What the hell does this mean?

[SteeleAt11]

Asked during question time why the Magpies had baulked at recruiting Ben Cousins after a six-month investigation, McGuire said the fallen Eagle "wasn't ready" for a comeback until late November/early December.
"We've learnt with due diligence from the pubs (the financial losses); we went into it wanting to recruit Ben Cousins, but he wasn't ready," McGuire said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24816755-19742,00.html


Is he saying they found out he wouldn't pass the hair drug test until December???

 

[Dave The Man]

Asked during question time why the Magpies had baulked at recruiting Ben Cousins after a six-month investigation, McGuire said the fallen Eagle "wasn't ready" for a comeback until late November/early December.
"We've learnt with due diligence from the pubs (the financial losses); we went into it wanting to recruit Ben Cousins, but he wasn't ready," McGuire said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24816755-19742,00.html


Is he saying they found out he wouldn't pass the hair drug test until December???

Sounds like they thought he was still on Drugs or something like that

 

[pendles]

Sounds like they thought he was still on Drugs or something like that

Didn't think the new skipper could keep him under control. Pendles would have sorted him out.

 

[On the March]

http://afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/208/Default.aspx?newsId=70776

in this article on the AFL website Greg Miller was supportive of Richmond and Ben but he also said.....

"He's had a few problems in the last couple of months – about four or five months ago – but he's certainly giving it his every effort and a football club can finish that rehabilitation and really assist him. "

I thought that a bit strange at the time. What was he referring to?

We will never know the whole truth. I'd have loved to have him at Collingwood but it didnt happen.

I am happier with the response Eddie has given about that decision in the last day or so.Better than the crap we were fed at the time by Pert.


Let's just let Ben do his thing now and hope it works out for him.

 

[Kirby]

I'm assuming that Ben had some sort of relapse a few months back. How long does a hair sample retain evidence? This might explain the shave down.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

^ 3 months, as I understand it. And the minimum length of hair has to be 2cm.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

IIRC, a hair sample retains evidence for as long as it's been since the hair has been growing out, plus a bit more because of the follicle (unless it's waxed out) - The hair outside your head/body itself is dead, and is just sort of a land-marker of what you were on at the time that it grew out of the follicle.

If he had a relapse four or five months ago, and hair grows at 1cm per month, and he had shortish hair at the time, and then kept it at about that length, he would have needed to shave his head to make sure that they couldn't pick up anything in a test.

This is all speculation though - I don't know how anyone, knowing the history he has, could blame the club for erring on the side of caution... Then again, I know that many people do.

 

[shawthing09]

I have said for a fair while now that until very late in the year Ben himself was not sure he even wanted to come back and play at AFL level.

 

[R.F.C 4 life]

Speculate all you want fella's! He's a Tiger now and by judging him on his press conference yesterday, he is on a new lease of life and ready to take on all comers! Watch out boys he might have something to prove to you non believers!

 

[OniAu]

Speculate all you want fella's! He's a Tiger now and by judging him on his press conference yesterday, he is on a new lease of life and ready to take on all comers! Watch out boys he might have something to prove to you non believers!

no ones ever doubted his football ability , its whether he is 100 percent over his drug addiction. Which if you werent living under a rock you would obviously have doubts about cousins not going back to his old ways.

Its good you are optimistic, surely you must have some doubt in your mind about him though, as is the case with the clubs that turned him down in the end in the pies saints and lions.

 

[Collingwoodrow]

Speculate all you want fella's! He's a Tiger now and by judging him on his press conference yesterday, he is on a new lease of life and ready to take on all comers! Watch out boys he might have something to prove to you non believers!

Don't want to rain on your parade....but judging him on his press-conference appearance is hardly validating clean living and a "new lease of life". It is a sanitised enviornment ready made for Ben to say all the right things.

Good luck to him though. I hope he makes it back to full health.

 

[SteeleAt11]

According to Karl Langdon he simply wont give up his underworld friends.. I thought it was telling that he cited them as fellow drug addicts and that he needed the assistance of those going through the same thing.. it sounds reasonable on the surface but I would have felt uneasy if he was saying it from a Collingwood presser

 

[mattys123]

It seems that if you read between the lines of Eddie's comments, saying he wasnt ready or wasnt going to be ready when we needed him, Eddie is hinting that our investigation into Cousins turned up a major problem that still existed during that time period (3-4) months ago.

This doesnt go well for his so called recovery, that only 3-4 months ago he had somewhat of a slip up.

Having said that, I wish him well, loved watching him play at WCE, but I am actually quite happy he never ended up with us, and back Collingwood's decison 100%, unlike Richmond, we investigated, weighed up the facts and made one sturn decision, and that was a clear no.

 

[R.F.C 4 life]

It seems that if you read between the lines of Eddie's comments, saying he wasnt ready or wasnt going to be ready when we needed him, Eddie is hinting that our investigation into Cousins turned up a major problem that still existed during that time period (3-4) months ago.

