MATCH REPORT: Port Adelaide hands Richmond finals pasting
Cotchin elected to kick to the northern end of Adelaide Oval despite the strong breeze blowing the opposite way.
Whatever his tactic was, it didn't go to plan.
The Power piled on eight goals to one in the first quarter, and took a devastating 42-point lead into the first break.
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Realistically, red-hot Port Adelaide would have almost certainly led at quarter-time regardless of which direction it was kicking.
But the Power's awesome start whipped the home crowd into a frenzy, while the travelling Tigers fans were gobsmacked, and the contest was over.
Social media was flooded with criticism of Cotchin's call.
Trent Cotchin now knows how Nasser Hussain fealt at the Gabba in 2002!! #AFLPortTigers #stinka #alwayskickwithit
— Ryan Duffield (@PremiumDuff) September 7, 2014It's easy to be critical of Richmond, or Cotchin's decision, but Port Adelaide's first 20 minutes would've destroyed most. Exhilirating.
— Adam White (@White_Adam) September 7, 2014Bang on, boys. This is on Cotchin. Why you'd kick AGAINST the wind away from home, in front of a hostile crowd staggers me.
— Nathan Lay (@nathanjlay) September 7, 2014"The breeze was swirling around a bit... so it was a bit hard to pick an end," Wingard told SEN after the game.
"The breeze would go hard to one end, and then it would change around. Honestly, it kept changing and you had to adjust when you were kicking for goal."
Wingard said Port Adelaide owed its hot start to its intensity, not the wind.
"It started in the midfield. We just had to get in their face and put them under as much pressure as we could and then it flowed through the whole team," he said.