The Serve

Cousins apology a sorry affair

By Mat Thompson

Ben Cousins 90 seconds of inane, heartless, lily-livered, fake dribble, disguised as an apology, has lead me to one conclusion.

He, the West Coast Eagles and the AFL all think we are stupid.

Ben Cousins has won a premiership with the Eagles, won the 2005 Brownlow medal and has been selected in all-Australian teams six times.

He’s paid up to $800,000 a year to play AFL football, the majority of that cash comes from sponsors and out of the pockets of the fans that pay to attend games.

You would think then, that Cousins owes something to the game of Australian rules football.

Obviously not.

If you ever needed evidence that Ben Cousins is a smug, self-absorbed ungrateful blight on sport, than take a look at his list of indiscressions, which actually occupy their own page on Wikipedia. Surely a first for a footballer.

September 2002: Fights with team mate, and fellow meathead Daniel Kerr at an Eagles end of season party. Cousins punches Kerr, who intern throws him down the stairs. Cousins breaks his arm. Intelligent stuff.

May 2005: Cousins and former team mate Michael Gardiner are alleged to be involved with a group of Perth underworld figures. It’s claimed they took phone calls both before, and after a gangland stabbing and shooting. They deny having anything to do with the incident and refuse to co-operate with the police investigations.

February 2006: Cousins stops his car over in the middle of a Perth freeway and runs away from a Police booze bus. Pleads guilty to obstructing Police and obstructing traffic, and is fined $900. Resigns as captain, but is retained by the club despite being on his last warning.

December 2006: Pictures of Cousins, asleep slumped in a gutter outside Crown Casino are published nationwide. He spends several hours in a Melbourne gaol. But the Eagles club, despite the fact their man is on his -1 chance, take no action, claiming the media embarrassment is sufficient punishment.

March 2007: Cousins has a bender out on the town, skips two training sessions the next day, and is indefinitely suspended by the club on full pay. The Eagles later confirm he has a substance abuse problem.

The bleeding heart supporters and media commentators say “Ben Cousins has an illness, he needs to be allowed to sort it out.”

Well, Cousins is in a better position to “sort it out” than most.

Not only does he check-in at drug rehab’s equivalent of the MGM Grand, he doesn’t even have to pay for it, despite earning 10 times what the average person would dream of.

The facts are these.

Ben Cousins is a grown man, yet he has to be told to apologise for the irreparable damage he has caused to the sport that has provided him with the privileged life he leads.

The apology he does give is scripted by a bunch of lawyers, and delivered in his typically arrogant and snide manner. It has as much sincerity as a door-to-door insurance salesman.

Cousins refuses answer the questions the public want answered, via the media. We deserve an explanation. He should be forthcoming with one.

What makes this saga even worse is that Cousins continues to be revered in Perth. Eagles fans still love him - he is looked upon as a martyr of sorts. They too have something to answer for.

Make no mistake, Cousins will play again this season.

All that matters to the West Coast Eagles Football club is winning matches, and then premierships.

He will continue to earn ludicrous money to play football, and be as untouchable as ever.

All the while the wider public will be expected to put up and shut up.

There is no place for people like Cousins in sport. He should have been kicked out of the game years ago.

But doing that would require strong leadership.

Keep dreaming.