Cousins or Pratt? Who has brought the game into disrepute more?

[plugger47]

How do you know that it's the laundering money? Most of the money that has come into Carlton has been from Fundraisers from other high profile Carlton supporters such as Ahmed Fahour. Dick Pratt really has not put much of his own money into Carlton.

Spot on. He has put our money in. The money he scammed off pensioners the low paid and the battlers. Hero

 

[mediumsizered]

Spot on. He has put our money in. The money he scammed off pensioners the low paid and the battlers. Hero

Is that similar to the money that the supermarket giants rip-off each & everyone of us on a daily basis, without a whimper from anyone? Or perhaps it's similar to the money that the supermarket giants refuse to pay to primary producers as a fair price for their produce. Isn't it amazing that people are prepared to buy products that have up to a 1000% mark up & not worry about it? Of course there is no law against the way the supermarkets operate, so it must be ok. Obviously there are different classes of rip-offs.

 

[mediumsizered]

Pratt wins hands down and he has made a sqillian out of every man woman and child in Australia.He should be facing 3 years jail and not be able to sit on any board let alone be the President of the Carlton Footy Club.Why is it that Carlton seem to always attract these type of Presidents.The Libs are pathethic in allowing this law to stagnate in limbo and the AFL have no balls either.Regarding Ben he just needs a kick in the arse for being a dick head.

Tell me something, has anyone associated with Ben Cousins, & the late Chris Mainwaring for that matter, dobbed in the dealer/s who has been supplying drugs to these two (among others)? If not, are those who know the dealer/s guilty of perverting the course of justice? Because if these people aren't prepared to reveal to the police who the supplier is, how many drug addicts, who don't have the ability to buy the quality stuff like Cousins can, are going to die while Cousins pretends to be in rehab? In fact how many have already died thanks to this lack of information?

What is worse, price-fixing or drug addicts dying on the streets because certain people won't dob in their dealers? I wonder how many of you have seen a drug addict digging into their flesh trying to remove the demons they think are coursing through their veins. Badly self mutilating themselves & endangering those around them.

How many armed robberies are the result of people who have been affected by price-fixing? I doubt the service-station attendant who was stabbed at Thomastown yesterday afternoon was the victim of someone affected by price-fixing? You say Ben Cousins is in need of a swift kick in the back side for being a dick head. He is in need of a major reality check, because until he & any other AFL player who has a drug addiction gives information to the police in relation to their suppliers, they are allowing the lives of many young people to be permanently & sometimes mortally impacted & that is a lot worse than price-fixing.

 

[Tyger]

What has the actions of Richard Pratt/Visy between 2001 & 2004 got to do with the Carlton Football Club in 2007? The 2 are totally separate. It is not that hard to work out. If you want to talk about bringing the game into disrepute, how about the Essendon/Hawthorn 'line in the sand' game? Or Kevin Sheedy running his finger across his throat in a threatening action & then belting his fist into his hand after pointing at an opposition player? These are incidents that happened on the football field, not in the business world, totally removed from the AFL.

Or Brendan Fevola putting an Irishmans head in a head lock whilst an ambassador of our great game abroad.

 

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Tell me something, has anyone associated with Ben Cousins, & the late Chris Mainwaring for that matter, dobbed in the dealer/s who has been supplying drugs to these two (among others)? If not, are those who know the dealer/s guilty of perverting the course of justice? Because if these people aren't prepared to reveal to the police who the supplier is, how many drug addicts, who don't have the ability to buy the quality stuff like Cousins can, are going to die while Cousins pretends to be in rehab? In fact how many have already died thanks to this lack of information?

What is worse, price-fixing or drug addicts dying on the streets because certain people won't dob in their dealers? I wonder how many of you have seen a drug addict digging into their flesh trying to remove the demons they think are coursing through their veins. Badly self mutilating themselves & endangering those around them.

How many armed robberies are the result of people who have been affected by price-fixing? I doubt the service-station attendant who was stabbed at Thomastown yesterday afternoon was the victim of someone affected by price-fixing? You say Ben Cousins is in need of a swift kick in the back side for being a dick head. He is in need of a major reality check, because until he & any other AFL player who has a drug addiction gives information to the police in relation to their suppliers, they are allowing the lives of many young people to be permanently & sometimes mortally impacted & that is a lot worse than price-fixing.

