Such is Life- Ben Cousins doco

[esquilax]

Can't say I've even heard of it

Happy to read it if you can shoot me a link

I'll PM you. There are findings/critique/comment on the web if you Google "Cowan Scudamore West Coast" - I haven't found the full report text for a while - maybe it has been taken down?

 

[Xavi6]

A PDF of the report is the first result when you hit Google.

 

[esquilax]

A PDF of the report is the first result when you hit Google.

Thanks - I didn't actually try it myself.

 

[billyboy 21]

It's called Duty-Of-Care. Everyone is owed it. Not surprisingly one of the reforms the AwFL have tried to implement is a training program on Duty Of Care at all clubs, especially West Coast.

You talk as if none of your players have touched or have been CONVICTED of possesing drugs. Short memory. Too much cannabis use?

 

[eaglefreak]

You talk as if none of your players have touched or have been CONVICTED of possesing drugs. Short memory. Too much cannabis use?

And some back ally coke snorting........sorry,sorry it was only my first time...lol

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Have you read the Cowan/Scudmore report into West Coast?

Ok - so just read it - interesting read.

I still don't see where is highlights actual evidence though of illegal behaviour - poor behaviour sure.

Simply the shortcomings of the club from 2001 for about 5 years in two matters in particular
* Not taking enough investigation
* Not addressing the poor leadership set by Cousins and Gardiner.

So whilst clearly action wasn't taken soon enough - I still don't see evidence from where a player could be sacked?

Again - i point out that there are players at injunction that have leadership roles. It's not right or wrong - but we are hardly on our pat malone.

 

[Adam Selwood]

Sensational viewing

Ben is such a likeable bloke, hurts that we ever had to let him go

It must be said though that thus far (not sure how part 2 will end up) it doesn't exactly do a lot to discourage drug use. It kinda made me want to go and annihilate as much drugs as I can

 

[swannies]

Sensational viewing

Ben is such a likeable bloke, hurts that we ever had to let him go

It must be said though that thus far (not sure how part 2 will end up) it doesn't exactly do a lot to discourage drug use. It kinda made me want to go and annihilate as much drugs as I can

What hurts AS, is we had to let him go for nothing, not a F'ng cracker in return for a great player, that's what still peeves me about the whole situation.

 

[Art OF war]

Ok - so just read it - interesting read.

I still don't see where is highlights actual evidence though of illegal behaviour - poor behaviour sure.

Simply the shortcomings of the club from 2001 for about 5 years in two matters in particular
* Not taking enough investigation
* Not addressing the poor leadership set by Cousins and Gardiner.

So whilst clearly action wasn't taken soon enough - I still don't see evidence from where a player could be sacked?

Again - i point out that there are players at injunction that have leadership roles. It's not right or wrong - but we are hardly on our pat malone.

Is this done by you? Could you please PM me the the players at injuction who have leadership roles?

Lots of love,

AOW

 

[swannies]

Ok - so just read it - interesting read.

I still don't see where is highlights actual evidence though of illegal behaviour - poor behaviour sure.

Simply the shortcomings of the club from 2001 for about 5 years in two matters in particular
* Not taking enough investigation
* Not addressing the poor leadership set by Cousins and Gardiner.

So whilst clearly action wasn't taken soon enough - I still don't see evidence from where a player could be sacked?

Again - i point out that there are players at injunction that have leadership roles. It's not right or wrong - but we are hardly on our pat malone.

That's because it doesn't, from memory, FS. It lists 17? improper behaviour occurrences, of which about 15 are normal footballer behaviour. I find it hishly amusing that a supporter from another club would be saying go and read, without having read it first!

 

[The Falcon Strike]

That's because it doesn't, from memory, FS. It lists 17? improper behaviour occurrences, of which about 15 are normal footballer behaviour. I find it hishly amusing that a supporter from another club would be saying go and read, without having read it first!

It's actually a good read - sets home what our club was poor at for those years, what we needed to improve and what steps we have taken to do so.

Clearly success masks a lot of evils.

