Bold bid to make Cousins a Tiger in 2009
11th December 2008, 7:45 WST
A desperate attempt by Ben Cousins to show his rehabilitation from drug addiction is on track and his remorse may yet pay dividends after the veteran’s draft saga took a dramatic late twist yesterday.
Richmond’s application to have injured Graham Polak put on the club’s rookie list on compassionate grounds could give the Tigers a second pick in Tuesday’s AFL preseason draft that in turn could revive Cousins’ stellar 238-game career.
Strong Cousins supporter and former West Coast chairman Murray McHenry is now confident the 30-year-old will play in the AFL in 2009.
And while McHenry still believes the right place for Cousins is at the Eagles, he concedes that is unlikely and said he would happily adopt Richmond as his second club if Cousins found a home there.
The Tigers’ application for Polak, who nearly died from head injuries after being hit by a tram this year, falls under the same criteria as that granted to Essendon last season to allow cancer sufferer Adam Ramanauskas to continue in the game.
It was submitted to the league yesterday, then passed on to the other 15 clubs for their views before a final determination on Monday ahead of the pre-season draft.
Significantly, the Tigers, who all but ruled Cousins out of pre-season draft calculations before this shock development, were unprepared last night to draw a line through his name if they were granted two picks.
McHenry believes the attitude to Cousins has warmed markedly because the champion midfielder has made the effort to convince major football stakeholders he is serious about his drug rehabilitation.
“There has been some very strong movement behind the scenes from people and particularly in the eyes of Richmond — I can’t tell you who that is,” he said.
McHenry declined to name him but it is understood that former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy has met Cousins and has lobbied hard for the Tigers to recruit him.
It is now thought Sheedy has Richmond coach Terry Wallace’s support.
“There has been a hell of a lot of work going on behind the scenes, mentoring and that sort of stuff,” McHenry said.
“And I think what Ben has done in the past few weeks is get off his arse and instead of saying why didn’t you call, he is doing the calling.
“He is presenting himself, he has had meetings with a number of people.
“He has talked about the future, he has talked about the past very briefly to talk about the hurt that it has caused, not only to himself but his family, his football club, his supporters, everybody.
“He has probably for the first time shown a strong level of remorse. He has done that on his own and he has done it to a number of the major stakeholders.”
McHenry said Cousins’ bid included attempts for meetings with AFL bosses Andrew Demetriou and Mike stuff to plead his case.
“He has tried to meet with Andrew and Mike in Melbourne and that is yet to happen, but he has called them personally and left messages on their phones and asked for an audience,” McHenry said.
“He has finally done that. It has been good for him and the people he has done it to have said ‘hang on a minute, maybe he has learnt some lessons. Maybe he is going to do the right thing’.”
If Cousins becomes a Tiger, the round-12 clash against West Coast in Melbourne would become one of the most anticipated matches of the 2009 season.
McHenry maintained that the AFL was obligated to ensuring Cousins played on compassionate grounds.
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