AFL star Trent Cotchin’s future unknown after daughter admitted to hospital

Richmond star Trent Cotchin’s immediate future is unclear after the club confirmed he may return to Victoria to be with his family.

It was revealed earlier on Wednesday Cotchin had spoken to officials about leaving the Tigers’ camp in Sydney in order to be with his family after one of his daughters was admitted to hospital.

Cotchin has been forced to leave Melbourne to continue the AFL season, leaving his family behind in Melbourne as a result of the city’s lockdown.

Richmond released a statement on Wednesday announcing simply that Cotchin has not returned home yet and remains with his teammates.

The club will fly to Perth later this week ahead of their clash with Essendon which was moved to Western Australia as a result of Melbourne’s lockdown.

“Richmond acknowledges interest in captain Trent Cotchin’s availability ahead of this Saturday’s Dreamtime game,” the statement read.

“Cotchin remains a part of the football program in Sydney, and is monitoring a personal matter at home in Victoria.”

The news emerged when Cotchin’s wife Brooke posted a photo on Instagram showing one of the couple’s daughters in a hospital bed.

Richmond senior club advisor Neil Balme earlier confirmed to The Herald Sun Cotchin has had a conversation with senior staff at the club about returning to Melbourne.

“We have said very clearly to all our players that whatever they need us to support them on, we will,” Balme said.

“We love them playing, but there are other things in life that they have to take into account, and whatever they do, we will support them.”

It comes just weeks after it was revealed Brooke contemplated suicide as a result of her tumultuous time in the AFL’s isolation bubble in Queensland last year.

She said last month her role in breaking the league’s biosecurity protocols in the middle of the pandemic had led to online abuse.

She said she could not get out of bed for days, suffered panic attacks and even stopped receiving calls from her mum.

The couple ultimately ended up paying a $25,000 fine issued from the AFL to the football club as a result of the infraction.

The premiership-winning star last year said there was a “genuine chance” he and some of his teammates would elect to remain home and sit out the 2020 season if forced to play the season away from Victoria.

The Tigers went on to win the 2020 Grand Final.