As an example - aker's behaviour is tolerated by 2 clubs whilst winning games of footy. As soon as his form drops - he's given the lemon and sars

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Is this done by you? Could you please PM me the the players at injuction who have leadership roles?

Lots of love,

AOW

It's not the captain

 

[Freo Blood]

That was fascinating,

A few observations:

The blanked out pics, I believe there was Gardiner in 1, Kerr in another and I'm adimant that Fletch was in 2, especially in 1 where Ben was off his nut. Of Fletch, I am completely convinced.

I believe everything Ben has said as bring honest and factual, with the exception of the Mainwaring Death. There were long thoughtful pausescin there. The whole thing was completely skimmed over. Sure, there was talk of him being a mentor and devestation after the death, but nothing mentioned of the night. What did they talk about on the night. Why did Ben come over? Nothing.

My despise of Woosha grows by the day. Looking back on 06, 07 interviews, Woosha being staunchly defensive and saying we gave no evidence so therefore everything is AOK.

No one but Ben is to blame. But the the whole club played it's part in years of coverups. The whole lot of them should have been sacked.

The untold stories, police coverups, hushing the press, people would have been paid not to talk. Discussions with officials and how he lied his way through.

The Doco is very good, but it does jump quickly from one person and story & period to the next. It never fully explores any one single incident in great detail.

Finally a reality check from a fan. Not saying any club wouldn't have done the same but WCE knew full well what Ben was up to (there was plenty of surveillance footage in the doco), everyone else in Perth did.

They chose to ignore the problem in pursuit of the holy grail which was achieved. The result was a lot of pain and contributed to the quick slide down the ladder now via losing Judd and Cuz and the so called "lost years" while rebuilding the culture of the club.

The docco has softened my opinion of him a bit though.

 

[esquilax]

I find it hishly amusing that a supporter from another club would be saying go and read, without having read it first!

Wow. Big leap there. Good job.

Denial runs deep eh?

 

[Magnum27]

Watched the doco last night, and whilst i agree our club could have done a little more and maybe acted a bit quicker, to those that say they asked him and he denied it, please, with all the whispers going around surely they would have done a bit more investigating.

It seems a certain family member knew about this the whole time and let it slide, if it was my brother i would have made sure it was known to all what was going on for his own safety straight away.

It's amazing after seeing and listening to all the drug use that he is still alive.

And to those knobheads that say he hasn't apologised, other than maybe his family ( which he most likely has done in private ), who does he owe an apology to. He definately doesn't owe me one, nor do i think he owes anyone else within the general public an apology.

 

[esquilax]

who does he owe an apology to

The Mainwairing family?

 

[since95]

Questions I have always wanted answered, and after viewing the first half of the doco, still want answered:

1. How did Ben manage not to test positive at all, in from what the doco portrays, is at least 2 years of reasonably heavy drug use as a high-level AFL player??

2. How complicit were other teammates and senior officials at the club in allowing him to continue his lifestyle as long as he was performing on-field? Particularly in regards to the coaches/medical staff - are they not under any obligation to report suspected drug use? Surely it must have been visible - his family(sisters) seemed pretty aware from pretty early on.

3. Now that this doco has come out, when is there going to be closer scrutiny between what was being said at the time by the club etc, and what this doco is now saying was actually going on?

4. Ben states he never took "performance enhancing" drugs, and never took drugs on game day or the day before. That is fine. But amphetamines are performance enhancing in their own right - just ask the Tour riders from the 80s and 90s. As a player who was renowned for his running stamina and training ethic, did Ben ever use amphetamines to help him train harder, and thus get fitter/stronger quicker?? This is just as performance enhancing as taking something on gameday, and is in fact the way most athletes who are drug cheats operate - steroid use, for instance, is prmiarily done in the pre-season.

I also have questions with regards to clearly showing Ben taking illegal drugs, and proceeds of crime etc etc stemming from this doco.

My other thoughts coming out of last night is that Sam Druce must have a LOT of interesting stories, and I think she has shown a lot of class in keeping quiet - imagine the fortune she could have made in selling her story to the media.

