Trent Cotchin: Dustin Martin’s teammate and great friend has an eye-opening three-word prediction for how he’ll deal with retirement
- Trent Cotchin won three premierships with Martin
- Tigers great announced his retirement on August 6
- Great has played his last game for Richmond
Tigers ace Trent Cotchin has revealed why he thinks his good friend Dustin Martin will be “completely scared” of life after football after the 33-year-old retired from the game just over a week ago.
The former Richmond teammates won three championships together, leaving Cotchin, who retired last year, in a unique position to speculate about how Martin will approach life off the field.
“I don’t know what he’s going to do,” Cotchin told Channel Seven’s Talking about football on Wednesday evening, after being asked how Martin would spend his time.
‘I think now that I’ve experienced it myself this year, you enter a whole new world that you don’t know.
‘And that he is curious about what interests him and that he finds a purpose in a different way of life, I think that is exciting for him.
“I’m sure there’s an element of him that’s terrified as well.”
Cotchin also joked that Martin would collaborate with a famous musician.
“I heard he might be DJing with Fisher, but I don’t know if that’s true,” he said, referring to the well-known producer Martin partied with after Richmond’s 2020 win.
Trent Cotchin (left) won three flags with Dustin Martin (right) before they both retired as one-club men with Richmond
Cotchin (pictured right, with Martin, after winning the 2020 AFL grand final) retired last year, giving him a unique perspective on what ‘Dusty’ will face in life after football.
There has been much speculation about Martin’s next steps after ending his 15-year career with the Tigers.
There are those who believe his retirement announcement is merely a smokescreen for a reunion with former coach Damien Hardwick at the Gold Coast Suns.
Carlton legend Brendan Fevola predicted this months ago, after Martin’s 300th game.
“My email is that he’s retiring after he plays his 300th game,” he said on The Fox radio show Fifi, Fev & Nick in May.
‘Say thank you to the Richmond fans after his 300th. Take a few months off. Get fit. Get his head right.
‘His manager is looking for property on the Gold Coast for Dusty to move to and rekindle his friendship with him. [Richmond premiership coach] Damien Hardwick, who is now coach of the Gold Coast Suns.
Martin (pictured with his mother Kathy before playing his 300th AFL game) is the subject of intense speculation about what he will do after retirement
‘He gets a lot of money to go to the Gold Coast, play full-forward, help those young lads; they’ve never played finals before in their history. So they bring him over there and become the centrepiece of Football from Queensland.
Other options Martin could consider include a job as a commentator for the AFL. Given his status in the sport, announcers will undoubtedly be hot on his heels.
He could also take on a coaching role, as an assistant or advisor to someone like Hardwick on the Gold Coast.
But given Martin’s notoriously private nature and aversion to the spotlight, chances are he’ll walk off into the sunset for good and start enjoying life the way he wants.
If “Dusty” decides to retire, he’ll at least be free for the rest of his life, thanks to his multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio.