1) this may seem like a silly question, but does any player talk to Ben Cousins, encourage him, have a laugh etc with him? all the pictures i have seen in this thread, Cousins seems to not be near anyone when walking off? if not, which player(s) talk to Cousins the most?
Nah not a silly question. There is hand slapping after each drill with Cuz but he does seem more focussed on his training without being buddy buddy with everyone. I'd give him some slack. We don't see what goes behind closed doors (the players say he's now one of the boys) and he's only been at the Club for just over a month with a young list that he wouldn't know. 18 months ago when Cuz last played consistently many of our young guys now in our 22 were still at Coburg. He'd be familiar with the older guys and Morton but that's about it. Also he's been on a modified training program where early on he was training separately with the first year newbies who themselves would be shy around a Ben Cousins. I think we need to wait a few months and playing some matches together before he becomes truly comfortable at Richmond. He's told fans one-on-one he is enjoying his time here.
Think we also need to remember what a huge year this is for him personally. There would be a lot of stress to go along with managing more pressure than probably any other AFL footballer has ever had to manage before.
Can anyone think of another situation or player that has had so many different angles and areas of intrigue associated with him? I cant.
He's got to deal with his addiction. Up to three drug tests every week. Media speculation. His past history with underworld types. Some very public mistakes he has made. The tall poppy syndrome. Huge expectations from fans. His possibly suspect body (hamstring history). The fact that he has turn 30 and is not getting any younger. The fact he is in a new town. Making new friends. Being away from football for over a year. The fact that this is his absolutely last chance.
I am not surprised if he is taking the training very seriously and may not seem to be quite as chummy with the guys as some of the others. The training and the football after all is what he wants to do and what he enjoys, he would not want to make a mistake now.
We laugh about the media crap and we have our thread where we make up funny and seemingly ridiculous articles about Cuz and the Burly Man. Funny for us but this is his reality. He makes one false move and it's plastered all over the front page. Facts exaggerated, associations made with very loose ties to reality.
This is a HUGE deal for him and will probably define a fair bit of the rest of his life. Stuff this up and his life changes dramatically for the worse, get it right and a lot of doors open for him.
