Club champ a Tiger priority
09 May 2004 Sunday Herald Sun
Digby Beacham
RICHMOND will launch contract negotiations with reigning club champion Mark Coughlan next month.
Picked up from Perth at No. 25 in the 2000 national draft, Coughlan is out of contract at the end of the season.
Richmond director of football Greg Miller said the signature of the 21-year-old was a priority as Fremantle and West Coast lurked in the wings.
"Mark's a quality player and obviously one that we want to remain with the club," Miller said.
"He won the fairest and best award here last year, is highly regarded by his teammates and we see him not only a part of the leadership group, but a potential leader.
"Certainly we'll be sitting down in June or July with his manager to try to strike a new deal."
Coughlan is sidelined with what Richmond has labelled "pubic instability", an injury that has left some him sore in the lower stomach/groin region and has seriously affected his ability to run out four quarters and hit targets by foot.
"It's something that hasn't helped his confidence, but again, it's not something that can't be fixed," Miller said.
"It's not a major injury.
"He'll come back and play some time this year and, hopefully, he can finish the year in style."
Miller said retaining interstate players, particularly those from Perth and Adelaide, was always tough. But he denied the improved form of the Dockers and Eagles would affect Richmond's ability to hold on to Coughlan.
"There's always a lure, but it's no harder now than what it was. I was at the Kangaroos when Peter Bell went back to Fremantle (at the end of 2000)," Miller said.
Soon after winning the Jack Dyer Medal last season, Coughlan expressed a desire to remain at Punt Rd.
"Richmond is my home -- I've got a lot of good friends here and I want to create some history in this club between ourselves," Coughlan said in October.
"There is a lot of history at our club, but we (current playing group) haven't achieved any ourselves and I want to be here when we do that."
09 May 2004 Sunday Herald Sun
Digby Beacham
RICHMOND will launch contract negotiations with reigning club champion Mark Coughlan next month.
Picked up from Perth at No. 25 in the 2000 national draft, Coughlan is out of contract at the end of the season.
Richmond director of football Greg Miller said the signature of the 21-year-old was a priority as Fremantle and West Coast lurked in the wings.
"Mark's a quality player and obviously one that we want to remain with the club," Miller said.
"He won the fairest and best award here last year, is highly regarded by his teammates and we see him not only a part of the leadership group, but a potential leader.
"Certainly we'll be sitting down in June or July with his manager to try to strike a new deal."
Coughlan is sidelined with what Richmond has labelled "pubic instability", an injury that has left some him sore in the lower stomach/groin region and has seriously affected his ability to run out four quarters and hit targets by foot.
"It's something that hasn't helped his confidence, but again, it's not something that can't be fixed," Miller said.
"It's not a major injury.
"He'll come back and play some time this year and, hopefully, he can finish the year in style."
Miller said retaining interstate players, particularly those from Perth and Adelaide, was always tough. But he denied the improved form of the Dockers and Eagles would affect Richmond's ability to hold on to Coughlan.
"There's always a lure, but it's no harder now than what it was. I was at the Kangaroos when Peter Bell went back to Fremantle (at the end of 2000)," Miller said.
Soon after winning the Jack Dyer Medal last season, Coughlan expressed a desire to remain at Punt Rd.
"Richmond is my home -- I've got a lot of good friends here and I want to create some history in this club between ourselves," Coughlan said in October.
"There is a lot of history at our club, but we (current playing group) haven't achieved any ourselves and I want to be here when we do that."
