Young Tigers want Cousins back inrichmonfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen
Tue 13 July, 2010RICHMOND forward Andy Collins expects Ben Cousins to come straight back into the Tigers team to face North Melbourne on Sunday, despite the veteran's health issues of last week.
Cousins was omitted from the team that defeated Fremantle after spending a night in intensive care in Epworth hospital.
He later admitted to mistakenly taking an incorrect dosage of sleeping pills.
Richmond stormed to its fourth-straight win despite Cousins' absence but Collins was hopeful the Brownlow Medallist would make a speedy return.
"I'm not sure what the match committee are going to do, but I'd be very hopeful that he'd be out there with us," he said. "I think he deserves to be and we walk taller when he's with us.
The 21-year-old, who has played 10 games this year in the forward pocket after starting life as a midfielder, said Cousins had been a mentor to him as one of the younger players at the club.
"He's been really good - obviously starting out in the midfield he's been huge for me.
"He gives me a lot of advice, just on how to prepare myself, he's great with his food intake, all sorts of things preparing for a game of footy.
"He's been a star, and we look up to him so much, it's great having him out on the field with us."
Collins is also adamant a month of winning football will not distract the Tigers as they continue to build a style and structure capable of matching it with the best teams in the competition.
Richmond started the season in a horrible fashion. After just four rounds, one betting agency went so far as to pay out those who backed the Tigers for the wooden spoon.
But after running the Hawks to within a goal in round eight - a match that could have been a win but for a desperate Sam Mitchell tackle in the dying seconds - and going down to Essendon in round nine, the Tigers have turned it around, winning five and losing only to flag fancies St Kilda.
With four wins on the trot - and top-eight and top-four scalps in Sydney Swans and Fremantle respectively in the last two weeks - the Tigers could be excused for getting a bit carried away, but Collins says the side is firmly grounded.
"We have come a fair way, but look, we're not getting ahead of ourselves at all, we're just trying to play each week," he said at Punt Rd on Tuesday morning.
"Obviously, that's the next step for us - if we were non-competitive against a top-four side it would take a bit of polish off the last month of footy.
"We were excited to get the result, but for the rest of the season - as we keep saying - we haven't changed anything from rounds one to nine, we've just been trying to keep going down the same path with our game plan that we're learning.
"It was very exciting to beat Freo, but we just hope to keep trying to master our game plan and our structures."
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