Article by Cousins - Learning the Hard way

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25627587-19742,00.html

FROM the moment I walked in the door as a 17-year-old to the day I unfortunately and sadly departed the West Coast Eagles, my time there gave me wonderful memories and friends, as well as the well-documented problems. There are so many stories, games and moments washed with periods of exhilaration and frustration.

My career at West Coast revolved around always giving everything for the team.

I was brought up with the philosophy that in team sport you should never leave anything on the field.

When I look back, perhaps that manifested itself from the way I played the game to the way I lived my life.

 

[lewigie]

Great article.

I'd still have him back in a heartbeat.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

Excellent article by Cousins.

When his career does finally come to an end, i for one would love to see him play a role at our club again. Impossible to have no feelings for one of our greatest players and one of our clubs greatest leaders.

 

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

There's actually another article where Cotchin says that he wants Cousins' contract extended.

I think it's becoming extremely clear that Cousins could turn his hand at coaching in the future.

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=12&ContentID=147822

 

[lewigie]

If he's not offered a contract, do you think we'll look at picking him up?

It's a different time to last year, he's shown that he can still play, or will not choosing him last year be exactly the same this year?

He has to come back to the club in some way. One of the greatest players of our club.

 

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

At this point we could pick him up in the PSD without any worries, as he's been cleared to play and we aren't under the threat of sanctions anymore but what would be the point?

He's play 1 or 2 years with us and then retire, which would do nothing but hold our young players back.

I'd like to see him back at the Eagles as an assistant coach. There's no doubt in my mind he'd be good at that and perhaps he could help us lure Cotchin over

 

[lewigie]

Well he's shown that he takes the tag off other players, meaning Kerr may have it easier, and you can tell he's just a great figure at any club he plays at. That one or two years would be worth it IMO.

As soon as he retires, I hope Woosha gives him a call.

 

[iheartfooty]

A clean Cousins could teach any midfield what it takes to play in the big league. His one year at richmond would benefit Cotchin so much, they have not had any gut running midfielders for some time and he is able to show him what it takes week in week out which cannot be taught by coaches in the box.

If cousins was delisted i think and club with a young midfield would have to seriously consider picking him up. He may take a young players spot but imagine what he could teach our young midfielders about work ethic on and off the field.

 

[bigburger]

Jimmy I swear you must read the paper cover to cover. Nothing gets past you

 

[wirra44]

great article cuzzy, and the way he wrote that article you could see he still would of loved to play out his career at the eagles. hopefully after he retires he does consider a coaching role and comes back to the eagles, to help out at the club.

 

[WCE57]

Cousins is a magificant footballer and no doubt could teach the game pretty well.

But its pure fantasy to think a football club would hire a recovering drug addict in a coaching role especially with today's media. Let alone, a club would invite someone back, who nearly brought the whole thing down. As if the Victorian media would not make a big deal of this.

For the record, I love Cousins, the best player the club has ever had. But the damage he did to the reputation of the club, the number of chances he was given etc.. The bad should not be forgotten. We nearly lose draft picks, sponsors and draftees. The club had to publicly defended it, that draftees would not be going one step to hell if they ended up at our club.

Best of Luck to Cuz. I'm glad to see him doing well. But just No to his involvement with the club. There should and won't be fairy tale to this story.

 

[Wheres Wally]

Single handedly killed our club . Good riddens and hope he never returns.

 

[mehow2g]

Almost had tears reading that, in my eyes I think he wants to continue playing footy to feed his addiction for drugs its obvious he still gets the need to do it its like someone I know the way he deals with his alcoholism is work.

Hopefully Cousins gets something like a coach or something just to keep off the drugs.

Best of luck Ben.

 

[SELGA]

Cousins greatest West Coast player ever IMO! Great article still my favourite footballer and my idol always will be an EAGLE

 

[lewigie]

Smashed us tonight.

 

[placebo]

I'll always respect Cousins and the good he did for our club.

But seriously, some of the Eagles supporters today were just plain silly with their over the top praise of Cousins and treating him like a saint. He single-handedly teared our club apart and was a total w***er off field. Seriously, a lot of you guys are either 13 year old girls or a bunch of blind fanboys.

