Rehabilitation of Cousins, Gardiner a footy success
Caroline Wilson | July 15, 2009
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou last night declared Michael Gardiner and Ben Cousins as two inspiring success stories of 2009 and said Australian football deserved much of the credit.
"Gardiner and Cousins are two great examples of how big a part football can play in resurrecting people's lives," Demetriou said, adding that the club environment had offered a lifeline to the former West Coast players.
"Football clubs and their networks within the community and between other clubs are just very good places for people to thrive," said Demetriou. "This game and the clubs that play it provide a very positive place for people to work in."
Cousins and Gardiner were West Coast's captain and vice-captain respectively until problems with alcohol and drugs tarnished them.
The Eagles sacked Gardiner at the end of 2006 but then rookie St Kilda coach Ross Lyon offered him a second chance, an opportunity that the once-troubled 30-year-old has taken by the throat this season after two years marred by injury.
Demetriou agreed that Gardiner could finish 2009 as the premiership ruckman and the 2003 All-Australian has been touted again as a contender for that honour.
Cousins, sacked by West Coast at the end of 2007 after an earlier club-imposed suspension, was then banned for 2008 by the AFL Commission for bringing the game into disrepute.
The 2005 Brownlow medallist appeared to be headed towards AFL oblivion after being rejected by most clubs when the AFL placed a stringent weekly drug-testing regime on the confessed addict. Richmond took him with the last pick of the pre-season draft in December and although injury has significantly interrupted his season, the controversial star is one of the Tigers' best performers.
"We stand by all our decisions," said Demetriou of the commission's hard line on Cousins.
"The point is he is back playing and the bigger question is what would have happened if no club had taken him?
"The revival of Ben Cousins is one big tick for the Richmond Football Club this season."
The AFL chief executive's comments came as his football lieutenant Adrian Anderson arrived in London to address an international sporting conference on the competition's much-debated illegal drugs policy.
Demetriou said the AFL had been asked to present a paper on the three-strikes policy — the only one of its kind in Australian sport — as part of a presentation by medical experts on illicit drugs in sport.
Anderson and AFL medical officer Peter Harcourt were to promote the AFL code, which Demetriou said had drawn positive feedback from international football codes, namely rugby union, which had approached the league to outline the history of its testing regime and the philosophy behind it.
Cousins, who has been in good form, looks almost certain to be retained by the Tigers next season, regardless of who takes over as coach.
Gardiner, who managed only nine games in his first two seasons with the Saints, was re-signed at the end of last year.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/rehabilitation-a-footy-success/2009/07/14/1247337122795.html
