ben cousins

[BlueYoss]

I am all for developing our kids but there has to be a time where we, not necessarily halt the progress of the youth but do bring one or two older players despite the baggage. There has to be an equilibirium of the two that the club could see and work things out like that. I do like to liken this situation to Dew last year. They had such a young list last year and Al Clarkson decided to bring in Dew who at 28 was not in much physical shape and had a year out of the game. Look at Ben. He's in as good as shape as he's been throughout his playing days.

There is another delicate equilibrium that we can ill afford to to risk disturbing.

When Juddy first arrived at WC, Cousins was his role model. All the extra gut running in pre-season that Juddy now sets the example at Carlton with, came from his original training mentor and Captain in Ben. When Cousins had to have the captaincy stripped of him at WC Juddy reluctantly took the the position for lack of other options, but it was obvious that he was captain only by name and Ben was still the spiritual leader.

Since coming over to Carlton, Juddy has matured as a leader and really embraced the captaincy, more so than he ever did at WC, as recognised by his All Australian Captaincy this year.

Bringing his old leader and mentor back into the fold could well see Juddy instinctively go back into his shell, to a role so familiar (being captain only by name, with Ben being the spiritual leader). Even if Ben doens't assert himself as a leader, his presence in the playing group alone could be enough to stifle Juddy's development as our leader, and that is the risk that we can't afford to take.

Murph, Gibbs, Kreuze etc have their heads screwed on right, they're big enough to distinguish which examples should be followed for their benefit and which ones would be to their detriment.

 

[doh its me]

The fact that he is not prepared to take the strict AFL imposed conditions of up to 3 urine tests a week + hair testing suggest that he is NOT totally rehabilitated.

Ecstacy and amphetamines leave the bloodstream very quickly ( 48 hrs I think )
If he was truly off the stuff for good the inconveniance of extra urine tests and hair testing should not be enough for him to say he is not interested under those conditions and go to the AFLPA for assistance to reduce the testing.

If he is clean let the testing as set out be implemented, otherwise we will have a recreational drug user back in the system and making a mockery of it.

 

[MBIB]

The fact that he is not prepared to take the strict AFL imposed conditions of up to 3 urine tests a week + hair testing suggest that he is NOT totally rehabilitated.

Ecstacy and amphetamines leave the bloodstream very quickly ( 48 hrs I think )
If he was truly off the stuff for good the inconveniance of extra urine tests and hair testing should not be enough for him to say he is not interested under those conditions and go to the AFLPA for assistance to reduce the testing.

If he is clean let the testing as set out be implemented, otherwise we will have a recreational drug user back in the system and making a mockery of it.

And they were always going to make and example of him to deter others

 

[gbatman]

Hope not, he is so suss! Recovered my arse! All of a sudden he has short hair, has no body hair. Is strongly against constant checks... It reaks he is not recovered and wants to risk taking drugs and playing. Almost like he prefers to get high rather than play footy...

I don't know for sure but looks to me he has sused out all ways to beat the tests and he has been stumped by constant testing.

Way too suss, too risky, bugger picking him up! No way.

 

[Dramoth]

The fact that he is not prepared to take the strict AFL imposed conditions of up to 3 urine tests a week + hair testing suggest that he is NOT totally rehabilitated.

Ecstacy and amphetamines leave the bloodstream very quickly ( 48 hrs I think )
If he was truly off the stuff for good the inconveniance of extra urine tests and hair testing should not be enough for him to say he is not interested under those conditions and go to the AFLPA for assistance to reduce the testing.

If he is clean let the testing as set out be implemented, otherwise we will have a recreational drug user back in the system and making a mockery of it.

Hair testing requires hair of a certain length. Crop your hair to a #1 or a #2 on a weekly basis and the drug testers find it hard to get a good enough sample and I think that hair testing is mainly used to test for THC.

X and amps are out of your system with 48 - 72 hours

 

[doh its me]

Hair testing requires hair of a certain length. Crop your hair to a #1 or a #2 on a weekly basis and the drug testers find it hard to get a good enough sample and I think that hair testing is mainly used to test for THC.

X and amps are out of your system with 48 - 72 hours

There is no doubt it would be extremely suss if hf he agreed to the terms and then had his hair shaved like Mil Hanna. Hair testing can pick up most rec drugs but THC is not the issue here, that stays in the system long enough to be found by more conventional testing methods.

 

[Blue Dimension]

Hair testing requires hair of a certain length. Crop your hair to a #1 or a #2 on a weekly basis and the drug testers find it hard to get a good enough sample and I think that hair testing is mainly used to test for THC.

