Tigers' faith reaps reward
23 May 2003 Herald Sun
By MICHAEL GLEESON
A CURIOUS thing happened at Richmond a fortnight ago.
Tough nut: Mark Coughlan has added hardness to Richmond's midfield.
Picture: Michael Klein
Jason Cloke was dropped. The Collingwood player that is. That same week Mark Coughlan was in the Tigers' best players.
So what? This is what: Richmond copped a pasting all last year for opting not to take Cloke under the father-son rule.
And each week the talented defender kept impressing for the Pies, the Tiger army wondered how their struggling club had let him go.
Now the reason might be starting to jell. To take Cloke, who few would doubt has a big future, Richmond had to use a second-round draft pick. It didn't want to give that away on another big bloke. The Tigers needed a midfielder. So they overlooked Cloke and took Coughlan.
"I didn't realise the whole situation until after the draft. I didn't know Richmond could have picked him up," Coughlan said this week.
"I also didn't realise just how passionate Richmond supporters were. I remember watching an interview with Danny (Frawley) questioning why they didn't pick up Cloke and I would be lying if I said it didn't spur me on to get my arse into gear."
Fortune handed Coughlan his chance. The 2002 season a write-off, Frawley decided to throw young blokes such as the blond onballer in the deep end.
"It was a buzz for me because I went from playing reserves and a bit in the seniors mainly on the bench, to playing on the ball," Coughlan said.
He showed enough to suggest he had something. This year he was presented with another sink or swim moment.
The arrival of former Crow Kane Johnson and Justin Blumfield from Essendon could have seen Coughlan's star fade. Instead it has shone more brightly.
He soon formed a bond with Johnson.
"When I got to the club there were big wraps on him," Johnson said. "But I didn't really know anything about him until we started playing and he is a quality player.
"The only way he knows how to go about it is head-first. He crashes in and that's the best thing about him: he doesn't think about it.
"For a young bloke, he plays like he has been there for five or six years. He has come on super-quick and I think it's one of the biggest reasons why we've gone well this year.
"When you have got blokes like that around you, it makes other teams have a look. I think that's what Richmond might have lacked: an inside player."
Frawley seized the moment with Johnson's arrival and told Coughlan to shadow Johnson.
"At training, in match practice, they would pair us up and he gave me a bit of a towelling," Coughlan said.
"I think I was looking at what he was doing a bit too much, maybe not attacking the ball enough myself, but watching him do it. But they were pretty helpful games for me to play to watch him.
"The two pick-ups, Kane and Justin, pushed me along to train harder and be fitter and the main aim for me was to just play onball with those guys."
Coughlan grew up in Kalgoorlie, the dry, mining heart of Western Australia six hours from Perth. His dad owned a mining company and he always expected one day he would also be in mining.
"As a kid I think you enjoy anywhere you live and for me Kalgoorlie was pretty good. It's probably not the best place for a holiday, but we were there because Dad was in mining and that was how it was," he said.
"We made the move to Perth for education when I was 10. Mum and the kids moved and Dad stayed in Kalgoorlie and came up to Perth at the weekends."
Coughlan went to Wesley College where his football skills revealed themselves early, then hid again.
Trent Cooper, Coughlan's tutor and footy coach at school, recalled him as a stand-out.
"We had a house footy game and normally it was just the Year 11 and 12 kids who played, but he was so good in Year 8 we let him play," Cooper said.
"Ben Cousins was in Year 12 and he played and we put Mark out there on Ben's side and he kicked three goals in a forward pocket.
"I said after that he would make it, but then he stalled for a few years, and in Year 11 and 12 was playing seconds and some first games in a forward pocket. He even considered giving footy away for soccer."
Coughlan was a better cricketer than footballer. It was with cricket he made the state squad, not footy.
But when he played alongside Shaun Marsh, former Aussie opener Geoff's son who is now playing for WA, he realised cricket would not be his calling.
"I thought I was all right until he came along and put it in perspective," Coughlan said. "Back then there was no way I thought I would be in Melbourne playing football."
All that changed in a year of footy. He hit the weights with mates at uni and had a stand-out season with WAFL club Perth.
Tigers recruiting manager Greg Beck recalled seeing him play for the colts one day.
"He just kept getting the ball," Beck said.
And at the other end of the ground Andrew Krakouer kept kicking goals. It was a pretty worthwhile game for Beck.
A lifelong Eagles fan, Coughlan admitted to nerves before returning to Perth to play West Coast tomorrow night.
"The Eagles are the only side I haven't played against yet, and it's a bit surprising the team I went for growing up I haven't played against yet.
"I think mentally for me it is a big game. I haven't really had a full game back there yet. The two games against the Dockers I was on the bench and I have mates back there, so it is a big one for me mentally."
