BEN COUSINS [merged]

[mat073]

Hey Wallsy let me explain it to you.

Ben Cousins = Elite player (you could argue that Cuz is still the best player on Richmonds list)


Matt White = honest foot soldier with very questionable foot skills. Been given plenty of opportunities since 06.Very good VFL player IMO.

I wonder if Robert thinks we should of dropped Richo to play Cleve/Patto..........

[one-eyed]

Mike on 3aw said Cuz hasn't been as good for Richmond as they would have hoped for. He's helped sell plenty of memberships but he was of the view Cousins didn't have a good year last year. Got plenty of the ball but he wasn't damaging with it like the Cousins of old.

[Go Richo 12]

Really, what a stupid comment! I could name 30 players that didnt play as well as the club would have liked last year! I think the way Cuz played was was extraodinary considering the amount of time absent he was before he played for us!

[Richogun]

You can not compare how cousins played with west coast and the players he had around him like judd and kerr with coxs as the ruskmen. compared with the players he has around him at richmond! 2 totally different teams and in tatally 2 different situations!

[yellowandback]

It's just not relevant. These dickheds forget that a club needed to pick Cuz up - the comp owed him that 2nd chance.
And right now, I'd rather him than any other 31yo in the afl.
He is the only player on our list who has a genuine winning spirit.

[WA Tiger]

 

[Mr Magic]

What does Walls know?

[WilliamPowell]

Very funny stuff from Walls and Mike

Can't put the boots into the coach or the cubs at the minute so it looks like it's Benny's turn....thank goodness Richo's retired becuase I am sure he'd be the one in the gun

Care factor = ZERO

[wayne]

Mike on 3aw said Cuz hasn't been as good for Richmond as they would have hoped for. He's helped sell plenty of memberships but he was of the view Cousins didn't have a good year last year. Got plenty of the ball but he wasn't damaging with it like the Cousins of old.

I'd say he's been good for a pick 6 in the PSD.

[Mr Magic]

Mike on 3aw said Cuz hasn't been as good for Richmond as they would have hoped for.

 ???

Geezus short memories the media.

Ben was a recovering drug addict that none of the other 15 clubs wanted to touch with a barge pole.

What does Mike think we hoped for with pick 6 in the PSD?

I think Richmond would rightly be happy with Cuz's output to date.
Been considerably better for us than I expected that's for sure.

[one-eyed]

Hardwick backs Cousins
richmondfc.com.au
By Jason Phelan 1:42 PM Thu 01 April, 2010

VETERAN onballer Ben Cousins has received the backing of Richmond coach Damien Hardwick in the face of calls for his retirement.

Cousins, 31, appeared well off the pace at times during the Tigers' 56-point loss to Carlton, but Hardwick rejected the idea that his spot in the team would be better used on a younger player as the first-year coach embarks on a rebuilding program. 

"He'll play. As long as his form permits he'll play," Hardwick said of his plans for Cousins for the rest of the 2010 season on Thursday.

"Ben [is] an outstanding athlete … but the round-one games and the round-two games are very, very quick.

"If you haven't quite done the preparation - and we took a bit of a risk playing him and it probably didn't work to the degree that we'd like - but he'll be better for the run this week.

"He's the first to admit that pre-Christmas he had a few things on his mind, but from Christmas onwards he's been outstanding. He had that illness for a while so he missed probably four sessions, but he's been very good for us."

Cousins looks set to be joined by Graham Polak in the Richmond squad to face the Western Bulldogs on Sunday as Hardwick strives to properly assess the talent he has at his disposal.

"He's a player that can straighten us up," he said.

"Last week we went in with the idea that it was going to be a hot night so we went in with an extra runner … and it didn't work. We tried Ty Vickery forward and probably ended up being a bit short so we learned a lesson from that.

"There will be some changes no doubt - that's what happens in AFL footy. We're still trying to find out who can implement our system well and who can't. There will be some changes and guys will get opportunities and young blokes will come in."

The Tigers were one of three teams to start the season off with a hefty 56-point loss, but Hardwick laughed off the perception from outside the club that the defeat had added pressure on him and his team.

"The way we see it is every week we get a chance to improve and that's what we did. We learned some lessons from the weekend's match, we addressed those during the week and we move on.

"It's like driving a car. The first time you get in a car how do you drive? We know where we're at, we know where we want to go and we're working our way back from there.

"This is the start of the journey, we've laid a foundation block and we know exactly how far we've got to go."

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/91478/default.aspx

[one-eyed]

Carry on Cuzzy
TIM CLARKE
April 1, 2010

Ben Cousins still has a place in the AFL, according to Fairfax readers, despite outspoken former coach and media identity Robert Walls saying the career of the controversial superstar is as good as over.

More than 10,000 football fans have weighed into the debate over Cousins' value to Richmond, after Walls said the Tigers would be better playing someone younger ahead of the six-time All-Australian, in what is shaping as another disappointing year.

Speaking on 5AA radio in Adelaide, Walls questioned the Brownlow medallist's value to the Tigers team, and whether his powers were waning.

In a Fairfax poll asking whether readers agreed, more than 10,000 readers emphatically backed the ex-Eagle legend – with 62 per cent disagreeing with Walls.

A whopping 97 per cent of readers who commented online about Walls' comments also disagreed with him, with most suggesting it was time the former Carlton, Richmond and Brisbane coach should think about retiring.

"Anyone close to the club would see that having Ben around these inexperienced players is an invaluable experience for these players and is something that cannot be bought," wrote Deano of Coburg.

"Richmond would face a far worse season with out Cousins than with him. He is probably past his prime, but if he can use his experience to educate the young players how to play and think football, they will improve," said GerryK of Glen Waverley.

Cousins this week admitted he had started the season under 100 per cent fitness, after a mystery stomach ailment hospitalised him twice, but would better with a game under his belt.

"The stomach is good, and I will be better for the run. I was probably a bit underdone," Cousins said.

"There is a good 10-day break between games so there is the opportunity to throw a bit of work into the body and get ready for the Western Bulldogs.

"There is a lot for us to work on as a young side week to week, and the fact we were able to blood four debutants … we will get there."

http://www.watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/carry-on-cuzzy-20100331-rek3.html

[Ramps]

need him to play again in 2011 imho.

[one-eyed]

Ben Cousins could have led to flag
Kevin Sheedy
Sunday Herald Sun
April 04, 2010
 
THE Beatles were fantastic, Elvis Presley was sensational and Michael Jackson was a freak. Who knows what all of them did in their spare time, but if you had the opportunity to recruit them why wouldn't you take it?
 
It's an analogy I'm using for Ben Cousins. Overlooking him might have cost St Kilda a premiership.

Cousins might be suffering at the moment with injury or stomach problems, but he is arguably Richmond's best player.

He played 15 games and finished fifth in the club's best and fairest. Not bad for someone who was almost the last person selected.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ben-cousins-could-have-led-to-flag/story-e6frf9ox-1225849271145

[Mr Magic]

Ben Cousins could have led to flag

We probably would have come 16th.