Unfortunately suppliers, like crime will always exist. Naming one or two will not solve much. They would only be replaced by others that dare to live off other's addictions. Ben Cousins is an addict. As I said earlier and despite some ignorance, addiction is a medical condition. The guy might be a "dick head" as well, but his behaviour is modified by the fact that he has a craving for ice. He should not be judged too harshly by others. The stupid thing he did was getting onto the substance in the first place. None of us here know what the circumstances in his life were that led him to do this either. Everything else after that can be attributed to his brain's craving for metamphetamine.

Mediumsizered, you show a lot of naivety when it comes to this discussion. You have a very simplistic attitude to a very complex problem. If it was as easy as you say it is, then drugs and their associated problems would have been cleaned up ages ago. As a moderator I would have expected much more from you!

 

[mediumsizered]

Or Brendan Fevola putting an Irishmans head in a head lock whilst an ambassador of our great game abroad.

And rightly he was kicked off the Australian team & kicked out of Ireland. And yesterday we have another AFL player (David Johnson) in court & being fined for pathetic behaviour. Scott Thompson is allegedly in trouble for his behaviour while allegedly behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Andrew Krakouer is still facing serious charges. Michael Voss, Simon Black, Fraser Gehrig & Stevie Lawrence were recently in court & received various punishments. Of course Fraser Gehrig had also previously been in court on charges relating to urinating on a Table Games Dealer.

For some reason, football supporters brush these & the dozens of other misdemeanours off as young blokes being foolish. Yet they make our game & the clubs look foolish & bring the game into disrepute. Of course I don't advocate the AFL charging all of these players with bringing the game into disrepute on the basis on one slip up, but I do advocate charging those with a history of several misdemeanours with bringing the game into disrepute. I also think it is time the AFL & a certain club/s stopped hiding behind ridiculous rules & injunctions aimed at protecting those who have used drugs on more than one occasion. These players are bringing the game into disrepute & are being protected while they do it.

 

[iRemember87]

Or Brendan Fevola putting an Irishmans head in a head lock whilst an ambassador of our great game abroad.

Contribute with something related to the topic....comparing a headlock to drugs or corporate corruption....you are a tool!!!

 

[Tyger]

And rightly he was kicked off the Australian team & kicked out of Ireland. And yesterday we have another AFL player (David Johnson) in court & being fined for pathetic behaviour. Scott Thompson is allegedly in trouble for his behaviour while allegedly behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Andrew Krakouer is still facing serious charges. Michael Voss, Simon Black, Fraser Gehrig & Stevie Lawrence were recently in court & received various punishments. Of course Fraser Gehrig had also previously been in court on charges relating to urinating on a Table Games Dealer.

For some reason, football supporters brush these & the dozens of other misdemeanours off as young blokes being foolish. Yet they make our game & the clubs look foolish & bring the game into disrepute. Of course I don't advocate the AFL charging all of these players with bringing the game into disrepute on the basis on one slip up, but I do advocate charging those with a history of several misdemeanours with bringing the game into disrepute. I also think it is time the AFL & a certain club/s stopped hiding behind ridiculous rules & injunctions aimed at protecting those who have used drugs on more than one occasion. These players are bringing the game into disrepute & are being protected while they do it.

So Benny has been singled out whilst others go free. Maybe Andy D has brought the game into disrepute by not acting consistently to keep the "BRAND" shiney.

 

[Tyger]

Contribute with something related to the topic....comparing a headlock to drugs or corporate corruption....you are a tool!!!

I'll write slowly so that you can read it. "......... has brought the game into disrepute." Pratt and Cousins both committed their little indiscretions outside of football. Brendan was an ambassador of the AFL on an AFL sanctioned tour and expelled from Ireland.

Is this related enough f@ckwit?

 

[Monkey King]

Spot on. He has put our money in. The money he scammed off pensioners the low paid and the battlers. Hero

What are you, the editor responsible for Today Tonight's blow up of stories? Oh the pensioners, low paid and the battlers..... hahaha! That's so funny. Yes, the price fixed cardboard was only sold to battlers, the rich got the real price..... surely you can't actually believe what your writing, if do, it kinda takes all the humour out of it.

And for your information, Pratt keeps his money in seperate accounts. That of price fixing from the rich is kept a Swiss account, that from the poor is in the Bahamas and his blood, sweat and tears account, money he earned as a battler building his business from the ground up, is the one he dips into for the Blues

Feel better now princess.

 

[mediumsizered]

So Benny has been singled out whilst others go free. Maybe Andy D has brought the game into disrepute by not acting consistently to keep the "BRAND" shiney.

