RemoteTiger said:
ToO you have never truly liked the idea of an exjunkie playing in the Yellow and Black and you have been against Cousins coming to Tigerland.
Don't think it's a great secret that I didn't want Cousins at the time Remote.
Though it was a consideration, that decision was not purely because he was an 'exjunkie' (which I along with 15 other teams thought carried a significant risk).
I also thought we should be investing in a younger player given where we were at in terms of our list.
I worried about adding to a pile of 30+ plus players who were a lot closer to the end than the beginning.
I saw us taking a punt on Ben as yet another quick fix in the hope of making the 8 in Wallet's last year.
The rest is history.
Most of those 30+ year olds have now departed as the club rebuilds.
Now going forward our focus is on youth & Hardwick would not have taken Ben in the PSD this year.
However Remote Tiger, putting aside the club's reasons for Ben's initial recruitment, no doubt there have been added benefits to having him at Richmond since.
His experience & leadership has been useful, that's now apparent & I have credited him & the club with his personal recovery more than once on these boards.
I argue that these peripherals have been largely unquantifiable in terms of usefulness but it's clear that it's been on the positive side of the ledger.
Again though that he has been able to provide these benefits has been an added bonus to the main reason he was recruited in 2009.
Purely from a playing perspective which is more measurable, Cousins been above average in his 25 games for us with a mixture of the very good and the ordinary.
He's not near the highly decorated player he was, that's for certain but is still contributing albeit at a reduced level.
RemoteTiger said:
Today when the game was there to be won - Cousins burst through a pack of players scrummaging for the ball - picked up that ball deftly handpassed it to Newman who drilled it lace our to Jack. Goal to the Tigers.
Yes he was very good in that particular instance.
I also saw him caught with the ball on a few occasions, struggle with pace and his disposal was again scratchy in several instances.
He is a shadow of the player he was at West Coast.
RemoteTiger said:
Cousins further marshalled the troops
Newman is our skipper. That won't change next season with or without Ben.
As I have already said Cousins leadership has been useful but we now have several young leaders beginning to emerge who should be able go on with it from here.
RemoteTiger said:
and put his body on the line numerous times to shephard and protect his team mates.
I expect all our players to put their bodies on the line. Ben is no exception.
RemoteTiger said:
And the scene at the end of the game where Cousins who could barely raise a trot because he had given his all, jogged up to Delidio and the two embraced in a victory hug - you could tell that Delidio and his fellow young players have so much respect for their on-field mentor.
All our players celebrated the victory as you would expect. Ben was no exception.
RemoteTiger said:
And you could tell he was rapt with the way his young team mates stood up and played today.
Lots of our players were rapt with the way we played. Ben is just one of them.
RemoteTiger said:
if he continues next year will continue to be very good for this RFC team. And thats a fact.............
That's not a fact at all, that's your opinion. Which you are entitled to of course.
In my opinion Cousins is no certainty to continue next year.
I gave him a wrap last week and thought he was excellent against Brisbane.
That's the level of output I expect at a minimum from a veteran player to get another year.
I didn't see that performance yesterday. Like I have said he was ok.
Overall though his season has been pretty ordinary so far by his previous standards and I believe his form still needs to get better to justify his place on the list going forward.
As I have said before, the end can come very quickly for players at Ben's age.
As we have seen with the likes of K Johnson, Bowden, Brown, Simmonds etc. it doesn't take much to go from a team leader to a list clogger once you are on the downward slope of your career.
If Ben gets another contract it should be based purely on form, not the intangible peripherals that many seem to think is enough of a reason.
I still see a player in decline and will continue to call it as I see it no matter who likes it and who doesn't.
The best of Cousins is over. I would rather be giving opportunities to a young player on the way up, than one on the way down.
It is the youngsters who are getting me excited and giving me hope for the future.
