Coughlan marks territory
18 June 2006
Sunday Herald Sun
Ken Piesse
Richmond has the opportunity to turn 7-5 into next weekend's mid-season break and one of the youngsters fuelling the team's improvement is WA-born Mark Coughlan. BEN Cousins may be the most famous football graduate from Perth's Wesley College, but before Mark Coughlan finishes he could forge an equally elite reputation.
The midfielder, 24, is being groomed as a future leader at Tigerland.
Coughlan, Richmond's 2003 best and fairest winner, said the chance to play each weekend was a joy after his 2004 season was marred by osteitis pubis.
The opportunity to see the Tigers entrenched in the top eight come the mid-season break has him as excited as at any time in his career.
``This is my sixth year at the club and I'm still to play in a final,'' he said.
``We made the preliminary final in my first year (2001), but I didn't play.
``We started well last year only to fall away.
``But this year there is genuine excitement. We truly believe we can make it.
``We have a better spread of depth among the senior players.
``We would have taken a 6-5 (win-loss) start at the beginning of the year and hopefully this weekend we can build on that good start in Launceston.''
Only a modest percentage keeps the Tigers out of the eight after several fighting wins, including the victory over one of the premiership favourite Adelaide in Round8. The team had a light training run at Aurora Stadium yesterday in readiness for today's game against Hawthorn.
``Nothing short of our best will get us over the line,'' he said.
``We're not gauging anything from last week when they were (easily) beaten by Port Adelaide.
``They're a good side. We know ourselves we would come out fighting the next week and so will they. We are expecting a tough game.''
Coughlan said the brigade of midfielders coach Terry Wallace had developed had made the Tigers a more potent and versatile unit.
While there have been several hiccups, most notably against last year's premier Sydney when the team was thrashed by almost 20 goals in Round7, an air of quiet confidence was developing.
``We always knew it was going to be a tough first half of year,'' he said.
``We travelled four or five times. We have put ourselves in a reasonable position and would have taken 6-5.
``But we also know that our run home is not much easier.
``We'll have a week off and then it is straight back into it against Collingwood (in Round13).''
Asked about the Adelaide game in which Richmond's defensive tactics were criticised, Coughlan said the expectations from everyone, but the players and staff that day, were largely negative and to pluck an unexpected win was a bonus which could be the difference between making or missing the finals.
``Hardly anyone has got near Adelaide this year and along with the Eagles they the in-form team,'' he said.
``Hopefully it will help set up our year.''
Coughlan said Richmond's competitiveness was not only welcome among the playing group, but was a reward for the supporters he rates as the best in the land. ``They have stuck with us through thick and thin,'' he said.
``We have 30,000 members, which just shows their loyalty given our (poor) strike rate when it comes to finals appearances over the past 20 years.''
The opportunity to play AFL football, even so far from home in Perth, is one he has never taken for granted.
He might have attended Wesley College, one of Perth's most noted sporting schools, but he was no star. He said he had never seriously considered being drafted until he turned 17 and grew in strength and stature, being named in Western Australia's Teal Cup squad.
``Sport doesn't really run in the family,'' he said.
``My first year at Wesley was Ben Cousins's last, so he was a hero for a lot of the boys.
``I played in the footy and cricket teams, but I was a late developer.
``It took me a while to crack it. When I left school I didn't consider playing AFL.
``But I got stronger and grew a bit. And I got a bit of confidence.''
Selected among the first 25 players in the 2000 national draft, Coughlan advanced so quickly that he finished third in the best and fairest in 2002 and won it the next year.
He said he was yet to return to his best form of 2003 consistently, but there had been glimpses including a 38-possession performance against Carlton in Round7 last year and 35 against Fremantle in Round10 this year.
``I'm pretty happy to be back, even though I haven't been up to the same standard of 2003 when I was spending the majority of the time on the ball,'' he said.
``I've become smarter as a footballer. My role has changed a little.
``A lot of our first and second-year players have been running through the midfield and it has made us a faster and better team.
``It's more of a team effort now with the likes of (Brett) Deledio, (Richard) Tambling, Danny Meyer and Dean Polo all adding a lot of extra speed through there.''
Coughlan has had an occasional run-with role after being a permanent tagger last year.
He has also played on a wing and at half-back, his defensive skills and growing maturity a boon in such an inexperienced outfit.
While he agrees that travel is part of playing in a national league, if he had his choice, he would play every Saturday at the MCG _ the home of football _ where Richmond's yellow and black army of supporters are at their most vocal.
Asked to name Richmond's best players this year he opted for Troy Simmonds, Kayne Pettifer and Polo.
The Tigers have been without the injured Matthew Richardson (broken wrist), but Coughlan said it gave others an opportunity to step up.
``It is one of the reasons why we have won more games than we have lost,'' he said.
``We are a more even side and don't just rely on two or three. Hopefully we can keep it going, too.''
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19503267%255E19742,00.html
