One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on March 16, 2010, 01:38:25 AM
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Revealed: Tigers tell Cousins to cut heavy drinking
CAROLINE WILSON
March 16, 2010
RICHMOND has warned its troubled midfielder Ben Cousins to curb his drinking. Revelations that the recovering drug addict has overindulged in alcohol over the past year came as he was readmitted to hospital at midnight on Sunday with stomach illness.
The club fears that Cousins, 31, could further shorten his already diminished career as a result of binge drinking. The former West Coast champion, who has been regularly drug-tested by the AFL since being given a second chance at elite football by the Tigers, is now unlikely to play in Richmond's season-opener against Carlton on March 25.
Cousins returned to Epworth Hospital for further tests after being in acute pain. He remained there last night. Although there is no suggestion Cousins' illness is directly related to alcohol abuse, no one at Richmond could deny that his health issues could be linked to the footballer's long-term drug addiction and occasionally savage lifestyle.
Football operations manager Craig Cameron vehemently denied the drug rumours that have haunted Cousins since he was first admitted to hospital five days ago, pointing out that the player had had a blood test last week. Club president Gary March said he was unaware alcohol had become an issue for Cousins.
However, The Age can confirm that senior Richmond personnel raised the drinking issue with Cousins several times last year. Cousins was re-signed at the end of last season after playing a solid 15 games and finishing in the top five of Richmond's best and fairest.
Cousins, who came to Richmond at a bargain basement price, is believed to have doubled his wage in 2010 but has been advised that to extend his career he must cut down on drinking. He was also admonished shortly before Christmas for a relative lack of fitness, which was blamed on a personal issue not related to drugs.
Cousins' former manager, Ricky Nixon, has told friends in recent weeks that he has been concerned about Cousins' lifestyle and mentioned alcohol abuse. Nixon and the player split last month.
Until last week's illness, which was described by doctors as gastroenteritis, the Tigers had been satisfied with Cousins' response to his pre-Christmas rocket, his improved fitness and well-known work ethic on the track.
The club has been forced to keep a close watch on the player's off-field activities as a result of the massive risk involved in taking on the game's first admitted drug addict.
''Ben is under the care of a gastroenterologist and at this stage it looks as if he will stay overnight,'' said Greg Hickey, Richmond's club doctor.
''Unfortunately Ben's symptoms from last week have not yet fully resolved so we have asked for some more tests to be performed,'' Dr Hickey said.
Cousins' long-term drug addiction has left him with a legacy of a high resistance to painkillers and he reportedly has been in acute pain in recent days.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/hard-living-undercuts-cousins-hard-work-20100315-q9pd.html
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Typical Journalistic muckraking trash just what you would expect from the tall poppy syndrome mentality of the media of today :sleep
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Why can't she every write a positive article about Richmond? For someone who supposedly supports Richmond she sure likes to put the boots in. A stupid article as well, no facts just filler. Very disappointing but I suppose I expect nothing less.
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Caro, dressed and sponsored by K-Mart, say no more.
Terrible article
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To babble on about drinking and then to say it's not any way linked to his current stay in hospital ::) ::) :rollin :rollin
Gutter journalism at its peak
Pathetic effort Caro
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Vulture like article from Caro.
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Geez, that's an horrific article.
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Been saying for years that wrinkle bag is a blight on our club.
She'll f*** us over to get a headline.
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Caro's had a bee in her bonnet from the start re Cuz.
I'd go so far as to say she'd prefer he fall over than see him succeed simply so she can say I told you so. >:(
Her and her agendas in the press give me the screaming schits.
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To babble on about drinking and then to say it's not any way linked to his current stay in hospital ::) ::) :rollin :rollin
Gutter journalism at its peak
Pathetic effort Caro
Caro is pathetic, seen her having coffee with the tanned Ex-Coach last week, ordinary people both of them
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Fish rots at the head Caroline...
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Pathetic effort Caro
Agree.
For all we know there may be some true to Cuz's alcohol issues but this article is flat out muck raking that does no one any favours.
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Thats all she ever does. She's not a football journalist, but a tabloid muck racker. If Woman's day/weekly/monthly ever start up a 'sports' column, then Wilson will have found her calling in life.
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Caro is pathetic, seen her having coffee with the tanned Ex-Coach last week, ordinary people both of them
However, The Age can confirm that senior Richmond personnel raised the drinking issue with Cousins several times last year.
