It took an almost countless number of misdemeanours, but finally the West Coast Eagles have put the game above themselves. We must however remember one important detail: Cousins has not been sacked, but suspended ‘indefinitely’. Let’s not pat West Coast on the back just yet. Their stance is commendable but all they’ve done so far is ruled him out for round one.
What is plainly obvious is Cousins has a raft of personal issues, the consensus being drugs related. Clearly a dark time, he must be looked at as a person and not a commodity. One hopes he recovers, no matter many games he may miss in the process. It may be a month before we see him on a field, it may be a year. He may have missed a drugs test and he may he have been forced to pee in the cup late Monday, but remember what sport we are dealing with. Even if he tests positive to a trifecta or a quadrella of non-performance enhancing drugs, Cousins will be protected by the ludicrous three strikes and out rule. That makes headlines suggesting he may never play again appear to be nothing more than convenient hyperbole.
Football may or may not have been the reason Cousins problems arose, but football itself is not the problem. Drugs are. Playing or not playing football is not going to stop that. The bare facts are he makes too much money out of the game to quit, and he is far too talented to be ignored. If clubs were lining up to get a piece of Cousins beleaguered teammate Michael Gardiner last year, can you imagine the frenzy if Cousins was to go on the open market? At 29 he has a good three or four years left. That’s if the Eagles even sack him. They’ve hit him with a lettuce leaf in the past and have a rock star mentality with their matchwinners.
Now they have a chance to prove that wrong.
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The interview: Tadhg Kennelly |
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