Of course you don't even believe that yourself, because you know as well as I do that him being charged by the AFL is the result of a number of misdemeanours culminating in his own club finally wiping their hands of him. Anyone that thinks poor old Benny has been singled out is kidding themselves. He is sitting in the U.S. at the moment living it up, not giving a crap about deregistration, the possible loss of sponsors by his ex-club, the fact the club has lost 2 of the competition's best midfielders, virtually in one hit.

He hasn't been singled out, his inappropriate behaviour has finally caught up with him. He thought he was bigger than the game, bigger than his club, bigger than the state he lives in, but the chickens have well & truly come home to roost for him.

 

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Of course you don't even believe that yourself, because you know as well as I do that him being charged by the AFL is the result of a number of misdemeanours culminating in his own club finally wiping their hands of him. Anyone that thinks poor old Benny has been singled out is kidding themselves. He is sitting in the U.S. at the moment living it up, not giving a crap about deregistration, the possible loss of sponsors by his ex-club, the fact the club has lost 2 of the competition's best midfielders, virtually in one hit.

He hasn't been singled out, his inappropriate behaviour has finally caught up with him. He thought he was bigger than the game, bigger than his club, bigger than the state he lives in, but the chickens have well & truly come home to roost for him.

Gee wiz, I didn't realize you had a private detective following him everywhere and reporting back to you daily on what Ben Cousins is doing!
How on earth would you know otherwise what he is doing.

As a moderator you should know you are bordering on slander and defamation of character. Who the hell is moderating you?

 

[mediumsizered]

Gee wiz, I didn't realize you had a private detective following him everywhere and reporting back to you daily on what Ben Cousins is doing!
How on earth would you know otherwise what he is doing.

As a moderator you should know you are bordering on slander and defamation of character. Who the hell is moderating you?

Prove me wrong. He is not exactly doing it tough by staying in backpackers' accommodation. A great image portrayed by being picked up by a couple of chicks in a Mercedes Benz. Are we to believe he is living in squats or on the streets like many drug users? I don't think so. Your sympathy is severely displaced.

 

[TigersForever]

Prove me wrong. He is not exactly doing it tough by staying in backpackers' accommodation. A great image portrayed by being picked up by a couple of chicks in a Mercedes Benz. Are we to believe he is living in squats or on the streets like many drug users? I don't think so. Your sympathy is severely displaced.

The guy was on $500,000+ a year. Give me a break, do you really think he'd stay at a backpackers? Yet I don't think a drug rehab centre is a place that you'd like to stay at mediumsizered. Have you actually ever been to one to see how they all live the high life there? Even the so called luxury ones aren't that friendly. After all they are trying to get you off drugs and have people withdrawing there.

You are a fool mediumsizered. How did they allow you to be a moderator? They really dropped the standards for you!

 

[mediumsizered]

The guy was on $500,000+ a year. Give me a break, do you really think he'd stay at a backpackers? Yet I don't think a drug rehab centre is a place that you'd like to stay at mediumsizered. Have you actually ever been to one to see how they all live the high life there? Even the so called luxury ones aren't that friendly. After all they are trying to get you off drugs and have people withdrawing there.

You are a fool mediumsizered. How did they allow you to be a moderator? They really dropped the standards for you!

Thank you for your vote of confidence. BTW, he was reported to have been on close to $800k a year & up until a few days ago he had not checked into the rehab centre. When he does he certainly won't be living the high life, but prior to that I don't exactly think he is in need of anyone's sympathy.

FWIW, moderators are entitled to an opinion as well.

 

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Well said TF.

Mediumsizered must be the most ignorant mod on BF. Fancy saying he is living the high life in a drug rehab centre. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
His simplistic views on drug addiction are scary to say the least. Where are the other mods to put him in his place?

 

[Bomber Man]

Why don't we ask the AFL to give Pratt the same amount of warnings, chances and support they and WC have given Cousins over the years and see if he repeats the behaviour over and over and over and over and over again like Ben..?

And as I've said previously on these types of threads, I haven't seen too many posters of Pratt around over the years promoting the AFL... a more public face is a more public pr disaster.

 

[ToO]

Demetriou or Anderson? should be the choices.

 

[motr]

Cousins has brought the game into disrepute. There is no doubt about that. However, the inaction of his club and the AFL did even more damage. Most of us accept that drug use is a huge issue in our society and that young footballers belong to a very susceptible group. Only the naive are surprised when a footballer gets caught out for drug use. Despite this, when a superstar like Cousins gets caught out the resulting media blitzkrieg does immense damage to the game. Cousins ego, the inaction of his club and an impotent AFL intensified the damage.

