Coughlan in Germany for radical injury treatment
Martin Boulton | May 18, 2008
RICHMOND'S 2003 best-and-fairest winner Mark Coughlan will be treated by the same German doctor who helped Geelong's Max Rooke recover from a chronic hamstring injury.
Coughlan, who has had two knee reconstructions, suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem after playing in the VFL last weekend and club doctor Greg Hickey said the 26-year-old left for Munich on Friday.
Rooke, who was treated with injections of calf blood and rooster combs by Dr Hans Muller-Wolfhart, overcame a long-term hamstring complaint to play in last year's finals series and grand final victory.
"Mark was interested in pursuing all avenues," Hickey said. "It's not been our normal process to go to this sort of extreme, but taking into account Mark's had a couple of recurrences of this injury and his terrible run with missing most of a season with osteitis pubis and having two ACL reconstructions … we want to offer Mark every avenue to get back and play some footy, this year and for the future."
He said Coughlan was "an incredibly hard-working" footballer and had taken a keen interest in Rooke's treatment and recovery.
"We've had discussions about it and, while it's probably not for everyone … in this particular context and what Mark's been through, we thought it was reasonable to do it."
Richmond's rehabilitation and conditioning co-ordinator, Warren Kofoed, has travelled with Coughlan to Munich to oversee the two-week program.
"We don't know exactly, until he gets over there, what exactly will happen, but it seems he (Mueller-Wolfhart) has a pretty common approach to most of these injuries, which involve a lot of injections.
"There is a few things out there and they're not necessarily proven scientifically, but there's a lot of people, like Rooke, that have done well and we want to give Mark every opportunity."
Coughlan's injury is on the opposite leg to the one that had two knee reconstructions, but Hickey said it was likely there was a connection between the injuries.
"When you've had a long period of deconditioning and time out of the game, it's more common and to be expected to have some sort of soft tissue injury on your return."
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