Three-time Richmond premiership-winning captain Trent Cotchin will step down from the role of Richmond captain for the 2022 season.
Cotchin, the Club’s longest serving captain, first captained the Club in Round 4, 2010, filling in for the injured Chris Newman in just his third year in the AFL system.
Cotchin was appointed Richmond’s permanent leader in November 2012, he has played 188 of his 268 career games as captain.
At just 23, in his first season as skipper, Cotchin led Richmond out for the Club’s first finals appearance in 12-years. Four years later, Cotchin lifted the cup as the Tigers snapped a 37-year premiership drought.
Cotchin is the only triple premiership captain in Richmond history. He has also captained Richmond to the equal most finals campaigns (seven).
The 31-year-old, who will continue to play a key on-field role next season, said he felt the time was right to allow somebody else to lead the Club.
“It has been an incredible privilege to captain this Club but it feels the right time to step down from that role.
"The Club has built a really strong leadership culture over the past five years and we have some excellent leaders at Richmond that will flourish in the captaincy role.
"It’s an awesome opportunity to continue our philosophy of pushing leadership deep through the organisation, and for me to continue to play a role both on-field and off-field."
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale thanked Cotchin for his outstanding contribution as captain.
“Trent has been a magnificent captain of this Club over a long period of time - we have been blessed to have someone of his character in the role.
“He is such a selfless leader and this decision underlines that - he has always done what he thinks is best for the team.
“He will still be an enormously important part of our team moving forward and I know how driven he is to see this Club bounce back in 2022.
“As a Club you are always planning for these eventualities across the business. Succession planning has been a key element of our football leadership program and the Club will be well placed to make a decision on the next captain when that time comes.”
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said, “Trent will remain an incredibly important leader for this team in 2022, regardless of his title.
“He prides himself on the development of our emerging leaders and he will undoubtedly remain committed to that and moving us back up the ladder next season.”
