Star quartet not too far away
richmondfc.com.au
By Jason Phelan 12:56 PM Sun 12 April, 2009
RICHMOND'S bid to get its season back on track will receive a significant boost in the coming weeks with a quartet of high-profile Tigers set to return from injury.
Ben Cousins leads that pack with coach Terry Wallace happy with the progress the former Eagle has made in his recovery from the hamstring injury he suffered in round one.
"We think he's probably a week or two away," Wallace said from Punt Road Oval on Sunday.
"More likely, as we've said all the way along, it will be two weeks rather than one just from the safety and security side of things. You take the precautionary measure with him rather than go the other way.
"Trent Cotchin and probably Andrew Raines are almost exactly the same timeframe."
Cotchin has been dogged by Achilles issues in his second season while Raines' comeback from an injury-ruined 2008 received a setback when he suffered knee ligament damage in the opening game of the season.
Mark Coughlan rounds out the group with the 2003 best and fairest winner edging closer to a return from successive knee reconstructions that have sidelined him since round 12 of 2006.
Coughlan, 26, pushed his case for senior selection with 41 possessions for Coburg last week, but Wallace said the club would tread carefully with the onballer who had a minor knee clean-up in February.
"He's only had two games back from that knee operation so really he's only progressing in his pre-season," he said.
"It was a standout game that he had last weekend, but it was in wet conditions completely different to what we're going to be playing in at [Docklands].
"In fairness to Mark he needs to be able to string a couple of those together to be absolutely cherry ripe ready to play AFL footy. I've had that conversation with him. Whether that means he's a week off or two weeks off that will work itself out."
Coughlan was named in an extended squad for Monday's clash with the Western Bulldogs, but dropped back to the emergency list on Saturday and will play for Coburg on Sunday.
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