Saw both from the time that they were juniors through to the end.
For Tony, back in 1987, I saw him play, I think, the last two senior games of the season then drop back to the U19s.
He played in the 1987 losing GF with Craig Lambert and a few other lesser known Tiges including Simon Goosey of fame a couple of years ago.
Tony played either in a small pocket or in the centre. This varied with the season and the designs of the changing list of senior coaches during his playing tenure. In 1988, his first full season, he played 4 years under Bartlett, then a season with Jeans, then Northey for the remaining two and a bit, before the tragedy of the early Geelong game in 1995.
Must say that Tony was the first of the Tiger mosquito fleet that evolved under Bartlett - Free, Lambert, Knights, and to a lesser degree Pym. Tony was the first regular junior midfielder to be able to rack up 20 possies in a game since Dale Weightman some 9 years before.
Tony, ran and ran and ran, creating continuous opportunity. His disposal wasn't always the best. He was rugged.
He captained the Tigers in those last years.
Personally, I believe that Tony demise actually began the previous year. Some of you might remember that Dermott Brereton broke Tony's jaw in the 1994 season. Injuries usually happen in sets, and in this case the broken jaw may have been a mystical precursor to his knee injury early the following season.
Of course, as we know, he never recovered.
As for Mark Coughlan, I saw him too as a RR for the WA U18 Rep team.
Mark had previously been affected by various lower body injuries, and may even have been damaged merchandise when he came to the Tiges.
Lacking genuine pace, Mark made up for this with upper body strength.
In 2002, the year after his debut season 2001, he hit his straps to play most of the season.
He took that to a even better level in 2003, but crashed out with another bout of OP in 2004.
Came back again to have a very good season in 2005, but crashed out again with knee and hamstring injuries after.
Mark lacked for Tony's ability to run and run and run. Both had less than optimal disposal.
To compare them, Freezer by a mile.