Here's the article. It's already up on the Herald-Sun site although it'll be in tomorrow's paper...Farewell stage, Ben Cousins * Shane Crawford
* From: Sunday Herald Sun
* May 09, 2010 BEN Cousins and the Richmond Football Club could have some big decisions to make over the coming weeks.
As great a player as Ben has been in his career, and as good a job as the Tigers have done in giving him a football lifeline when no one else wanted him, the mid-year period might be the right time to work out where that relationship is heading beyond this season.
We keep hearing rumours - all denied - that Ben has been considering his future. I have no idea whether they are right or wrong.
If the Tigers and the 2005 Brownlow medallist believe he can play on next year, there will be no issue.
But if they come to the conclusion he won't be playing next season, then it might be best if Cousins goes out sooner rather than later.
If that is the case, then I have a perfect farewell match at which the football world - not to mention his former club, West Coast - will get the chance to send him off in a fashion his playing career warrants.
The Tigers play the Eagles at the MCG in Round 12 - the weekend before split round - and what better chance to honour a player who has been one of the best and most exciting in my time in football.
I'm not saying Cousins must retire. That's his and the club's call. But I am saying that if he is not going to play again next year, then maybe it does not serve much purpose to push on until late in the season.
A farewell match, perhaps against the Eagles, would be appropriate for several reasons. First, I'd rather see him do that than limp towards the end of the year in a team that is sitting on the bottom of the ladder and in the process of a major rebuilding campaign.
There have been a few signs in Ben's time at Punt Rd that he is starting to slow. Make no mistake, he has been a sensational player, and one of the best exponents of gut-running over the past decade.
But his body is starting to let him down a bit, and he cannot seem to string together the games that he would like right now.
That happens to footballers as they get older. Ben turns 32 at the end of next month, but is showing signs of wear and tear as players do when they get to his age. Unfortunately, it happens to us all.
Very few people get to go out on their own terms and I hope for Ben's sake that he gets that chance.
Footy is a harsh game. Sometimes it looks easier from the stands than it actually is out there. I can assure you it isn't.
But Ben's form this year has not been of the same high standard we have seen from him over the years, and I would hate to see him go out on a sour note.
The other side of the debate, and I am sure Ben would be mindful of this, is that Richmond is reshaping its list and going with the kids.
In many ways, it doesn't matter whether they win games this year or not. Sure it does for the fans, but for Damien Hardwick and the coaching staff, it is all about putting miles into the legs of those players who might be a part of the club's future.
This is a long-term plan. Does Ben fit into that plan? I don't believe so.
That's the dilemma the Tigers find themselves in. The coach is making the hard calls and going with younger players over some of the older ones, because he has an eye on the future.
He's like the trainer of a raw two-year-old horse who needs to run in the Group 1s for education purposes. The more times you get the young kids out there, hopefully the faster they will develop.
Ben has worked his way back from a drug addiction and I think the footy world should applaud the Richmond Football Club for taking him on.
But it might serve the best interests of both parties if a decision is made for "Cuz" to go out in style, and then the Tigers could get on with the slow job of rebuilding.
Who knows? The build-up to a farewell game for Cuz just might be enough to earn Richmond its first win of the season.
That West Coast game would be a perfect finale. It would be on against his old side, a team that he won a premiership with on the same ground five years ago, and for the team that gave him a second chance at football.
Then he would be allowed to get on with the next phase of his life, away from the prying eye of the public, if that's what he wants.
I'm convinced Ben does not need to be lost to football. In fact, it might help his rehabilitation if he stays involved in the game somehow.
He has a unique story to tell and hopefully that's what he can do. I'm sure the Tigers, the AFL and the Eagles, for that matter, would stick by him.
It's a scary prospect for some players to retire. But there is a life outside of football and it is very much what you make of it.
Let's just hope the last chapter of Ben's footy story is a good one and that it opens up plenty of other opportunities for him outside of the game that made him famous.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/farewell-stage-ben-cousins/story-e6frf9jf-1225863990281
