10,000,000 Cousins threads [Merged] | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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10,000,000 Cousins threads [Merged]

Will Ben Cousins Be Playing In The AFL Next Year?

  • Yes, At The Eagles

    Votes: 9 3.4%

  • Yes, At Another Club

    Votes: 92 35.0%

  • No

    Votes: 136 51.7%

  • Unsure

    Votes: 26 9.9%
  • Total voters
    263
Can't see any reason why Cuz wouldn't still be able to sneak into our best 22 next year. As long as he knows he might spend a fair bit of time transitioning out through the magoos as others develop past him I would be happy enough for him to continue to help our younger midfielders mature.
We've still got worse players than him on our list and very few that provide the onfield leadership that Cuz does.
 
btoz_01 said:
Are you seriously comparing a cheap receiver (Bowden) to Cuz who wins his own footy and sets up plays?
I remember Bowdens last game when the players couldnt give a :police: thats how much they thought of him.
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Not comparing at all Mr Toz just saying I think some people see Ben through rose tinted glasses. I just find it amusing that some people see Ben for what he achieved at the Eagles and not for what he is doing at the Tiges. Yes he is serviceable but he isn't the player alot of people make him out to be. Someone said he was in our best in the first half of the year which is ludicrous. Yet someone like Bowden can be slagged off so easily at similar points in their careers.
Ben may go around again, if you look at my posts I have always been supportive of him but I reckon his time is up. It's not a dig at him just stating a fact. Would be a shame for ben to go out as a has been who's body is letting him down.
Like it or not the game is to fast for him at the moment and I suspect next year at 33 he will lose another yard of pace.
As for Joel I think youre being pretty harsh on a tiger great who was unfortunate to play under some fairly average coaches and leaky gameplans.
 
At 32 Cuz is playing reasonable footy.
to me the question is whether, come next year, we will want a 33yo playing reasonable footy, with the risk his form will drop.

if he is kept on i could only guess it is because the coaching staff do really rate the 'leadership' he brings to the playing group.
 
zgod said:
Not comparing at all Mr Toz just saying I think some people see Ben through rose tinted glasses. I just find it amusing that some people see Ben for what he achieved at the Eagles and not for what he is doing at the Tiges. Yes he is serviceable but he isn't the player alot of people make him out to be. Someone said he was in our best in the first half of the year which is ludicrous. Yet someone like Bowden can be slagged off so easily at similar points in their careers.
Ben may go around again, if you look at my posts I have always been supportive of him but I reckon his time is up. It's not a dig at him just stating a fact. Would be a shame for ben to go out as a has been who's body is letting him down.
Like it or not the game is to fast for him at the moment and I suspect next year at 33 he will lose another yard of pace.
As for Joel I think youre being pretty harsh on a tiger great who was unfortunate to play under some fairly average coaches and leaky gameplans.
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Seriously zzzzzdog Joel would be lucky to stand in Cuz shadow. Calling Bowden a Tiger great is a putdown for great Tigers such as Richo.
Joel was lucky he was playing at our club or hed be lucky to have played 50 AFL games elsewhere. As for Cuz hes played in a premiership side, won a Brownlow and is a real leader that other players look up to. Joel has probably done that as well ....in his dreams.
 
still one of our better players, but more importantly plays the game how modern footy should be played - always moving, always looking to run to receive, always gut running and lively. never stationary. this rubs off on the younger players which is why he should play on next year. without a doubt.
 
Good points Arrold. & those seemingly easy things havent come easy to a tiger midfield for 3 decades.
 
Harry said:
still one of our better players, but more importantly plays the game how modern footy should be played - always moving, always looking to run to receive, always gut running and lively. never stationary. this rubs off on the younger players which is why he should play on next year. without a doubt.
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Spot on
 
Harry said:
still one of our better players, but more importantly plays the game how modern footy should be played - always moving, always looking to run to receive, always gut running and lively. never stationary. this rubs off on the younger players which is why he should play on next year. without a doubt.
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Great post.

The experience he steals by taking a kids spot is outweighed by the experience everyone else gains if gut running becomes the norm at our club, not a choice.
 
zgod said:
I just find it amusing that some people see Ben for what he achieved at the Eagles and not for what he is doing at the Tiges. Yes he is serviceable but he isn't the player alot of people make him out to be. Someone said he was in our best in the first half of the year which is ludicrous.
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Agree entirely with this zgod.
 
Tigers of Old said:
It was once upon a time his staple Harry but Cousins has barely 'gut run' all season.
Click to expand...

Bad call Gary and it's now clear you've got something personal against Cousins, even if you don't realise it.

His fitness may be 5-10% lower than it was when he was 26, but if you can't see Ben gut running and pushing himself hard past the point of exhaustion, you're not watching the same game as everyone else.

There are many divided opinion about Ben, but whether or not he is gut running and pushing himself through mental barriers is not one of those grey areas.

He is doing it every week. Leads by example in this area.

Edit: His last quarter against the Pies is a clear example of this. Is starting to be able to out-run his opponents these last few weeks too.
 
rockstar_tiger said:
Bad call Gary and it's now clear you've got something personal against Cousins, even if you don't realise it.
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No I don't. My opinion just differs from yours. You are the one making it personal.

rockstar_tiger said:
you're not watching the same game as everyone else.
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I am watching exactly the same game/s. Others just a few posts back share some of my opinion.
 
The below stats are the clearest indication of Cousins deterioration that I can make without getting 'personal'.

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-richmond-tigers--ben-cousins

Take particular note of the kick to handball ratio in his game when in comparison to earlier in his career.
Even just up to a couple of years ago Ben was kicking the ball a lot more than he is now.
Even on the weekend where he played ok again, his handball happy game continued.
Whether due to injury I am unsure but his kicking is scratchy these days and I think he knows it hence his preference to give the ball off.
I also don't think he runs the ball anywhere near what he did at his best and I don't think he's 'gut running' anywhere near what he did when he rightly earned that moniker.

Of course we still see flashes of class. He was an absolute champion but IMHO the rot is in.
With where the club is at I would prefer he retired and we make room for another fresh face who might go onto be the player Ben once was.
 
He kicks when he needs to, but he's always handballing to a team mate and then blocking for him to release them into space
I know Hardwick didn't like him handballing so much in the wet, but given he's assisting our young midfielders I see no problem with it
Often he's the one in traffic creating the clearance

Stats don't show that
 
He is clearly not the player he once was. But I strongly believe that given the form he is showing and has showed in recent times, he is in our best 22., and will continue to be.

If others step up next year and take his spot, then well and good. But at this point, I don't see the problem in him taking up a spot on the list. We will have plenty to get rid of at the end of the year anyway which will enable to rebuild to continue.

I hope it gets to a point where he isnt in our best side....that means that others will have stepped up.
 
Would punt him. The signs are there that he's falling away, not getting as much as the ball as last year, not kicking as much, not running or carrying the ball, missing games, etc. While he has been decent, so was Joel Bowden in his last year. We moved him on because he was too old to fit our plan and now players like Connors are starting to make their mark up back. I think some people want him to stick around just because he is Ben Cousins. Maybe he can take up a coaching or mentoring role with the kids? I wouldn't given him another playing contract though.
 
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