Richmond midfielder Mark Coughlan has been out of AFL action for so long he has almost returned to a different sport.

Coughlan, who has overcome two knee reconstructions and fought back from chronic hamstring problems, played his first senior match since round 12, 2006, on Saturday and there were shocks on two fronts.

Firstly, the Tigers managed to win the game, beating North Melbourne to end their win-less start to the season.

And, secondly, he found himself in the middle of an unfamiliar, fast-paced affair.

Coughlan said the main difference he found was the speed at which the ball is spirited away from stoppages.

"Geelong's set the benchmark there and the ball just moves so quickly," he said on Tuesday.

"The ball's not long in the player's hands, it just moves so quickly so you've just got to get used to that."

But he said he coped with the game against the Kangaroos "reasonably well".

"There's a lot of room for improvement but I've got a couple of weeks to get my hands on it a little bit more and get out there," said Coughlan, the Tigers' 2003 best and fairest winner who was touted as the club's next skipper before being struck down by injury in 2006.

Coughlan also admitted he may have to tinker with his famed hard-at-it approach, with umpires now much quicker to penalise any head-high contact.

"With some of the umpiring maybe a little bit - they're obviously pretty big on the head contact so you've got to be a little bit careful about going in there," he said.

"But I think generally speaking footy hasn't changed too much. If you put your head over the ball and you're first in there the umpires protect you.

"It's probably just been highlighted a little bit more in the last year or two."

After recovering form the two knee reconstructions, Coughlan flew to Germany for radical treatment on his hamstrings, which included the injection of calf's blood and rooster combs.

But he won't be holding back in fear of picking up any more injuries.

"I don't think it will affect the way I go about things," said Coughlan.

"I'll hopefully play this week and get a bit of form up and it's now just about getting the run in the legs.

"I've played a few games in the VFL before last week and I'll hopefully get a few senior games and get into the swing of things."

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