Trent Cotchin's enthusiasm to come back quickly from his latest injury has cost the young Richmond onballer the start of the AFL season.

The Tigers are unsure how long the 18-year-old will be out of action, but he will not play any football in the first month of the regular season because of an Achilles tendon injury.

That probably means he will not rejoin the AFL team until about round eight.

Cotchin admits he pushed himself too hard in his rehabilitation when the injury first hindered him early in the pre-season.

"The injury I have needs routine and probably two or three runs a week is all it needs," he said.

"I was probably doing three or four, or even five, at times over the off-season, so that's probably where it's come from.

"So it's my fault, I've learnt that now, I won't be doing that in another off-season anymore."

It initially flared after some beach sprints and deteriorated from there.

This setback is doubly-frustrating for Cotchin because he suffered an inflamed Achilles on the other leg last year, delaying his senior debut.

Cotchin starred for the Tigers after he played his first game in round eight and he did not drop out of the senior team for the rest of the season.

"After having a pretty big off-season and wanting to get out there, trying to make up that ground that I missed last year in the pre-season, it has been frustrating," he said.

"It's slowly coming together now."

Cotchin is intentionally not thinking about when he will be back, because he had already pencilled in a return date.

That made the setback all the harder to take.

"When something comes up and you've obviously got your hopes on coming back, say, it might have been round one ... once you go past that mark and realise it's not going to come true, it sets you back a fair bit," he said.

But he gains confidence from being on crutches during the 2007-08 pre-season and then having such an impact in his debut senior season.

He was Richmond's top selection in the 2007 national draft at No.2 overall and Cotchin has already justified the hype.

The Tigers are justifiably excited about putting Cotchin and Ben Cousins in the midfield together.

But for the time being, Cotchin is tempering his impatience and learning a harsh lesson about trying to push injury rehabilitation.

Cotchin has had plenty of strength work through his legs, but now he needs to let the injured tendon cope with the stresses of playing football.

"I've spoken to players who've had either similar injuries or just injuries that have set them back for a little while and (they've) not done pre-seasons, stuff like that.

"They've just said to take it as it comes and hopefully it comes right in due time."

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