X and amps are out of your system with 48 - 72 hours

Hair can be used from any area on the body...underarms, legs, etc. Was reading about it a couple of days ago. A simple shave of the head won't suffice.

 

[Dramoth]

Hair can be used from any area on the body...underarms, legs, etc. Was reading about it a couple of days ago. A simple shave of the head won't suffice.

Doh its me beat me to it...

I was going to say that he might suddenly come down with alapaia(sp) and go completely bald

but I didnt know about the other areas being possible target spots for hair samples...

I knew about the hair testing because I got told that was why a lot of army personal over here in England used to shave their heads while off on OS duties.

 

[4blues]

I probably have conceded that we won't go after him, which is a shame I believe. At the very least it would be our 'due diligence' to at least inquire about him but I'm pretty dissapointed that didn't happen.

This was in the Hearld Sun this morning


I am all for developing our kids but there has to be a time where we, not necessarily halt the progress of the youth but do bring one or two older players despite the baggage. There has to be an equilibirium of the two that the club could see and work things out like that. I do like to liken this situation to Dew last year. They had such a young list last year and Al Clarkson decided to bring in Dew who at 28 was not in much physical shape and had a year out of the game. Look at Ben. He's in as good as shape as he's been throughout his playing days.

Like i said before though i do concede him being at Carlton. Nothing I've heard or read would make me feel that we could still look at him which is a bit dissapointing.

Great post, Cousins is in alot better shape than Dew and as you said occasionally we will need to take older players to add balance to our team.

 

[Dikfeld]

Would be ****in awesome to see cousy at the blues, he could supply all our players with coke man, we would surely get into the finals then!

He is surely still on drugs if you ask me, but hes a legend lol All that it is doing for him in coming back to footy is just making him a shit load more stuff to go into his biography and doco, he is one rich mofo and gonna be alot richer. I'm sure once he leaves footy he will hit the ice again.

What I can't believe is how long he got away with it for! He was using speed for years before he got caught, All the young people in Perth knew it, its just amazing it took so long for him to get caught

 

[Dramoth]

Would be ****in awesome to see cousy at the blues, he could supply all our players with coke man, we would surely get into the finals then!

He is surely still on drugs if you ask me, but hes a legend lol All that it is doing for him in coming back to footy is just making him a shit load more stuff to go into his biography and doco, he is one rich mofo and gonna be alot richer. I'm sure once he leaves footy he will hit the ice again.

What I can't believe is how long he got away with it for! He was using speed for years before he got caught, All the young people in Perth knew it, its just amazing it took so long for him to get caught

The weagles knew it...

There were a bunch of players who were all jacked on speed.

 

[The Coach]

Would be ****in awesome to see cousy at the blues, he could supply all our players with coke man, we would surely get into the finals then!

He is surely still on drugs if you ask me, but hes a legend lol All that it is doing for him in coming back to footy is just making him a shit load more stuff to go into his biography and doco, he is one rich mofo and gonna be alot richer. I'm sure once he leaves footy he will hit the ice again.

What I can't believe is how long he got away with it for! He was using speed for years before he got caught, All the young people in Perth knew it, its just amazing it took so long for him to get caught

Are you sure he is still 'one rich mofo' and what did you say Saturday's Lotto numbers are going to be

 

[BlueYoss]

Hair testing requires hair of a certain length. Crop your hair to a #1 or a #2 on a weekly basis and the drug testers find it hard to get a good enough sample and I think that hair testing is mainly used to test for THC.

X and amps are out of your system with 48 - 72 hours

A standard hair follicle screen covers a period of approximately 90 days, but is susceptible to time variation depending on the growth rate of your hair. The hair sample is cut as close to the scalp as possible and the most recent 3.9cm (or 1.5 inches) are tested. It is possible to go back even further than 90 days since the time period is limited only by the length of the hair sample, but is standardized to a 90 day history.

The drugs that can be detected are: Cocaine (Cocaine & Benzoylecgonine), Marijuana, Opiates (Codeine, Morphine & 6-Monacteyl Morphine), Methamphetamine (Methamphetamine/Amphetamine & Ecstasy), and Phencyclidine (PCP).

In a thread about Juddy's shaved head a while back I posted that with hair follicle testing having been approved by the AFLPA I suspected the shaved head look would become much more common amongst footy players (similar to certain US celebrities when they have custody hearings, I won't mention any names in case Oops I Did it again...) and it looks like Benny could be the trailblazer here...

