Richmond caretaker coach Jade Rawlings admits he doubts he will remain at Punt Road once the Tigers new senior coach begins preparing for next season.

Rawlings and Essendon assistant Alan Richardson were told on Friday that they wouldn't be considered for the senior job in 2010 meaning it is now a two-horse race between Ken Hinkley and Damien Hardwick.

Rawlings said he initially felt ‘disappointed' and ‘angry' after having the news broken to him and even joked that he wanted to ‘kill' football operations manager Craig Cameron but praised the Richmond Football Club for giving him his opportunity.

"Craig and I have got a terrific relationship and he supported me right throughout his time at the club and in particular this period has been great," Rawlings said.

"The positives that have come out of the opportunity are just no end."

"The club made a very courageous stance to give me an opportunity considering my experience and I'll be forever grateful for that."

"I'm contracted to the club (next year) and there's a fair bit of water to go under the bridge as far as who gets appointed."

"I personally would think that it would be hard for someone who gets appointed to have me around."

Rawlings' fortunes didn't take a turn for the better on Saturday night when Richmond suffered a 42-point loss to Hawthorn at the MCG.

However, the Tigers weren't helped by a swag of injuries to key players which severely hampered their ability to compete with the Hawks.

The most serious of which was suffered by defender Will Thursfield who is believed to have damaged his AC joint.

Ben Cousins was knocked senseless by a huge Lance Franklin bump in the third quarter and didn't return while Chris Newman (knee), Daniel Jackson (ankle) and Shane Edwards (eye) also missed large chunks of the match.

Cousins is now in danger of missing a homecoming match against former side West Coast at Subiaco on Friday night while Newman is also in doubt for the clash.

"He (Cousins) looked a little bit groggy still after the game but he sat through the meeting and seemed to be able to engage in reasonably well, I haven't had a full medical debrief on him yet," said Rawlings.

"It was a pretty big hit, he looked like he was pretty keen to stay on but the way he walked, he was headed in a totally different direction to (where) the interchange bench was (and it) suggested he was in a bad way."

"It was a no-risk policy of even considering putting him back on (in) the last quarter."

One man who Rawlings expects to feature next week is Graham Polak who played his first match since suffering shocking head injuries when he was hit by a tram in June last year.

Polak showed little trepidation in his comeback match and attacked the ball fiercely on a few occasions, pleasing Rawlings.

"He had a dip. Nearly every time he was involved in a contest he was prepared to put his body on the line, he chased down, laid a few good tackles as well so you walk away saying that he really competed," said Rawlings.

"I wasn't at all (surprised by Polak's attack on the ball) because I've seen him do it. I coached him in Round 1 this year against Frankston (in the VFL) and he just played with the same free spirit that he'd played (with) before the accident."