Ben Cousins dominates Carlton plans
Jon Ralph | March 26, 2009
BRETT Ratten watched a horror film last week, minus the cheesy American dialogue.
The Blues' second-year coach had witnessed new Tiger Ben Cousins' handy first-up performance live in the Docklands stands, but this was something else altogether.
Days after a scouting party of Carlton coaches flew to the Gold Coast to watch the Richmond-Brisbane Lions clash, Ratten caught it on DVD.
"I saw one game live, and watched a fair bit (of the other) on video," Ratten said this week.
"(Cousins) was very good last week when (Nathan) Foley went off injured with that ankle.
"He went into the midfield and that real run and carry and his ball use was very good, so he was back to getting close to his best."
Cousins at his best would be enough to turn tonight's game into Fright Night for Ratten's Carlton.
In a 15-minute media conference this week, Ratten alternately pumped up the Cousins-Judd hype, then attempted to push the message his Blues were taking on Richmond, not Cousins alone.
But there was no hiding the intent in his voice when describing Cousins' form. He knows the former Eagle will be more than a bit-parts player this year.
"I think the build-up at the start of the season is big. But with Ben and Chris in the game, it will probably take more focus than probably any game for a long time," Ratten said.
The one commodity Ratten is not short on this week is information. Former Eagles coach Darren Harris - now a Blues development coach - has preached about Cousins' work-rate and game style.
And former teammate Judd has been on hand to impart the type of details that might help the Blues combat his rare brilliance.
Richmond has been subtly pushing the message in recent weeks not to expect too much from Cousins early. Even opinions about his 21 possessions against Collingwood were mixed.
Some argued he won easy touches in a free-flowing contest, butchering more than his fair share of them.
But for a player's first real performance in 19 months, it was extraordinary.
His running power was still clearly apparent and he won the ball at will. While he was rusty early, within a quarter he was breaking lines like the Cousins of old.
Now, after a perfect tune-up against Brisbane, Cousins is by his own admission "ready to go".
His preparation in the past month has been perfect, he has three games under his belt and he is quickly adapting to Richmond's game style.
Much has been made of the hamstring struggles in his last year at West Coast.
But in his 11 completed years at West Coast, he averaged 19.5 games a season without one serious injury.
Ratten predicted Cousins would start the game, but expected any head-to-head Cousins-Judd clash to be circumvented by the heavy tag the Blues captain would receive.
But he kept to himself whether the Blues would run a heavy tag on Cousins.
"First game of the season or any game, you respect the player and who they are . . . We look at all their players. This is what we can do and this is how we will stop it. Ben will be in that assessment as well," he said.
Ratten said Bryce Gibbs was a chance to match up on Richardson if the Tigers playmaker started up the ground.
The Blues have noticed Richmond's key backs cannot be dragged up the field, and might try to exploit that tactic. But the line of questioning kept on being dragged back to you know who.
Eventually Ratten drew his own line when the questions persisted.
"This media conference here has been made up of Ben, but Richmond have got another 20-odd players we will focus on," he said.
"Ben will be a part of it, but the impact Matthew Richardson has on the Richmond football team is pretty big.
"Nathan Brown's performance last week was very good. (Jonathan) Brown was in sparking touch -- he looked like he was back in career-best form up in Brisbane.
"And the way Richmond hold back and their backmen don't push out of that back 50 too much, we will have to have a look at that and how we can score, and it doesn't involve Ben, but we will have a look at that."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25242809-19742,00.html