 

[Dramoth]

A standard hair follicle screen covers a period of approximately 90 days, but is susceptible to time variation depending on the growth rate of your hair. The hair sample is cut as close to the scalp as possible and the most recent 3.9cm (or 1.5 inches) are tested. It is possible to go back even further than 90 days since the time period is limited only by the length of the hair sample, but is standardized to a 90 day history.

The drugs that can be detected are: Cocaine (Cocaine & Benzoylecgonine), Marijuana, Opiates (Codeine, Morphine & 6-Monacteyl Morphine), Methamphetamine (Methamphetamine/Amphetamine & Ecstasy), and Phencyclidine (PCP).

In a thread about Juddy's shaved head a while back I posted that with hair follicle testing having been approved by the AFLPA I suspected the shaved head look would become much more common amongst footy players (similar to certain US celebrities when they have custody hearings, I won't mention any names in case Oops I Did it again...) and it looks like Benny could be the trailblazer here...

I found out last night that you can go back over a period of months if the hair is long enough.

In the Shannon Matthews kidnap case over here, the scientists found out that she has been forced to take tamazipan and some other drug for at least the last 2 years.

This was determined by a 20cm hair sample.

They even worked out that at 2 points in the past she had been given larger than usual amounts of the drugs

 

[swans12]

I have not seen or read anywhere where Judd has come out and said he would like to have Cousins aboard. Anyone else?

I believe that the conditions are so strict that if he is still using he will be caught pretty early in the piece. God knows they will be all over him.

Any club giving him a 2nd chance can work the angle to make them look good and shouldn't be damaged if he comes unstuck. "We gave Ben a second chance but unfortunately he still isn't over the problem, blah blah blah", what damage does that do?

The guy is a champion footballer and would be enormous to any club that picks him up.

Without the problem, if entering the draft he would be a top shelf selection.

Drafting him would also take some pressure of the young guys and the high expectations put upon them, through a degree of deflecting the media attention.

Draft him and cut him if he stuffs up. He would look great in #9, But that's just my thoughts.

 

[Blues_Man]

Yeah lets draft a known druggie into our club ..he should be an inspirational leader to our crop of kids

 

[BlueYoss]

The guy is a champion footballer and would be enormous to any club that picks him up.

Without the problem, if entering the draft he would be a top shelf selection.

Without the problem he would still be captain of a WC side that would still be pushing deep into September.

 

[strat]

Three things can happen

He gets back on the gear
He does a hammy
He turns out to be a superstar..

I don't like the odds

 

[blue gunslinger]

He is a piece of scum that does not deserve to be discussed on our board

 

[Tex Walker]

He is a piece of scum that does not deserve to be discussed on our board

That is a very immature single minded way of looking at this, Cousins never got caught taking drugs by the AFL, he knew he had a problem and he took it upon himself to tell the media and AFL that he had a problem, then he went and got himself sorted out at a rehab center. If anyone knows how becoming addicted to drugs can ruin your life it would be cousins, I think if we drafted him he would only be leading the example by telling all the young players how much it has humiliated him, cost him two years of football and probably cost him thousands of dollars. IMHO the afl have handled this disgracefully, HE NEVER GOT CAUGHT, HE ADMITTED IT HIMSELF, he should never have been de-registered, in the end i think he would have been better off keeping this a secret and not telling anyone which i think i really sad, sad that he would have been better off to not say anything when a had a serious health problem, sure he made the mistake of taking some drugs but do you think he wanted to get addicted, No he didn't, I think you are being to harsh, many people suffer from substance abuse, in the afl this would only be exacerbated because they are all young men who are rich and this is the prime time for people taking drugs. Cousins never got caught yet there are 6 people who have been caught twice, these six are not being humiliated by the media, they don't have special conditions where they need to piss in a bottle 10 times a day, this whole thing has spiraled out of control by the afl trying to use cousins as an example.

 

[blue gunslinger]

That is a very immature single minded way of looking at this, Cousins never got caught taking drugs by the AFL, he knew he had a problem and he took it upon himself to tell the media and AFL that he had a problem, then he went and got himself sorted out at a rehab center. If anyone knows how becoming addicted to drugs can ruin your life it would be cousins, I think if we drafted him he would only be leading the example by telling all the young players how much it has humiliated him, cost him two years of football and probably cost him thousands of dollars. IMHO the afl have handled this disgracefully, HE NEVER GOT CAUGHT, HE ADMITTED IT HIMSELF, he should never have been de-registered, in the end i think he would have been better off keeping this a secret and not telling anyone which i think i really sad, sad that he would have been better off to not say anything when a had a serious health problem, sure he made the mistake of taking some drugs but do you think he wanted to get addicted, No he didn't, I think you are being to harsh, many people suffer from substance abuse, in the afl this would only be exacerbated because they are all young men who are rich and this is the prime time for people taking drugs. Cousins never got caught yet there are 6 people who have been caught twice, these six are not being humiliated by the media, they don't have special conditions where they need to piss in a bottle 10 times a day, this whole thing has spiraled out of control by the afl trying to use cousins as an example.