This doesnt go well for his so called recovery, that only 3-4 months ago he had somewhat of a slip up.

Having said that, I wish him well, loved watching him play at WCE, but I am actually quite happy he never ended up with us, and back Collingwood's decison 100%, unlike Richmond, we investigated, weighed up the facts and made one sturn decision, and that was a clear no.

Unlike Richmond my ass! The Tigers have been quoted saying that they followed his rehab progress for the past year and made a decision to draft Ben on the grounds that having assesed the circumstances, they believed that Ben and the club would benefit from having him at out club. Its more like the Tigers knew and expected to have to get their hands dirty, in order to help Ben recover from his problem, and then we would benefit from his work ethic and skills on the ground! Do you honestly believe that Ben is the only player in the AFL to have a drug problem? He will now have the right support groups placed around him and together we will work towards his recovery both on and off the field. And by the way Collingwoodrow, if you have ever followed Bens carrer you would have noticed that he has never been able to come across humble or forthright in the public arena. Being the star that he is, I think what he did yesterday on his own accord was a huge step to recovery. I appreciate all your well wishes towards him guys but like he said, he has put himself in the right position to tackle this stage of his life and I trully think that it will prove to be a beneficial decision by both him and the club!

 

[SteeleAt11]

Unlike Richmond my ass! The Tigers have been quoted saying that they followed his rehab progress for the past year and made a decision to draft Ben on the grounds that having assesed the circumstances they believed that Ben and the club would benefit from having him at out club.

Uh huh.. in the last 2 weeks he has waxed his body and cropped his hair to avoid a drug test and attended an underworld drug dealers funeral

Make no mistake, you are rolling the dice big time.. and if you did do due diligence then you have ignored it to roll the dice

 

[Smoky]

Unlike Richmond my ass! The Tigers have been quoted saying that they followed his rehab progress for the past year and made a decision to draft Ben on the grounds that having assesed the circumstances, they believed that Ben and the club would benefit from having him at out club. Its more like the Tigers knew and expected to have to get their hands dirty, in order to help Ben recover from his problem, and then we would benefit from his work ethic and skills on the ground! Do you honestly believe that Ben is the only player in the AFL to have a drug problem? He will now have the right support groups placed around him and together we will work towards his recovery both on and off the field. And by the way Collingwoodrow, if you have ever followed Bens carrer you would have noticed that he has never been able to come across humble or forthright in the public arena. Being the star that he is, I think what he did yesterday on his own accord was a huge step to recovery. I appreciate all your well wishes towards him guys but like he said, he has put himself in the right position to tackle this stage of his life and I trully think that it will prove to be a beneficial decision by both him and the club!

Time will tell... i hope you're right. But don't discount we investigated him for 6 months and didnt recruit him... along with 14 other clubs (what you're seeing now could be all smoke and mirrors... excuse the pun!)

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I tend to think that Ben will do more for Richmond off-field than on-field. He's a big boost to morale around the club, he'll attract media attention and in turn sponsor interest, and he'll mobilise the fans and get membership and memorabilia sales going.

Unfortunately for Richmond though, they already have a solid-or-better midfield. Foley/Cotchin/Deledio/Johnson goes pretty darned well by AFL standards, and while adding Cousins will be an undoubted improvement, and might lift them from 9th into finals, it won't make them a factor. In fact, it might only rob them of draft position. Whether the boost around the club offsets that, remains to be seen.

Cousins would be a far better option for a club in contention who genuinely lacks midfield grunt. North Melbourne, St. Kilda, Sydney, even Adelaide would see a greater benefit on-field from Cuz. We'd certainly fall into that category too, but we may be treading water rather than being real contenders after the losses of Bucks/Burns/Licca/Clement/Wakes in successive seasons.

 

[favourites]

Eddie at the AGM stated that he was told by the HS that if we drafted ben they would have two reporters assigned just to him fir the season. It was believed that the risks weren't worth taking.

 

[Godfrey Jones]

^even that reason doesnt sound good enough to not have drafted him

i hope te club has made a wise decision - only time will tell

if it does bite us on the ass though i wont be too bitter, right now im very happy continuing with our youth

 

[RRRooocccaaa]

Eddie at the AGM stated that he was told by the HS that if we drafted ben they would have two reporters assigned just to him fir the season. It was believed that the risks weren't worth taking.

So Ben could have been the Decoy for Dids and Heater! Could have worked beautifully...

 

[R.F.C 4 life]

Eddie at the AGM stated that he was told by the HS that if we drafted ben they would have two reporters assigned just to him fir the season. It was believed that the risks weren't worth taking.

My point exactly! The pies were gutless and were not willing to take a risk that would benefit the club on the field and off the field (Where you guys lets be honest, had a shocking year financially!). The Tigers knew its was a risk but were willing to show some heart and lend a hand to a superstar player who is clearly trying to get his life back on track!

 

[Godfrey Jones]

So Ben could have been the Decoy for Dids and Heater! Could have worked beautifully...

we need some thinkers like you at the club, Rrrooocccaaa!