Re: Ben Cousins threads and Poll [Merged]
you guys who want cousins at richmond in 2008 - are you nuts?
Cousins is currently addicted to drugs. That's why he is going into rehab.
jb03 said:
I'd rather win a flag with 22 drug users than win another spoon with 22 'community leaders'.
And would you like them all dead at 41 leaving devasted families behind? Do you want your family members on drugs as long as they are 'winners'?
Cousins should not have been playing this year. wce or the afl should have banned him or in some other unofficial way not allowed to play. In that case he could have spent longer in his first stint in rehab and spent the entire year getting better and then have been ready to play for wce in 2008. it seems like nothing has gotten through to him, I thought the death of mainwairing would have been the wake up call but taking away football from football players is the only thing that has a chance of working.
He is lucky that he never tested positive when tested for performance enhancing drugs by asada/wada either at training or on a match day because he would have been suspended for 2 years. People seem to conveniently forget that.
I can't believe that anyone involved with cousins is actually talking about him playing next year! Ricky nixon keeps talking about it, I would have thought he should only be talking about breaking cousins addiction to drugs. Once that happens then he can play football.
He has probably been dabbling in drugs for years prior to 2006. Never got caught so they let him play.
He was on the gear in 2006. worsfold admitted he knew cousins had a problem in july 2006. they let him play and win a premiership.
He was on the gear at the start of 2007 and they let him play after 16 weeks. The only thing that teaches him (and other players) is that you can be addicted to drugs and they'll still let you play football. What sort of a stupid message is that?
So he's been on the gear again, and guess what, everyone around him is talking about him playing football in 2008, they obviously haven't learnt anything either.
That's probably why he looks so smug all the time. Beating the system, cheating, lying, hanging around criminals, taking drugs, dodging police - what's he got for it? $700,000+ a year, a premiership, playing football, no-doubt respect from his criminal mates. What's he lost? 16 weeks of football.
tigerlee said:
I am a do gooder I think but when it comes to getting the side back up the ladder I think we need to foget our moralistic view and look at Ben in terms of what he can offer the club.
Forget out moralistic view? How can we even contemplate that. How far do you want to take forgetting our moralistic view? Would you want a drug dealer sponsoring the club for instance? Think of what they could offer the club - lots of money! I know I'm taking the extreme view but to say we should forget our morals in this case is beyond comprehension.
Schulz lost us a major sponsor by drink driving. wce sponsors are considering their sponsorships - they won't lose any cos wce are the biggest thing in perth, but richmond will be at much greater risk of losing sponsorship and support if cousins goes off the rails again.
polo said:
For people who say Ben Cousins has ruined the West Coast Easgles, what are they basing this on?
Is this a trick question? It's not just Cousins, it's also the drug culture at wce that has set wce back years. They have one flag but they could have won another 2 or 3 flags in a 5-6 year period. Now they'll be lucky to make another grand final(they still might). They have lost judd and cousins. The more that happens and the more that I read, judd's decision to leave wce would have been influenced in some way, maybe massively, by events off field.
Nik said:
I'd like to see him come to Richmond next year, I have no doubt that he can clean himself up
You have no doubt?? What do you base this on? Dreamland.
Nik said:
He's from a winning culture, and that's exactly what we need at Tigerland; perhaps he can bring some of that to the club and help drill that mindset into the youngsters.
What other things is he going to drill into the youngsters? That you can be a drug addict and only miss 16 weeks of football? That you can dodge the drug testers? That you can run away from a booze bus or refuse to take a blood test and get away with it?
Cousins is the luckiest drug addict in australia. Lucky he was getting paid $700,000+ a year so he can afford whatever treatment he needs, even tho the first rehab stint was paid for by wce anyway. Lucky that he is one of the best footballers in australia. Otherwise he would have been discarded by his club the first time without a second thought.
He should be banned from playing afl in 2008. if he cleans himself up then by all means he can play in 2009 - once they've done their time most people deserve another chance. And don’t forget he has already had his second chance at least. This would be his third chance at least.