Terry still leaking info? This time personal dirt on his players?
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Caro is pathetic, seen her having coffee with the tanned Ex-Coach last week, ordinary people both of them
However, The Age can confirm that senior Richmond personnel raised the drinking issue with Cousins several times last year.
Terry still leaking info? This time personal dirt on his players?
Leave it up to you
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So is Cuzz a pi55head ... Alcohol maybe be legal but it can be more dangerous than the illegal stuff. And no! I am no angel, just hope he isn't heading down that path ...
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Terrible article, shocking stuff. The tolerance to pain killers due to his drug use is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. I've known plenty of drug addicts in my time and unless they were under the influence at the time it's never caused a tolerance to pain killers.
If he was addicted to pain killers, then I could understand perhaps, but to my knowledge that's not been the case.
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bugger the crappy article,
im more worried about the underlying issue. The questions I'm starting to ask are:
Is cuz getting 'richmondised' and just playing out time till he retires? ie like sugar , N.Brown quality footballers who come to the club see it for the car wreck it is and say stuff it to hard basket, and just go along for the ride?
Is he taking the boys out of their comfort zone and showing them what is required on the training track to be a premiership team? or has he just said bugger it too hard and is now in cruise control? :-\
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Caro is pathetic, seen her having coffee with the tanned Ex-Coach last week, ordinary people both of them
However, The Age can confirm that senior Richmond personnel raised the drinking issue with Cousins several times last year.
Terry still leaking info? This time personal dirt on his players?
So caro had coffee with Wallace and from that Jack plants a seed to imply that the senior richmond officials = an ex Coach... er No I don't think so...
IMHO that's drawing a very long bow indeed
Let's not deflect from the real issue here ....... GUTTER JOURNALISM
bugger the crappy article,
im more worried about the underlying issue. The questions I'm starting to ask are:
Is cuz getting 'richmondised' and just playing out time till he retires? ie like sugar , N.Brown quality footballers who come to the club see it for the car wreck it is and say eff it to hard basket, and just go along for the ride?
Is he taking the boys out of their comfort zone and showing them what is required on the training track to be a premiership team? or has he just said bugger it too hard and is now in cruise control? :-\
Tony M - your questions are exactly the sort of stuff Caro wants people to think/ask - she's stirred the pot. Now she is sitting back waiting to see the reaction
I will say it again this is gutter journalism at its finest.....
PATHETIC :banghead :banghead
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Club says it's crap. Cuz has "never" been told off.
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In response to media speculation raised today, the Richmond Football Club confirms that Cousins has never been spoken to individually with regards to binge drinking.
The Club is extremely proactive in educating players around what is considered responsible and appropriate behaviour, and all players, as part of their development, are involved in regular education sessions.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/90615/default.aspx
Get that up ya, Caro. :thumbsup
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good to hear
taken on board WP :thumbsup
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Terrible article, shocking stuff. The tolerance to pain killers due to his drug use is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. I've known plenty of drug addicts in my time and unless they were under the influence at the time it's never caused a tolerance to pain killers.
If he was addicted to pain killers, then I could understand perhaps, but to my knowledge that's not been the case.
From a poster on tiger-talk who is a practicing GP:
Hard drugs do increase the tolerance to painkillers and bigger doses are
needed. I was very impressed years ago when a reformed druggie wanted
nothing for pain apart from plain Panadol. His excellent reasoning was
that he didn't want to get addicted to anything else. Binge drinking can
cause pancreatitis , and chronic drinking can lead to chronic
pancreatitis which is a cause of recurrent attacks of abdominal pain.
(Note that I have absolutely no idea what is the cause of Ben's pain)
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/tiger-talk/message/92843 (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/tiger-talk/message/92843)
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Caro thinks she is Richmond royalty.
The club should tell her that she should exercise a bit of discretion when she hears whispers from employees or ex-employees. Maybe everyone in this world is driving their own agenda.
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smokey - I'd like to know if that GP still thinks that hard drugs increase someone's tollerance if they've been clean for 12-24 months. Don't get me wrong, I've seen an ice user go to hospital and get given an injection that should have knocked them clean out and they just sat there wondering if they'd given the dose yet. The nurses were shocked and she needed a 2nd one to do the trick. However this was a regular user who was probably still high.