23 May 2003 Herald Sun
By MICHAEL GLEESON
A CURIOUS thing happened at Richmond a fortnight ago.
Tough nut: Mark Coughlan has added hardness to Richmond's midfield.
Picture: Michael Klein
Jason Cloke was dropped. The Collingwood player that is. That same week Mark Coughlan was in the Tigers' best players.
So what? This is what: Richmond copped a pasting all last year for opting not to take Cloke under the father-son rule.
And each week the talented defender kept impressing for the Pies, the Tiger army wondered how their struggling club had let him go.
Now the reason might be starting to jell. To take Cloke, who few would doubt has a big future, Richmond had to use a second-round draft pick. It didn't want to give that away on another big bloke. The Tigers needed a midfielder. So they overlooked Cloke and took Coughlan.
"I didn't realise the whole situation until after the draft. I didn't know Richmond could have picked him up," Coughlan said this week.
"I also didn't realise just how passionate Richmond supporters were. I remember watching an interview with Danny (Frawley) questioning why they didn't pick up Cloke and I would be lying if I said it didn't spur me on to get my arse into gear."
Fortune handed Coughlan his chance. The 2002 season a write-off, Frawley decided to throw young blokes such as the blond onballer in the deep end.
"It was a buzz for me because I went from playing reserves and a bit in the seniors mainly on the bench, to playing on the ball," Coughlan said.
He showed enough to suggest he had something. This year he was presented with another sink or swim moment.
The arrival of former Crow Kane Johnson and Justin Blumfield from Essendon could have seen Coughlan's star fade. Instead it has shone more brightly.
He soon formed a bond with Johnson.
"When I got to the club there were big wraps on him," Johnson said. "But I didn't really know anything about him until we started playing and he is a quality player.
"The only way he knows how to go about it is head-first. He crashes in and that's the best thing about him: he doesn't think about it.
"For a young bloke, he plays like he has been there for five or six years. He has come on super-quick and I think it's one of the biggest reasons why we've gone well this year.
"When you have got blokes like that around you, it makes other teams have a look. I think that's what Richmond might have lacked: an inside player."
Frawley seized the moment with Johnson's arrival and told Coughlan to shadow Johnson.
"At training, in match practice, they would pair us up and he gave me a bit of a towelling," Coughlan said.
"I think I was looking at what he was doing a bit too much, maybe not attacking the ball enough myself, but watching him do it. But they were pretty helpful games for me to play to watch him.
"The two pick-ups, Kane and Justin, pushed me along to train harder and be fitter and the main aim for me was to just play onball with those guys."
Coughlan grew up in Kalgoorlie, the dry, mining heart of Western Australia six hours from Perth. His dad owned a mining company and he always expected one day he would also be in mining.
"As a kid I think you enjoy anywhere you live and for me Kalgoorlie was pretty good. It's probably not the best place for a holiday, but we were there because Dad was in mining and that was how it was," he said.
"We made the move to Perth for education when I was 10. Mum and the kids moved and Dad stayed in Kalgoorlie and came up to Perth at the weekends."
Coughlan went to Wesley College where his football skills revealed themselves early, then hid again.
Trent Cooper, Coughlan's tutor and footy coach at school, recalled him as a stand-out.
"We had a house footy game and normally it was just the Year 11 and 12 kids who played, but he was so good in Year 8 we let him play," Cooper said.
"Ben Cousins was in Year 12 and he played and we put Mark out there on Ben's side and he kicked three goals in a forward pocket.
"I said after that he would make it, but then he stalled for a few years, and in Year 11 and 12 was playing seconds and some first games in a forward pocket. He even considered giving footy away for soccer."
Coughlan was a better cricketer than footballer. It was with cricket he made the state squad, not footy.
But when he played alongside Shaun Marsh, former Aussie opener Geoff's son who is now playing for WA, he realised cricket would not be his calling.
"I thought I was all right until he came along and put it in perspective," Coughlan said. "Back then there was no way I thought I would be in Melbourne playing football."
All that changed in a year of footy. He hit the weights with mates at uni and had a stand-out season with WAFL club Perth.
Tigers recruiting manager Greg Beck recalled seeing him play for the colts one day.
"He just kept getting the ball," Beck said.
And at the other end of the ground Andrew Krakouer kept kicking goals. It was a pretty worthwhile game for Beck.
A lifelong Eagles fan, Coughlan admitted to nerves before returning to Perth to play West Coast tomorrow night.
"The Eagles are the only side I haven't played against yet, and it's a bit surprising the team I went for growing up I haven't played against yet.
"I think mentally for me it is a big game. I haven't really had a full game back there yet. The two games against the Dockers I was on the bench and I have mates back there, so it is a big one for me mentally."
