Five dumped by Rawlings
Martin Boulton and Steve Butler | June 12, 2009
Richmond's football operations manager Ross Monaghan denied there was anything sinister in the axings and said there was still a future for the five players at the club.
"I'm sure if they're prepared to work hard and set their mind to it, they'll work their way back into the side," he told The Age last night.
"We had five players that really deserved an opportunity to be in the side."
He said Bowden, Simmonds and Coughlan, who only returned in round five after missing almost three years with serious knee and hamstring injuries, could all play again this season.
Unlike Johnson, who retired from playing this week and stepped into a development role, McMahon (five games this year) and Pettifer (four games), continue to be available, Monaghan said.
"It just so happens that the guys who missed out are guys who probably haven't been in their best form," he said. "They're all great characters who know what they're about, they know the footy business and the ups and downs.
"Sides each week are selected on form … there's no particular theme and there's nothing sinister, it's just the normal selection process that we normally go through."
He said Rawlings had brought a different selection perspective on players he was coaching at Coburg, but the changes had been agreed on jointly by the match committee.
In the wake of Wallace's departure, speculation has grown about the future of Ben Cousins, Matthew Richardson, Nathan Brown, Bowden and Simmonds, who are all over 30 years old. Coughlan and McMahon are both 27. Cousins is the only player in the team to play the Eagles who is over 30.
President Gary March said last week he expects Richardson, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, to play later in the season and to continue playing next year.
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