COUSINS SUSPENDED INDEFINATLEY

[letsgetiton!]

Nothing's been deleted X - you may find it was moved - this is the wrong section

It's not really a Richmond story so should be in the "View from the Outer" Board

 

sorry wp
my mistake

[letsgetiton!]

Quote from X:  btw, who cares id cousins is in trouble, he is by far the best midfielder and hardest working and hardest running player in the afl

Seems like being the best midfielder and hardest working and hardest running player still can't keep out of trouble.

true, but he is still the best midfielder, and if he can get his crud togetehr, will be a cheap pick up and just what our midfiled needs

btw ,  , just 4 u

[letsgetiton!]

apparantly there is much more to this and other players involved and to be disciplined/suspended/sacked

[mightytiges]

Yep allegedly Embley and Chick had a scuffle over Cousins and apparently it's been confirmed by the Eagles on SEN that there was an incident.

From premiers to falling apart in the space of 6 months. 

[one-eyed]

Cousins banished, West Coast at war
The Age
March 20, 2007

The AFL career of Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins is in jeopardy and West Coast are in crisis after the club slapped its spiritual leader with an indefinite suspension.

The Eagles also later admitted two of Cousins' teammates had fought over their former skipper.

After a succession of misdemeanours spanning years, Cousins was banished indefinitely by the reigning premier after he failed to attend a training session on Monday.

In announcing the suspension, Eagles chairman Dalton Gooding said a number of issues affecting the 28-year-old had come to light in recent weeks, which would need counselling to address.

And the beleaguered Eagles chief later admitted grand final hero Daniel Chick and Norm Smith medallist Andrew Embley had been involved in an altercation over the weekend, with the incident directly related to Cousins.

"I am aware, and there was an altercation between those two players ... over Ben Cousins and a domestic issue," Gooding told SEN radio.

"Certainly (coach) John Worsfold will be working Daniel Chick and Andrew Embley to sort that issue out, and I have enormous confidence in John's ability to do that.

"I think that will resolved fairly quickly."

Gooding refused several times to elaborate on what Cousins' personal issues were, although it is believed the former Eagles skipper has split up with his long-time girlfriend Samantha Druce.

Gooding said Cousins had been one of three Eagles players drug-tested on Monday - despite missing training without explanation.

Chick, who has hosted Cousins at his home, also missed training.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Cousins-banished-West-Coast-at-war/2007/03/20/1174153024747.html

[torch]

when was the last pre-season ben cousins went without being in the headlines ?

[Ox]

you might there is more involved than just drugs and drink

5 other things to be precise Jaclstar...?

[one-eyed]

Caro's article.....

One big night too many
Caroline Wilson
March 21, 2007

THE AFL's most invincible party boy yesterday finally fell to earth.

West Coast's Ben Cousins, whose career has been decorated and now damaged by his on and off-field highs, learnt his life at the top had come to an end in a searching conversation with coach John Worsfold.

Cousins, 28, whose substance-abuse problem had become an open secret in the football community, has been suspended by the premiers in an atmosphere of acrimony and finger-pointing that has spread from the players to the club's board and administration.

The official reason for Cousins' ejection was that he twice failed to attend Monday training.

The truth is that the 2005 Brownlow medallist and four-time club champion finally ran out of lives.

In recent weeks, he has broken up with his long-time partner Samantha Druce, a break-up that was not necessarily the catalyst for his latest meltdown, but came as a result of it. So desperate are Cousins' personal problems that his emotional state is dangerously fragile.

Eagles chairman Dalton Gooding at a press conference yesterday stopped short of saying Cousins had had a mental breakdown.

Cousins was drug tested at the club on Monday and told of his punishment by a devastated Worsfold and the club's football lieutenant Steve Woodhouse.

The news did not come as a surprise to Cousins, who seemed to expect it.

Although he was suspended and not sacked, there was a genuine fear among shattered club officials last night that Cousins might never play again. West Coast is reported to have urged him to seek rehabilitation, potentially over an extended period at a facility, a suggestion Cousins' family has been subtly pushing for several months.

