RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin is set to travel to Perth for the Tigers' Dreamtime in the West clash with Essendon, rather than making an early return to Victoria to be with his sick daughter.
One of Cotchin's daughters has been in hospital in Melbourne, with the 31-year-old monitoring the situation from the Tigers' current base in Sydney.
Coach Damien Hardwick said Cotchin planned to stay with the team and travel for Saturday's game – his family's preference – unless the situation changed.
"At this stage, he will (make the trip to Perth)," Hardwick told reporters on Thursday.
"Obviously Trent's spoken to (his wife) Brooke and 'Kenz' (daughter Mackenzie) as well and look at the moment, relatively stable. So from that point of view, he'll stay but that can change.
"Once again, from our point of view as a club, family will always come first and Brooke's adamant that she wants him to stay (with the team) and Trent'll make that decision if the condition changes.
"But from our point of view, he'll be on the plane come tomorrow."
Hardwick said Cotchin had continued to lead the Tigers with aplomb, despite his personal situation.
"Knowing Trent as well as I do, he'd be hurting inside – there's no doubt. No one likes to have a sick child, especially when you feel so far away from home," Hardwick said.
"But Trent is very, very good at making sure everyone around him is OK. He's such a selfless person and (it's) what makes him a great captain and a great leader of our football club.
"Look, he's doing a little bit tough at the moment but he's continued to lead the club as we always know he would.
"So he's very strong in his leadership, very vocal in his communication and we expect that (to) continue until something changes."
Meanwhile, Hardwick believed most Richmond players would be prepared for an extended stay on the road if required to keep the season going
Vice-captain Jack Riewoldt, who has two young children, told Fox Footy on Tuesday he'd "probably lean to going home" instead of entering a lengthy hub stay.
"It's understandable but I think the vast majority of our group will be happy to play," Hardwick said.
"There's always going to be guys with circumstances such as young children, or large families back home and, and we can understand that from their point of view.
"I think the vast majority of guys would love to continue to play the game and do whatever is possible to play the game."
