Richmond coach Damien Hardwick spoke to reporters on Thursday about the status of Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin ahead of the clubs Dreamtime game on Saturday.
Cotchin has been reportedly been weighing up flying back to Melbourne to be with his family whilst one of his daughters is in hospital.
Hardwick, a friend and not just a coach to Cotchin, explained that his skipper appeared likely to stay with the playing group.
โAt this stage, he will (make the trip to Perth),โ Hardwick said.
โObviously Trentโs spoken to (his wife) Brooke and โKenzโ (daughter Mackenzie) as well and look at the moment, relatively stable. So from that point of view, heโll stay but that can change.
โOnce again, from our point of view as a club, family will always come first and Brookeโs adamant that she wants him to stay (with the team) and Trent will make that decision if the condition changes.
โBut from our point of view, heโll be on the plane come tomorrow."
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The Tigers are spending the week in Sydney before they are due to fly to Perth tomorrow.
โKnowing Trent as well as I do, heโd be hurting inside โ thereโs no doubt," Hardwick said. "No one likes to have a sick child, especially when you feel so far away from home.
โBut Trent is very, very good at making sure everyone around him is OK. Heโs such a selfless person and itโs what makes him a great captain and a great leader of our football club.
โLook, heโs doing a little bit tough at the moment but heโs continued to lead the club as we always know he would.
โSo heโs very strong in his leadership, very vocal in his communication and we expect that (to) continue until something changes.โ
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The Tigers will be hoping their triple-premiership skipper will be out there to lead them against Essendon, asย a top-8 spot on the line for both clubs.
The annual Dreamtime game will kick off at 7:40 AEST on Saturday in front of a sold-out Optus Stadium.