There was a suggestion his father Bryan Cousins, once a star player with Geelong, has been disappointed in the club's failure to address the Eagles' cultural problems and issues with illegal drugs.

The issue seems to have precipitated angry altercations between two of Cousins' teammates, Andrew Embley and Daniel Chick, in recent days, acrimony that resulted in Chick storming from the club yesterday after an argument with assistant coach Peter Sumich.

Cousins had briefly moved home with his family, which had become increasingly concerned with his dangerous lifestyle. But he returned to the home he shared with Chick — whose fast lifestyle has also become an issue for the team.

What should have been a happy weekend for the club — most players attended a party thrown by teammate Michael Braun on Saturday and the jumper presentation took place on Sunday — instead turned to scandal when Embley and his wife Rayne accompanied Ms Druce to Cousins' house.

Embley, best-on-ground during last year's premiership victory and who has admitted to being a reformed heavy drinker, clashed with Chick. The fight continued at the club on Monday and spilt over again yesterday.

Tensions have spread through the club following comments made by Mr Gooding on last week's Footy Show in which he admitted a minority of players at the club had a drug problem.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2007/03/20/1174153062993.html

[one-eyed]

According to SEN, Cousins will be making a statement by the end of the day.

[one-eyed]

Ben Cousins in drug rehab
22 March 2007   Herald-Sun
Mark Robinson and Sam Edmund

FALLEN superstar Ben Cousins is fighting back by starting rehab after months of drug abuse.

Cousins went to a Perth medical clinic with his father on Monday and again yesterday.

And it is believed Cousins is considering flying to Arizona in the next few days to attend a drug and alcohol rehab clinic.

It also emerged yesterday that Eagles coach John Worsfold was warned five years ago that drugs were a problem at the club.

The dangerous amphetamine "ice" was linked to the club yesterday for the first time.

World Anti-Doping Agency director-general David Howman told the Herald Sun that elite players such as Cousins should be named if they were found to have taken drugs.

"Rather than addressing issues they confront as a result of testing, the AFL have this three strikes and you're out policy," Mr Howman said.

"The thing is it creates a perception that they're trying to hide something."

Full article at: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21425041%255E20322,00.html

[julzqld]

I heard that the club knew about it 9 months ago.

Can Cousins come back?  I don't think Justin Charles, injuries aside, ever got back to his full potential.  Wayne Carey also wasn't so great after a lengthy wait on the sidelines.

[mightytiges]

I heard that the club knew about it 9 months ago.

Can Cousins come back?  I don't think Justin Charles, injuries aside, ever got back to his full potential.  Wayne Carey also wasn't so great after a lengthy wait on the sidelines.

Probably the only ones who did that I can remember were Ablett and Timmy Watson.

[Jackstar]

Makes you wonder how many players from other clubs take drugs ?
 

[letsgetiton!]

Makes you wonder how many players from other clubs take drugs ?
 

well app we know at least 24 do

[one-eyed]

Bryan Cousins has confirmed Ben has a "sustance abuse" problem.

Father confirms Cousins' drug problem
The Age
March 22, 2007 - 8:04PM

West Coast star Ben Cousins has a drug problem, his father confirmed on Thursday night.

Bryan Cousins, a former VFL player and father and manager of the suspended Eagle, said his son's problem related to "substance abuse".

West Coast has suspended Cousins indefinitely so he can deal with personal problems, but had not confirmed the former captain had a drug problem.

Bryan Cousins read a prepared statement out on Network Ten in Perth.

"I am making this statement today not on behalf of Ben, but as a father on behalf of his son," he said.

"We are working closely with Ben and I have been with him today and he has told me in due course he will make his own statement.

"Ben's problem relates to substance abuse and he faces a great challenge.

"Our family understands that this is a problem faced by so many other Australian families.

"We are also aware that there is no simple answer to the problem and in the process of overcoming it, there are going to be obstacles and hurdles, some of which we may stumble at.

Full article at: http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Father-confirms-Cousins-drug-problem/2007/03/22/1174153250980.html