Coughlan keeps on after medical reassurances
Steve Butler | April 18, 2007
The Age
ONLY an independent doctor outside the Richmond Football Club could convince Mark Coughlan after a second knee reconstruction that he did not have a "dodgy" knee.
Talking about the simple slip in the bath that led to the second knee reconstruction in as many years, the Tigers' 2003 best and fairest was close to believing his knee would never again allow him to handle the rigours of AFL football.
Coughlan also said he had rejected an offer from Richmond coach Terry Wallace to take a match committee role as he sat out the season, for fear of alienating teammates when he returned. Instead, he had started a midfield mentoring role, but also wanted to spend time away from Punt Road to rejuvenate his dented spirits.
"I thought straightaway that I would give up footy and I felt as if I'd had enough," said Coughlan of the moment in February when he knew his second successive season was over.
"I was just stepping out of the bath tub and slipped. It was one of many incidents — a couple of times getting into my car, my knee felt quite unstable and I could even feel it just doing simple things around the house.
"I kept having incidents at training where my knee was buckling on me a little bit and basically what was happening was with every buckle, I was shearing through the cruciate ligament. It got to the point where I was 60 or 70 per cent of the way through it.
"Then, at the stage where I realised I was in a bit of trouble, my season was at an end anyway. I got a second opinion and the surgeon said I wouldn't even last a couple of games.
"I'd signed a three-year contract in 2002 and only played out half of it in terms of games played. No one enjoys playing footy when you're not out on the field and producing and giving something back to the side, so it was actually quite a guilty feeling because I felt I owed the club something and couldn't give a lot.
"It's been a bit of an ego-denter. You're up and about at 21 playing reasonable footy and then have three or four injury-struck years. But it probably makes you stronger as a person. It makes you grow up quickly and makes you realise footy isn't everything. I'll come back and in six months' time, I'll be itching again."
Coughlan, who turns 25 on Friday, said his latest operation had made the structure of his knee significantly stronger and he even rated himself a chance to play later this year if Richmond could sneak a finals berth.
It is some rare good news for the injury-ravaged Tigers, who have had to deal with early-season absences of ruckmen Troy Simmonds and Trent Knobel, Nathan Brown, Ray Hall, Kent Kingsley and Will Thursfield.
Coughlan needed his first knee reconstruction after hurting it against Hawthorn in round 12 in Launceston last year. He had managed only seven games in 2004 as he battled osteitis pubis.
He said he was frustrated that he had played 83 games in seven seasons and no finals, while several players from his draft year of 2000, including West Coast star Daniel Kerr with 130 matches, had played many more than him.
Coughlan said he had received advice and support from teammates, especially Matthew Richardson and Darren Gaspar, as well as from multiple serious knee injury-sufferers, Western Bulldog Luke Darcy and Brisbane Lion Richard Hadley. Hadley played his first game back from a second reconstruction against Sydney last Sunday.
Coughlan is using his time out of the game to enter into property development, including building a block of units with his father Steve on a site just a stab pass from the statue of cricket great Dennis Lillee at the MCG. He is also studying business through Monash University.
Wallace said the club had left Coughlan to make a decision on his future, but had been heartened last month when the midfielder fronted his teammates and made a commitment to get back on track.
He said Coughlan remained a required Tiger and promised that the club would be keen to renegotiate a new contract when he was ready to discuss the issue.
"We really believe Mark still has a lot to offer," Wallace said. "He's our most professional player in his capacity to get his body into the condition that he does. He does everything right to get the best out of himself and really set the example from a leadership point of view for some of the young boys."
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