Tiger legend hits out at Cousins
Geoff McClure | February 26, 2009
TOMMY Hafey, one of the most famous Tigers of them all, has slammed the decision to draft Ben Cousins, saying Richmond erred in giving the recovering drug addict a second chance in the AFL.
Hafey's controversial comments were made to a group of about 50 people at a club footy season launch. He told the gathering he was "completely against" the drafting of Cousins from the day it happened.
Said Hafey: "People ask me, 'Doesn't he deserve a second chance?' I say, 'No, he doesn't'; he had his chance and he blew it.
"And if he plays really well, which would be great for Richmond, then that just sends the message to the younger guys that 'you can stuff up big time and a year later get back to your best'. It just doesn't work that way."
Hafey was reluctant to elaborate on his comments yesterday, saying the Richmond/Cousins deal was between them "and I prefer to leave it that way".
However, the four-time premiership coach who led the Tigers through their glory years during the 1960s and '70s, was forthright in his views, all this as the 2005 Brownlow medallist prepares to resume his AFL career in an NAB Cup quarter-final against Collingwood tonight.
Hafey, who boasts a clean-living lifestyle that involves a daily training routine that would challenge someone Cousins' age let alone a man of his age of 77 — would not expand on his comments when contacted by The Age this week. However, he admitted: "Because of my past involvement in the club — and the fact that I'm a teetotaller — I understand people would be interested in my views."
Hafey's best mate Kevin Bartlett, also a teetotaller, disagrees with the coaching legend's views on Cousins.
Said Bartlett: "Actually, I'm all for people having a second chance and that includes Ben."
"The only reservation for me was the lack of reaction from Cousins when the AFL gave him the green light to resume his career.
"He didn't say anything that gave me confidence that he was raring to go. If he had done so I reckon eight or nine clubs would have been clambering for his services.
"That said, I hope he goes well, for his sake and for Richmond's."
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/tiger-legend-blasts-cousins/2009/02/25/1235237738728.html
