A vital Cog in the Tiger team
Tony Greenberg
richmondfc.com.au
11:53:44 AM Thu 17 July, 2003
Rising Richmond midfield star Mark Coughlan further enhanced his reputation with an outstanding last-quarter effort against Geelong at Telstra Dome last Saturday.
Coughlan was the catalyst behind the Tigers' bold fightback, which saw them come from 26 points down early in the final term to hit the front, only to be pipped at the post again by four points.
The 21-year-old had an amazing 14 'touches' during the last half-hour of the match (6 kicks, 8 handballs) and slotted through an inspirational left-foot goal which sent the Tiger barrackers into raptures.
He was everywhere in that final quarter, repeatedly clearing the ball from the crucial centre-bounces and then running relentlessly to gather possessions, seemingly at will, all over the field.
Coughlan's stats for the whole match were 14 kicks, six marks, 18 handballs, seven clearances, four tackles and one goal. So impressive was 'Cogs' that former Richmond coach and now widely-respected football commentator, Robert Walls, said on radio station 3AW the next day that he, alone, was good enough reason for Tiger supporters to get along to the team's matches for the rest of the '03 season -- despite the disappointing recent run of losses.
Richmond's former midfield dynamo, current Club Player Development Manager and Tiger team runner, Dale Weightman, is another huge Mark Coughlan fan.
"What I like about him is he's so hard," Weightman said.
"He's one of those boys that you look at and you say, 'Geez, I'd love him to be playing next to me, because he can actually win his own ball . . . crunch in there and win it hard. He'd be fantastic to play alongside."
Weightman described Coughlan's capacity to absorb punishment as a decided asset.
"He doesn't know what the pain barrier is -- he just keeps working and working," Weightman said.
"There's been a couple of times this year when I've seen him get crunched and concussed. You run out to see how he is and he just says, 'No, I'm right'. It's that 'there's nothing wrong here' attitude which I really like about him."
Weightman is convinced Coughlan has the 'right stuff' to carve out an extremely successful career at Punt Road.
"I reckon he's got all the attributes to one day captain the Club," Weightman said.
"He actually already displays pretty good leadership-type skills, he's very hard at it, and he does everything right. All in all, he's a real shining light for us . . .
And, so say the Richmond supporters, who have again catapulted Coughlan into the lead for the Prime Advice Tiger Player of the Year Award.
Cogs captured the fans' choice award in its inaugural year in 2002 and, as we enter the business end of the '03 season, is poised to go back-to-back.
At the end of Round 14 (with Round 15 votes not yet tallied), Cogs, on 17, had shot five votes clear of his nearest rivals -- injured skipper Wayne Campbell, Greg Tivendale and Kane Johnson, all on 12. Then came Chris Newman and Matthew Richardson with six votes, while Greg Stafford had five.
With Coughlan almost certain to grab another three votes for his excellent display against the Cats last weekend, it's hard to see any Tiger stopping his surge to another Prime Advice title.
Tony Greenberg
richmondfc.com.au
11:53:44 AM Thu 17 July, 2003
Rising Richmond midfield star Mark Coughlan further enhanced his reputation with an outstanding last-quarter effort against Geelong at Telstra Dome last Saturday.
Coughlan was the catalyst behind the Tigers' bold fightback, which saw them come from 26 points down early in the final term to hit the front, only to be pipped at the post again by four points.
The 21-year-old had an amazing 14 'touches' during the last half-hour of the match (6 kicks, 8 handballs) and slotted through an inspirational left-foot goal which sent the Tiger barrackers into raptures.
He was everywhere in that final quarter, repeatedly clearing the ball from the crucial centre-bounces and then running relentlessly to gather possessions, seemingly at will, all over the field.
Coughlan's stats for the whole match were 14 kicks, six marks, 18 handballs, seven clearances, four tackles and one goal. So impressive was 'Cogs' that former Richmond coach and now widely-respected football commentator, Robert Walls, said on radio station 3AW the next day that he, alone, was good enough reason for Tiger supporters to get along to the team's matches for the rest of the '03 season -- despite the disappointing recent run of losses.
Richmond's former midfield dynamo, current Club Player Development Manager and Tiger team runner, Dale Weightman, is another huge Mark Coughlan fan.
"What I like about him is he's so hard," Weightman said.
"He's one of those boys that you look at and you say, 'Geez, I'd love him to be playing next to me, because he can actually win his own ball . . . crunch in there and win it hard. He'd be fantastic to play alongside."
Weightman described Coughlan's capacity to absorb punishment as a decided asset.
"He doesn't know what the pain barrier is -- he just keeps working and working," Weightman said.
"There's been a couple of times this year when I've seen him get crunched and concussed. You run out to see how he is and he just says, 'No, I'm right'. It's that 'there's nothing wrong here' attitude which I really like about him."
Weightman is convinced Coughlan has the 'right stuff' to carve out an extremely successful career at Punt Road.
"I reckon he's got all the attributes to one day captain the Club," Weightman said.
"He actually already displays pretty good leadership-type skills, he's very hard at it, and he does everything right. All in all, he's a real shining light for us . . .
And, so say the Richmond supporters, who have again catapulted Coughlan into the lead for the Prime Advice Tiger Player of the Year Award.
Cogs captured the fans' choice award in its inaugural year in 2002 and, as we enter the business end of the '03 season, is poised to go back-to-back.
At the end of Round 14 (with Round 15 votes not yet tallied), Cogs, on 17, had shot five votes clear of his nearest rivals -- injured skipper Wayne Campbell, Greg Tivendale and Kane Johnson, all on 12. Then came Chris Newman and Matthew Richardson with six votes, while Greg Stafford had five.
With Coughlan almost certain to grab another three votes for his excellent display against the Cats last weekend, it's hard to see any Tiger stopping his surge to another Prime Advice title.
