Club champ a Tiger priority

[mightytiges]

09 May 2004   
Sunday Herald Sun
Digby Beacham

RICHMOND will launch contract negotiations with reigning club champion Mark Coughlan next month.

Picked up from Perth at No. 25 in the 2000 national draft, Coughlan is out of contract at the end of the season.

Richmond director of football Greg Miller said the signature of the 21-year-old was a priority as Fremantle and West Coast lurked in the wings.

"Mark's a quality player and obviously one that we want to remain with the club," Miller said.

"He won the fairest and best award here last year, is highly regarded by his teammates and we see him not only a part of the leadership group, but a potential leader.

"Certainly we'll be sitting down in June or July with his manager to try to strike a new deal."

Coughlan is sidelined with what Richmond has labelled "pubic instability", an injury that has left some him sore in the lower stomach/groin region and has seriously affected his ability to run out four quarters and hit targets by foot.

"It's something that hasn't helped his confidence, but again, it's not something that can't be fixed," Miller said.

"It's not a major injury.

"He'll come back and play some time this year and, hopefully, he can finish the year in style."

Miller said retaining interstate players, particularly those from Perth and Adelaide, was always tough. But he denied the improved form of the Dockers and Eagles would affect Richmond's ability to hold on to Coughlan.

"There's always a lure, but it's no harder now than what it was. I was at the Kangaroos when Peter Bell went back to Fremantle (at the end of 2000)," Miller said.

Soon after winning the Jack Dyer Medal last season, Coughlan expressed a desire to remain at Punt Rd.

"Richmond is my home -- I've got a lot of good friends here and I want to create some history in this club between ourselves," Coughlan said in October.

"There is a lot of history at our club, but we (current playing group) haven't achieved any ourselves and I want to be here when we do that."

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,9507606%255E19742,00.html

[Puntroadroar]

Smartest thing Richmond can do is sign this guys contract early before the vultures start to circle.

Definately will be our Captain in the not too distant future.

[mightytiges]

I hope the Club can get Cogs as well as Otto re-signed well before the end of the season. They are two class players and vital to us rebuilding a top side but we can't afford to get into a bidding war. In the past the Club has waited until the end of the year and then been forced to pay $$$ to keep the likes of Gas and Holland. If sadly there comes the scenario of one of them wanting to leave I hope we play hard ball and say to whoever it is "how would you like to play at Whitten or Glenferrie Ovals?". From memory didn't Danny drive Otto down to Linton Street last time?