 

[Ljp86]

Cousins is a magificant footballer and no doubt could teach the game pretty well.

But its pure fantasy to think a football club would hire a recovering drug addict in a coaching role especially with today's media. Let alone, a club would invite someone back, who nearly brought the whole thing down. As if the Victorian media would not make a big deal of this.

For the record, I love Cousins, the best player the club has ever had. But the damage he did to the reputation of the club, the number of chances he was given etc.. The bad should not be forgotten. We nearly lose draft picks, sponsors and draftees. The club had to publicly defended it, that draftees would not be going one step to hell if they ended up at our club.

Best of Luck to Cuz. I'm glad to see him doing well. But just No to his involvement with the club. There should and won't be fairy tale to this story.

I agree. Quite frankly, Ben Cousins is a c*nt.

Ben's irresponsibility and sheer stupidity is ultimately one of the reasons why our club is in the position it's in. Our demise from 2007 to 2008 was huge, losing two star players didn't help but the scrutiny our club was put under put pressure on our off-field actions as well as our off-field ones. We were a deer in headlights so to speak, unwilling to do anything in case that set something off to career us into more trouble. None of the players or the club in general were willing to breathe out of turn for fear of copping it from the media as well as the AFL.

A lot of this was created by one selfish person who continued to break the rules despite being told time and time again that he was not to break any at all. We lost half of our gun midfield in one off-season and went from top four contender to wooden spoon candidate in a matter of months. Ultimately Ben Cousins has set West Coast back three or four years in terms of the list development. It is sickening to think some Eagles supporters still treat Ben as if he is still an Eagles player and if he is some "favourite son" of ours. He is not and it will take a long time before he gains back the respect of the club and the vast majority of its staff and supporters which he had a hand in screwing over. This is a person who has severely dented our club's reputation, image and respect by being, to be perfectly honest, a d*ckhead.

A lot of West Coast people need to wake up and smell the roses, it's pathetic to think that people still idolise a person who is a recovering drug addict as if he is some sort of god who will always be an Eagles favourite. Cousins hurt our club and has caused enough hurt both on-field and off that we probably won't recover from for at least another few years. As far as off-field recovery goes, it could be a lot longer than that. This is something which our Ben-loving fans need to realise, his hand in our club's fall from grace has been quite significant and he has set us back quite sharply in terms of on-field development. Only now is our club starting to regain some of the respect and integrity it lost a couple of years ago and like I said previously it will take a long time before we recover it completely.

As for our on-field performances go, West Coast fans are simply not used to periods of little success. If you look at our history, there have only been three periods where West Coast haven't had all that much success. 1987 to 1989 saw us become a mid-ladder club but still good enough to make an appareance in the finals once. You could argue that this period really wasn't a tough one at all. 2000/2001 was our first real period of non-success. 2000 was the start of the demise and in 2001 we were crap. Honest to god, we were ****ing embarassing in 2001, worst percentage in the league and suffering from numerous thrashings. We were shit that year but it's hard to think that two sides were worse than us that year, St. Kilda and Fremantle who were a total basketcase (oh wait, I don't think that's ever changed ).

The third period (or second for when we've really struggled) is now, 2008 to present. 2009 is our 23rd season and if you look back over the years, this will be only the 4th year in which we've been pretty bad. One bad year every six years is a pretty impressive record in my opinion. A lot of teams will have a record which is a lot worse than ours. Think St. Kilda with their 26 wooden spoons, Western Bulldogs with one solitary flag, Sydney waiting more than seven decades between premierships, Collingwood's remarkable sexual prowess in always coming second and Fremantle's big ****ing history of fail. We've had it pretty good, 3 flags in 23 seasons (I'm pretty sure we won't win it this year), that's a better strike rate than most clubs in the competition, only Essendon and Carlton have better I believe. Our supporters just aren't used to not having any success and they are in a position they aren't used to being in. The only way they can deal with this is to speak out, only because if something isn't going well, it is the natural thing to do.

