped in the forward-pocket, just as he was about to sling a quick shot at goal. The last player up off the ground, he threw the ball to the umpire and walked back to the back of the pack, where Patrick Dangerfield placed his right arm across him. The hit-out came towards them and they both stuck an arm on the ball. Patrick was quick, but somehow Trent got a metre on him in three steps. On the run and on a tight angle, he snapped a goal across his body and was promptly called off the ground. The selectors had seen plenty, and so had the recruiters.
After Trent kicked that goal, Francis Jackson turned to the person beside him. Richmond was sitting in last spot on the ladder that day, and would lose to Fremantle later that afternoon. 'It's like a spaceship just landed and that kid got off it,' he said. Craig Cameron, rugged up on the wing, wasn't desperate to see more either: Melbourne was second-last on the ladder, which meant he was holding pick No. 2. 'How good was Cotchin?' he asked at the break. 'a little bit too good...' he replied."
pp125-126
The Draft by Age journalist Emma Quayle; published by Allen & Unwin. $29.95