Richmond captain Trent Cotchin has praised the comeback performance of teammate Ricky Petterd in last Saturday’s vital victory over Gold Coast at Cairns’ Cazalys Stadium.

Petterd, who had been out of AFL action since Round 6 because of a calf injury, was one of the Tigers’ best in his rebounding role across the backline.  He had 24 disposals, including a team-high six rebound-50s, applied a team-high seven tackles, and took a game-high 11 marks.

“Ricky’s obviously been disappointed missing a little bit of time with a calf injury.  But he paid his dues in the ‘twos’, came in, impacted, and played really well,” Cotchin told 6PR.

“He actually won our tackling award as well, for his endeavour at the contest.

“One that really stood out was that last quarter tackle on (Harley) Bennell, when he was running into a goal.”

Petterd, who was recruited by Richmond as a rookie-list player in late 2012, following a 54-game career at Melbourne in six seasons, was in fine form for the Tigers early this year, before suffering his calf injury.