If people abuse pain meds like vicodin or oxycontin, or even seriously abuse codeine then sure, other pain killers will need a higher dose. I also understand an ex-junkie refusing anything other than panadol as they recognise that they have an addictive personality, but I don't see what that has to do with tolerance.
However, for someone like Ben Cousins who was addicted to recreational drugs, but not to any degree that affected his performance as an elite sportsman, I struggle to see how it would make a massive difference to his pain killer tolerance after he's been clean for going on 2 years now. I know when he got arrested that last time in Perth he did have various prescription meds on him, can't remember what though. As an elite sportsman in his 30s he's probably been administered plenty of pain medication over his career as well.
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Tony M - your questions are exactly the sort of stuff Caro wants people to think/ask - she's stirred the pot. Now she is sitting back waiting to see the reaction
I will say it again this is gutter journalism at its finest.....
PATHETIC :banghead :banghead
I'm truly staggered that this sort of unsubstantiated, muck raking journalism made the front page of the Age.
Maybe their readership numbers are suffering and Caro has got pressure on her to come up with a story?
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I'm truly staggered that this sort of unsubstantiated, muck raking journalism made the front page of the Age.
Just like yesterday when all the papers and news outlets top story was plumbers looking for Lara Bingle's engagement ring flushed down the toilet. Perhaps they were more likely to find respectable journalism down there.
This country's celeb obsession is going the way of the UK's. It makes me f***ing sick.
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In response to media speculation raised today, the Richmond Football Club confirms that Cousins has never been spoken to individually with regards to binge drinking.
The Club is extremely proactive in educating players around what is considered responsible and appropriate behaviour, and all players, as part of their development, are involved in regular education sessions.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/90615/default.aspx
Get that up ya, Caro. :thumbsup
i dont know how people like Caro still have a job. Seriously we all know journo's talk crap but this is taking it to a new level.
she should never be allowed to walk through Punt Road doors ever again.
Her and KB should just curl up and bat each other off for the rest of their lives.
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Her and KB should just curl up and bat each other off for the rest of their lives.
That image is going to haunt me for a long time :chuck
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Sadly it's a reflection on society ... what a bunch of sad pharks there is in the world today.
Get on with your own lives and stop obsessing with everyone elses, non celebrities included. :help
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smokey - I'd like to know if that GP still thinks that hard drugs increase someone's tollerance if they've been clean for 12-24 months. Don't get me wrong, I've seen an ice user go to hospital and get given an injection that should have knocked them clean out and they just sat there wondering if they'd given the dose yet. The nurses were shocked and she needed a 2nd one to do the trick. However this was a regular user who was probably still high.
If people abuse pain meds like vicodin or oxycontin, or even seriously abuse codeine then sure, other pain killers will need a higher dose. I also understand an ex-junkie refusing anything other than panadol as they recognise that they have an addictive personality, but I don't see what that has to do with tolerance.
However, for someone like Ben Cousins who was addicted to recreational drugs, but not to any degree that affected his performance as an elite sportsman, I struggle to see how it would make a massive difference to his pain killer tolerance after he's been clean for going on 2 years now. I know when he got arrested that last time in Perth he did have various prescription meds on him, can't remember what though. As an elite sportsman in his 30s he's probably been administered plenty of pain medication over his career as well.
Yeah, have no idea Infamy, just passing on his info after I read both posts. He is only little bit younger than me and has been practising for a long time in a lower socio-economic part of Melbourne so I would think he has been exposed to a bit of it but it's way out of my league so I don't know. Might come down more to the individual - in all humans some have a much better tolerance for pain than others, regardless of other factors like drug-taking etc.
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Sadly it's a reflection on society ... what a bunch of sad pharks there is in the world today.
Get on with your own lives and stop obsessing with everyone elses, non celebrities included. :help
+ 1
But I truely beleive its mainly the media that is obsessed with it and that the average person dont reaply give a Rats @#$% about Celebs. Personaly I dont give a dam about miss Bingles ring or where is was stuck let alone some of the other stuff the media comes out with.
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Get a dog up ya Caro!!! :banghead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN1oZ9iCu54
LMFAOOOOOOOOOO
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It is all psychological for Caro.
Just look at her face. It says it all. Not just ugly but fugly ugly. Where am I going with this? With her father's involvement in football from when she was a young girl she has always been surrounded by sportsmen. Men who although may be athletic and well toned in some cases are only faces mothers could love. Not many pretty boys at RFC in the 70's other than Geoffrey Raines. Nevertheless knowing this is a football mad town and the RFC being a top club in her formitave years I am sure she developed a crush on one of these footballers who when they look at women for outside footy interest would not even consider Caro in their worst nightmares.