In my opinion Pratt's illegal activities are far worse than those committed by Cousins. If John Howard's promise to criminalise price fixing was kept the public's perception of Pratt's thieving would be significantly different. Pratt is not some glorified jaywalker he is a conman of the worst variety. However, because Pratt is not a football idol he will never get the same media attention as Cousins.

Not really sure who will end up causing the most damage to the game. The key difference between the two is that while the AFL finally acted to stop the damage caused by Cousins, Pratt has been left to fester.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I'm not sure who I care about less .. Cousins or Pratt. They're both tossers of the highest order.

 

[- PC -]

Unfortunately suppliers, like crime will always exist. Naming one or two will not solve much. They would only be replaced by others that dare to live off other's addictions. Ben Cousins is an addict.

You would be surprised at what he actually is

The guy might be a "dick head" as well, but his behaviour is modified by the fact that he has a craving for ice.

Or justified?

He should not be judged too harshly by others. The stupid thing he did was getting onto the substance in the first place. None of us here know what the circumstances in his life were that led him to do this either.

Yep the broken home the nightly beatings the lack of food every night the friends that suicided every week, I mean private schools and a loving supportive family, adulation of millions , money , women,...its enough to drive me to drugs as well. Stop making excuses

Mediumsizered, you show a lot of naivety when it comes to this discussion.

PKB

 

[The Donners]

Thank you for your vote of confidence. BTW, he was reported to have been on close to $800k a year & up until a few days ago he had not checked into the rehab centre. When he does he certainly won't be living the high life, but prior to that I don't exactly think he is in need of anyone's sympathy.

FWIW, moderators are entitled to an opinion as well.

You have no proof he did or didn't attend rehab. It's patient confidentiality for such a centre to withhold any information relating to a possible patient.

Perhaps you should do your research.

 

[mediumsizered]

You have no proof he did or didn't attend rehab. It's patient confidentiality for such a centre to withhold any information relating to a possible patient.

Perhaps you should do your research.

Given it has been reported on SEN that he is back in Australia, if that is true, we can safely assume that he is not in rehab & therefore the trip to the U.S. was nothing more than a holiday.

Don't make the mistake of feeling sorry for this guy. Save your sympathy for those AFL players a little more deserving, those who have suffered setbacks that have been out of their control eg Adam Ramanauskas, Tom Lonergan & Jason McCartney.

 

[The Donners]

Given it has been reported on SEN that he is back in Australia, if that is true, we can safely assume that he is not in rehab & therefore the trip to the U.S. was nothing more than a holiday.

Don't make the mistake of feeling sorry for this guy. Save your sympathy for those AFL players a little more deserving, those who have suffered setbacks that have been out of their control eg Adam Ramanauskas, Tom Lonergan & Jason McCartney.

I have NO sympathy for Ben Cousins! With all due respect I would take SEN information with a grain of salt. That is the same radio station that feels sorry for Brian Cousins, yet the same radio station that allows hours of innuendo and false accusations each day regarding Ben Cousins.

Do not consuse the fact that I acknowledge Ben Cousins has drug issues with a feeling of sympathy or sorrow for him. As the old saying goes, lay with dogs and wake up with fleas... or if you prefer, if you make your bed you must sleep in it.

I don't however condone media harassment and public innuendo. Although I sound a little self righteous I am not, we all have our skeletons, but we have the fortune of privacy when dealing with whatever situation we may have involved ourselves, I believe it is a human being's right to such freedom, even Ben Cousins.

Kind Regards
Nelson Mandela

 

[Jimthegreat]

Cousins has brought the game into disrepute. There is no doubt about that. However, the inaction of his club and the AFL did even more damage. Most of us accept that drug use is a huge issue in our society and that young footballers belong to a very susceptible group. Only the naive are surprised when a footballer gets caught out for drug use. Despite this, when a superstar like Cousins gets caught out the resulting media blitzkrieg does immense damage to the game. Cousins ego, the inaction of his club and an impotent AFL intensified the damage.

In my opinion Pratt's illegal activities are far worse than those committed by Cousins. If John Howard's promise to criminalise price fixing was kept the public's perception of Pratt's thieving would be significantly different. Pratt is not some glorified jaywalker he is a conman of the worst variety. However, because Pratt is not a football idol he will never get the same media attention as Cousins.

Not really sure who will end up causing the most damage to the game. The key difference between the two is that while the AFL finally acted to stop the damage caused by Cousins, Pratt has been left to fester.

In your opinion Pratt's activities are far worse simply because he's president of Carlton. If he was president of Collingwood you'd be defending him.