GUN RICHMOND midfielder Mark Coughlan is expected to be back playing in the VFL in the next couple of weeks, Tigers coach Terry Wallace revealed on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old best and fairest winner has suffered through two knee reconstructions and ongoing hamstring issues, and hasn't played since round 12 2006, but the club is hoping a radical treatment regime in Germany has done the trick.

Andrew Raines is another who has overcome a knee injury, after returning last week.
"Andrew played his first game back – coming back from his knee – on the weekend, and go through unscathed, so that's the first step for him. He'll probably need a couple of games because he's been out for quite some time now, but at least he's taken the first step," Wallace said on Tuesday.

"Mark Coughlan we probably think is another week away only from resuming as well, so there's a couple of positive signs."

Superstar Matthew Richardson has been battling knee soreness for a while, and Wallace confirmed that the club was simply managing him through to the break, although he couldn't say if the 33-year-old was still playing with pain killing injections.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I would say that there'd be some likelihood that he is. He's progressively getting a little better each week, but we sort of said until he gets to the break, he's going to be sore, he's playing sore.

"But that's just the nature of the business, unfortunately. You'd love them to be 100 per cent fit every single time they went out there – I hear Chad Cornes has been struggling with a knee problem of his own, so every club has got those sort of situations with key players.

"Matthew's just trying to get his way through it."