NEW Tigers' vice-captain Chris Newman hopes his term under club captain Kane Johnson can serve as an apprenticeship for the top job at Punt Road one day.
“I’d like to be captain, whether that comes to fruition or not, I’m not sure but I’ll be doing everything in my power to be able to put my hand up I guess,” said Newman, who is preparing for Friday night’s Round 1 NAB Cup clash with St Kilda at the Telstra Dome.
“I’m just keen to learn as much as I can while I can. The opportunity came up and my peers voted on it so it was a huge honor to receive that title around the club,” he said of the vice-captaincy. “I take a lot of pride in it. I’m looking forward to the experience of playing as vice-captain, to learn as much as I can from Kane Johnson.”
As well as adopting his new role at the club, the 25-year-old is excited by the return from injury of ruckman Troy Simmonds.
“He’s been looking forward to getting out there and his presence and physicality is something we missed,” he said.
“We’ve been really lucky with injuries throughout the pre-season. There’s only one bloke who’s not out on the track with us so it’s a great opportunity to see how the guys will go against some quality opposition.”
That one bloke, of course, is Trent Cotchin, the Tigers’ number one (and second overall) 2007 draft pick, who has been placed on the club’s long-term injury list with a broken bone in his foot and Achilles tendon soreness. While Newman admitted to being disappointed for Cotchin, Richmond supporters’ patience will be rewarded.
“For the fans, they want to come and see how he goes and we’re all really excited … as well but he’s really young we’ve just got to be patient with that,” he said. “His focus now is just to get his body right and there’s really no rush or pressure from the club.”
In better news for the Tigers, midfielder Mark Coughlan is close to returning to the fold. The former Jack Dyer Medallist will this weekend play in a practice match for Coburg, at Geelong, after missing the entire 2007 season with a knee injury. He is expected to play around 75 per cent of the game.
“With Mark Coughlan out we’ve had a bit of a hole to fill,” Newman said. “He’s going really well with his rehabilitation and should be out there soon, which is going to be huge for us.”
According to Newman, the NAB Cup is a worthwhile booster for the Tigers after a wooden-spoon performance in 2007. “I think it’s a good opportunity just to get your confidence up. It’s a really exciting game and the boys look forward to playing during the pre-season.”