This brings me to my next point the type of women these footballers go for Caro cannot compete with them either as she is as I said Fugly ugly a non blond in many cases a little on the portly side dresses like my eighty year old Grandmother straight out of the Fosseys or Treasureway catalogue instead of wearing short skirts hight heals open tops or any make up of any description even some lipstick to improve that mugshot of hers slightly.
So with that rather than lose a bitch fight she is never going to win b/c of her physical deformaties she took up footy journalism and takes flight on the blokes as punishment as they don't even give her a second look. Hence we get these garbage gutteral articles of no substance.
As a result of who she is she only has a sporadic sex life as she smells like a tin of sardines and her only chance of picking someone up is if they so peeed of their nut at a party in Bayswater or Frankston where you do the deed and ask questions later and she'll even :whistle job you badly. Hence this vitriol and writing of unspeakable and uninformed crap.
Now my summation.
Her father and herself have been involved in some of the most awful blood letting in the RFC history and she continues to write crap on previous admins whilst conveniently forget to mention her fathers bloody battles with Bazza Richo in the mid 80's from which the RFC has not recovered in the board room. Hopefully Benny and the rest of the current crop can see this and tell her to go forth and multiply and maybe even get players and staff to refuse to take interviews from the age until we run her name through the mud.
You can't use the token women's idea and vote when it comes to crap like that. If you find Sam's pi$$take on you unacceptable how do you think Mr and Mrs Cousins felt today knowing what their child has done in the past reading this tripe. Same sort of thing double standards. eff off Caro once and for all please.
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Healy and Russell asked Richo about Caro's article on 3aw just now and Richo said he doesn't know about the last 4-5 months as he hasn't been around the Club but last year he doesn't recall anytime Cuz was spoken to about alcohol.
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Well said tucker.
I cant get over her being on the selection committee for the hall of fame.
Maybe she doesnt do the :whistle jobs that badly.
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LMAO
75% Of these wankers are binge drinkers.
The reason - it's a legal means of writing yourself off.
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So is Cuzz a pi55head ... Alcohol maybe be legal but it can be more dangerous than the illegal stuff. And no! I am no angel, just hope he isn't heading down that path ...
Apparently he only started when he came to the RFC and realised what a crap side we were.
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Cousins not in binge drinking counselling: Tigers
* Greg Denham
* From: The Australian
* March 17, 2010
AS Ben Cousins was discharged from hospital yesterday, Richmond vehemently denied a report he had been counselled for binge drinking.
The full results of testing for abdominal pain may not be known for several days, but Cousins is unlikely to play for the Tigers in the opening round tomorrow week against Carlton after spending his second night in Epworth Hospital over the past week.
A statement by the Tigers yesterday, said Cousins is expected to return to training this week. It also read: "In response to media speculation raised today, the Richmond Football Club confirms Ben Cousins has never been spoken to individually with regards to binge drinking.
The club is extremely proactive in educating players around what is considered responsible and appropriate behaviour."
Richmond said yesterday it spoke to Cousins once last year about drinking alcohol following hearsay from outside Punt Road.
Clubs yesterday confirmed that on average, between six and 10 players at each club each year are spoken to about drinking after officials received calls from members of the public.
The Tigers also denied claims in the report that Cousins was "admonished" before Christmas for a "relative lack of fitness".
As part of the AFL's stringent checks before it re-registered Cousins after a 12-month ban in 2008 for bringing the game into disrepute, it requested all clubs interested in recruiting him had to comply with a number of welfare issues, including a responsible watchdog program off the field.
Richmond's process met full AFL approval before he was drafted by the Tigers 15 months ago.
Meanwhile, clubs will today be updated by the AFL on the current position of the league's headline bad boys Andrew Lovett, Brendan Fevola, Michael Hurley and Mathew Stokes.
The clubs will also be informed on the workings of free-agency components, including compensation, independent arrangements, matching offers, top-25 per cent calculations and timelines.
They will also be informed of possible new timeframes for the annual player-exchange period and national draft.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/cousins-not-in-binge-drinking-counselling-tigers/story-e6frg7mf-1225841569375
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Eat it Wilson.