What some Eagles fans don't seem to realise is that becoming good again will take time, 2009 was never going to be a good one for us and maybe only marginally better than last year. 2010 will most likely be better but we aren't going to be setting the world on fire. Our fans are just impatient for we've been gifted with success for some time. In the end, short-term pain for long-term gain in neccessary.

 

[Quinz]

Post of the Year.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Good post LJP.

Even better the second time around

 

[Ochre]

brilliant post ljp

i hope that ben cousins never ever has anything to do with our club again

 

[SELGA]

I agree. Quite frankly, Ben Cousins is a c*nt.

Ben's irresponsibility and sheer stupidity is ultimately one of the reasons why our club is in the position it's in. Our demise from 2007 to 2008 was huge, losing two star players didn't help but the scrutiny our club was put under put pressure on our off-field actions as well as our off-field ones. We were a deer in headlights so to speak, unwilling to do anything in case that set something off to career us into more trouble. None of the players or the club in general were willing to breathe out of turn for fear of copping it from the media as well as the AFL.

A lot of this was created by one selfish person who continued to break the rules despite being told time and time again that he was not to break any at all. We lost half of our gun midfield in one off-season and went from top four contender to wooden spoon candidate in a matter of months. Ultimately Ben Cousins has set West Coast back three or four years in terms of the list development. It is sickening to think some Eagles supporters still treat Ben as if he is still an Eagles player and if he is some "favourite son" of ours. He is not and it will take a long time before he gains back the respect of the club and the vast majority of its staff and supporters which he had a hand in screwing over. This is a person who has severely dented our club's reputation, image and respect by being, to be perfectly honest, a d*ckhead.

A lot of West Coast people need to wake up and smell the roses, it's pathetic to think that people still idolise a person who is a recovering drug addict as if he is some sort of god who will always be an Eagles favourite. Cousins hurt our club and has caused enough hurt both on-field and off that we probably won't recover from for at least another few years. As far as off-field recovery goes, it could be a lot longer than that. This is something which our Ben-loving fans need to realise, his hand in our club's fall from grace has been quite significant and he has set us back quite sharply in terms of on-field development. Only now is our club starting to regain some of the respect and integrity it lost a couple of years ago and like I said previously it will take a long time before we recover it completely.

As for our on-field performances go, West Coast fans are simply not used to periods of little success. If you look at our history, there have only been three periods where West Coast haven't had all that much success. 1987 to 1989 saw us become a mid-ladder club but still good enough to make an appareance in the finals once. You could argue that this period really wasn't a tough one at all. 2000/2001 was our first real period of non-success. 2000 was the start of the demise and in 2001 we were crap. Honest to god, we were ****ing embarassing in 2001, worst percentage in the league and suffering from numerous thrashings. We were shit that year but it's hard to think that two sides were worse than us that year, St. Kilda and Fremantle who were a total basketcase (oh wait, I don't think that's ever changed ).

The third period (or second for when we've really struggled) is now, 2008 to present. 2009 is our 23rd season and if you look back over the years, this will be only the 4th year in which we've been pretty bad. One bad year every six years is a pretty impressive record in my opinion. A lot of teams will have a record which is a lot worse than ours. Think St. Kilda with their 26 wooden spoons, Western Bulldogs with one solitary flag, Sydney waiting more than seven decades between premierships, Collingwood's remarkable sexual prowess in always coming second and Fremantle's big ****ing history of fail. We've had it pretty good, 3 flags in 23 seasons (I'm pretty sure we won't win it this year), that's a better strike rate than most clubs in the competition, only Essendon and Carlton have better I believe. Our supporters just aren't used to not having any success and they are in a position they aren't used to being in. The only way they can deal with this is to speak out, only because if something isn't going well, it is the natural thing to do.

What some Eagles fans don't seem to realise is that becoming good again will take time, 2009 was never going to be a good one for us and maybe only marginally better than last year. 2010 will most likely be better but we aren't going to be setting the world on fire. Our fans are just impatient for we've been gifted with success for some time. In the end, short-term pain for long-term gain in neccessary.