Actually it would be me as I treat them every day
Plus having lived in Perth all my life and being about the same age I have crossed paths with Cousins on many occasions
The man has no remorse for breaking the hearts of all the WA kids who idolised him. He just wears that spoilt brat smirk of his and now will profit from it by selling his doco and being allowed to play again.
Tell the family of Mainy who Cuz dropped dinner off to how much he has been humiliated

 

[blue gunslinger]

If you want ruined lives I can show you people who sell their bodies, who go to jail for break and enter to support their habits, who have their children taken away from them, who OD and die, the parents who watch their children rot away
Those are ruined lives. Ben could not play footy - big deal

 

[Silvagnis]

He is a piece of scum that does not deserve to be discussed on our board

Actually it would be me as I treat them every day
Plus having lived in Perth all my life and being about the same age I have crossed paths with Cousins on many occasions
The man has no remorse for breaking the hearts of all the WA kids who idolised him. He just wears that spoilt brat smirk of his and now will profit from it by selling his doco and being allowed to play again.
Tell the family of Mainy who Cuz dropped dinner off to how much he has been humiliated

Spot on.

Cousins is a spoilt brat who has had his arse kissed his whole life when he was a father-son pick and the golden child of WA football when they were poor.

Cousins took advantage of their trust.

No one would have pulled Cousins up and told him he was wrong because he was a star footballer who was a matchwinner.

Self interest outweighed their need to clean up the problem...

The Eagles fans applauding his comeback and treating him like a God was sickening.

Serves the Eagles right for what happened to their club when they all turned a blind eye to it before it became public.

Hard to believe Cousins is sooking over having to take drug tests to play football.

The poor thing.

Imagine if Cousins was a diabetic who had to test his blood everyday and take medication just to live...

Cadel Evans was on the money with his comments that Cousins needs to wake up to himself.

Cousins is a loser and a sook.

That is a very immature single minded way of looking at this, Cousins never got caught taking drugs by the AFL, he knew he had a problem and he took it upon himself to tell the media and AFL that he had a problem, then he went and got himself sorted out at a rehab center. If anyone knows how becoming addicted to drugs can ruin your life it would be cousins, I think if we drafted him he would only be leading the example by telling all the young players how much it has humiliated him, cost him two years of football and probably cost him thousands of dollars. IMHO the afl have handled this disgracefully, HE NEVER GOT CAUGHT, HE ADMITTED IT HIMSELF, he should never have been de-registered, in the end i think he would have been better off keeping this a secret and not telling anyone which i think i really sad, sad that he would have been better off to not say anything when a had a serious health problem, sure he made the mistake of taking some drugs but do you think he wanted to get addicted, No he didn't, I think you are being to harsh, many people suffer from substance abuse, in the afl this would only be exacerbated because they are all young men who are rich and this is the prime time for people taking drugs. Cousins never got caught yet there are 6 people who have been caught twice, these six are not being humiliated by the media, they don't have special conditions where they need to piss in a bottle 10 times a day, this whole thing has spiraled out of control by the afl trying to use cousins as an example.

LMAO.

Cousins only sought help after he was caught with prescription drugs and the AFL deregistered him.

Cousins would be still using and playing football if the cops hadn't pulled him over.

Cousins only got off because the diazepam they found wasn't in an injectable form.

 

[Tex Walker]

You people are so dumb, do you know how many players i have seen off there face on Saturday nights? I have no problem with cousins doing drugs, the fact is it wouldn't be a problem if the media didn't have to think they are doing everybody a favor by telling everyone. It wouldn't have broken any kids hearts if the media didn't tell everyone, why does cousins have to be a role model... have you ever thought that he only wants to play football and not have to be the perfect golden boy everybody looks up to? I don't see how it is all his fault that he has set such a bad image for kids to take drugs if it is that much of an issue don't put it all over the news. At the end of the day why does he have top show remorse, he has never hurt anyone nor has he done anything wrong. How many actors do you think are on drugs.. we dont see the media finding out every actor or singer who takes drugs and then calling the a disgrace. They dont have to be tested for illicit drugs, why should footballers, if it isn't performance enhancing then leave it to the police.

 

[blue gunslinger]

He got off not due to the Poison's Act but because the police stuffed things up and had to cover their asses as a PR exercise