Cotchin defends Hawks' under-fire Vickery

Apr 20, 2017 - 8:41 AM Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin has leapt to the defence of Tiger-turned-Hawk Ty Vickery, who has been subjected to a barrage of criticism on social media.

Vickery is in his first season at Hawthorn after signing as a free agent at the end of last year.

The 26-year-old key forward struggled in three games to open the season, managing just one goal, before missing last week's heavy loss to Geelong with a back injury.

Vickery has borne the brunt of criticism for the Hawks' 0-4 start, some of which has been particularly venomous on social media.

While Cotchin doesn't begrudge people the right to air their views, he added some just weren't worth paying any attention to.

"The way I look at it is that everyone's entitled to an opinion and everyone has one ... just like armpits - some stink and some don't," Cotchin said.

"You just have to block it out because there are people out there who don't really have positive things to say.

"The reality is that Ty is a fantastic person, he's been given another opportunity at another football club; granted they haven't won a game yet.

"(But) I don't think you can rest results on one individual.

"That's the beauty of our team game, it's 22 (players) that need to come together and perform on game day and even during the week."

Vickery was an oft-maligned figure at Punt Road, where he kicked 158 goals in 119 games after he was selected eighth overall at the 2008 draft.

"He's a great person and he obviously wants to perform at his best," Cotchin said.

"It's not like he's sitting there trying not to perform."

He has been named on an extended bench for Hawthorn's clash against West Coast on Sunday.

Source: AAP