Mate I undertand where your coming from but I think I am speaking for the majority of Eagles fans when I say Cousins was more than just a player he was an icon. Supporters me inclded saw a little bit of ourselves in Ben and we related to him because he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes like we all do but come game day he gave everything for us fans just like we always gave him all our support. Winning and losing is over rated and I care about Cuz getting his lfe back together more than I care about when our next premierships coming. Don't et me wrong I love to win premierships and I have celebrated them as hard as anyone over the years. Ben was one of ours and he always will be, regardless of some of the damage he has done to his reputation and the clubs. You have to take the good with the bad in players and Cousins' good definitley outshone the bad. Id give 3 years of losing just to see Ben in the blue and gold again cause like I said winning aint everything.

 

[WCE57]

Mate I undertand where your coming from but I think I am speaking for the majority of Eagles fans when I say Cousins was more than just a player he was an icon. Supporters me inclded saw a little bit of ourselves in Ben and we related to him because he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes like we all do but come game day he gave everything for us fans just like we always gave him all our support. Winning and losing is over rated and I care about Cuz getting his lfe back together more than I care about when our next premierships coming. Don't et me wrong I love to win premierships and I have celebrated them as hard as anyone over the years. Ben was one of ours and he always will be, regardless of some of the damage he has done to his reputation and the clubs. You have to take the good with the bad in players and Cousins' good definitley outshone the bad. Id give 3 years of losing just to see Ben in the blue and gold again cause like I said winning aint everything.

Mate, I'm really trying to understand your view. I really am. But if this is the majority view of Eagles supporters. Then we totally stuffed as club. If we worship the ground of a ex-player that got the sack after repeated incidents. Who repeatly lied to officals. Who got chances over and over again. If we get to the situation where its Cuz>>the club and current players. Then, **** me.

No doubt, in Round 22. Cuz will be getting a standing ovation and he will be laughing his head off. And we will be a laughing stock. He got away with it and everyone else had to clean up the mess. He probably should have try to get away with more, because the way he still treated. Jesus, for alot of supporters he can't do no wrong.

The question: Why would Cuz ever apologise over the damage he did to the club?

The answer: Why would he, when there is so many people to make enough excuses for him. So many falling over themselves to worship the ground he walks on.

 

[thecotch]

Mate, I'm really trying to understand your view. I really am. But if this is the majority view of Eagles supporters. Then we totally stuffed as club. If we worship the ground of a ex-player that got the sack after repeated incidents. Who repeatly lied to officals. Who got chances over and over again. If we get to the situation where its Cuz>>the club and current players. Then, **** me.

No doubt, in Round 22. Cuz will be getting a standing ovation and he will be laughing his head off. And we will be a laughing stock. He got away with it and everyone else had to clean up the mess. He probably should have try to get away with more, because the way he still treated. Jesus, for alot of supporters he can't do no wrong.

The question: Why would Cuz ever apologise over the damage he did to the club?

The answer: Why would he, when there is so many people to make enough excuses for him. So many falling over themselves to worship the ground he walks on.

I think ben did more damage to himself than the club. The club came out of the whole saga pretty clean IMO.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

ljp i think the real reason why all of our supporters till now are feeling real pissed off with our performances is that it was only 3 years ago we were on top and the fall from grace has been incredibly hard to swallow. usually a club goes from top 4 to bottom 4 in a matter of years but for it to happen in less than 2 years really not only shaken up fans but even some of the players themselves.

patience is a virtue and not everyone out there has it. then again supporters want to feel whether their side are indeedly shit or being told by the hierachy to not put their best efforts in to draft a good kid or 2. its incredibly frusturating to see for most of the season weve taken most teams to a goal or 2 behind and we've blown it. wc supporters have been instilled a winning culture for years and for us to see in a way see our side deliberately at times whether from the coaches to the players to jeopardise a game it gets incredibly frusturating.

all what we need to do is be patient and relax and see how everything pans out. me personally seeing the side tank has left me in a yes/no situation and i reckon a lot of supporters are feeling like that.

 

[flight23]

great thread, amazing how polarised supporters are