Ben Cousins still worth risk at No. 6
Mike Sheahan | December 16, 2008
THE AFL Commission has called Richmond's bluff. It's message is clear: you want Ben Cousins, you assume all risks.
The commission has deemed Richmond to be opportunistic in its cheeky bid to park Graham Polak on the rookie list, thereby creating a vacancy for Cousins on the primary list.
It has surprised many observers, including this one, by denying the Richmond request on Polak, leaving the Tigers with only its existing No. 6 selection in today's pre-season draft to claim the fallen West Coast champion.
Particularly when AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is known to be keen to see Cousins get another chance. Perhaps Demetriou doesn't always get his way, after all.
So, now it's up to the Tigers.
Do they remain faithful to their oft-declared promise to take a youngster at No. 6 today?
Or do they gamble on one of the great players of the modern era, a 30-year-old champion with a drug problem that many believe remains as significant as it has been for 10 years?
It is a tough call.
Cousins might be the difference between missing the finals and finishing top four.
Then again, he might be no different to the troubled star who ultimately forced West Coast to delist him.
The Cousins camp has performed poorly in recent months. No contrition, no show of faith, no credible bid for public understanding and sympathy.
He has told several clubs he wants another chance, yet he hasn't convinced them he has changed his ways. Or his shady associates.
Now it's down to Richmond president Gary March and coach Terry Wallace.
The strong suspicion is Wallace is driving the push for Cousins, with March mindful of the inevitable backlash among sponsors and supporters that will follow if Cousins falls over.
What we say is this: If the Tigers were prepared to take Cousins with a possible second selection today, they should take him with their solitary pick.
It is ludicrous to suggest any youngster could possibly match the impact of Cousins, on or off the field.
Cousins in the right shape and frame of mind is a top-10 player. Two years ago, you would have been happy to lose the toss in any choice between then teammates Cousins and Chris Judd.
He is a champion. Each of them is. He is capable of lifting the Tigers into premiership contention. His history, though, says he is just as capable of succumbing again to his addiction.
Richmond has a massive dilemma. One unprecedented in the AFL. The rewards are huge; the prospective penalties are both damaging and humiliating.
He isn't, as many commentators would have you believe, a reformed drug addict, he is a drug addict.
What we say is, if the risk was warranted at No. 7, surely it still is warranted at No. 6.
That doesn't make it right, simply logical.
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