I still have trouble believing that he is genuinely repentant - laughing about how "Nina and Suzy...they were good times...til I ended up in the back of an ambulance" did him no favours in my eyes. He still seems to think it was all a big joke.

 

[Audacious]

Clearly success masks a lot of evils.

As an example - aker's behaviour is tolerated by 2 clubs whilst winning games of footy. As soon as his form drops - he's given the lemon and sars

and aint that the truth. Coaches will find themselves between a rock and a hard place whenever a star player is misbehaving. Coaches are appointed and payed to guide the club to success, but what can you do when the success of a club can hinge on 1 or 2 blokes?

Im sure Worsfold knew more than what he is letting on. But when fans/sponsors/members are desperate for success during the premiership window, and your clubs greatest player is hitting the gear, you really have to decide between your job and someones life. I think Woosha thought he could keep Ben under wraps long enough to win a premiership, and only when he achieved that, would he seriously punish Ben. But by then it was too late.

Still, the moment the siren rang at the end of the 2006 grand final was one of the best moments of my life. Its kind of shocking to think that it came at the expense of Cousins' health, but there is no way we would have won it without him. Very conflicting when you reflect upon that period. Just hope he manages to live past 50 not just because of the great memories he gave Eagles fans, but he genuinely seems like a good bloke who went down the wrong path at a very young age.

I too was shocked to learn that he was on the gear in high school. Most Eagles supporters probably had no idea back in 1996. How could we? It was only around 2002 or thereabouts when Gardiner and Cousins first started making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

4. Ben states he never took "performance enhancing" drugs, and never took drugs on game day or the day before. That is fine. But amphetamines are performance enhancing in their own right - just ask the Tour riders from the 80s and 90s. As a player who was renowned for his running stamina and training ethic, did Ben ever use amphetamines to help him train harder, and thus get fitter/stronger quicker?? This is just as performance enhancing as taking something on gameday, and is in fact the way most athletes who are drug cheats operate - steroid use, for instance, is prmiarily done in the pre-season.

look up the rules - coke and amphetamines are only deemed performance enhacing if in the system on gameday - that's the impartial rules set down by WADA. taking them outside of gameday, for training or whatever are not deemed performance enhancing. thems the facts.

taking steroids in a pre-season or out of season or in season is deemed performance enhancing.

There's no grey line, it's black and white. It's like claiming caffeine use is performance enhancing. It's allowed within the rules - so they are not cheating

 

[Magnum27]

The Mainwairing family?

Why ?

Chris was a grown man and i'm sure he was aware of the possible results if he did drugs.

Why didn't Mainy's other half put him in when she was aware of what he was doing, another person that allowed all this to keep happening, sadly most likely thought she was doing the right thing by saying nothing, and trying to help him herself.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Im sure Worsfold knew more than what he is letting on. But when fans/sponsors/members are desperate for success during the premiership window, and your clubs greatest player is hitting the gear, you really have to decide between your job and someones life. I think Woosha thought he could keep Ben under wraps long enough to win a premiership, and only when he achieved that, would he seriously punish Ben. But by then it was too late.

Clearly he did suspect it - however it's what you can prove, not what you think you know. What the reports shows is that the club didn't take enough steps to try and prove it.

I was in London in 2001/2002 and I knew about Cousins and Gardiner being caught on a phone-tap. All of Perth "knew" it.

Turns out - it wasn't Cousins and Gardiner at all! So you have to be careful with what is fact and what is supposition.

I might just add - there is one bloke on our list still who HAS numerous evidence pieces against him for improper drug involvements - and I don't see anyone calling for his head

 

[Audacious]

no surprise that of the 15 AFL clubs, its mostly Fremantle supporters wading in here with "questions" to ask. Youre not fooling anybody you trolls. Youre desperately want to see some sort of evidence that makes our premiership in 2006 revoked or something.

And Cousins owes you nothing. So piss off flogs.

 

[Audacious]

I still have trouble believing that he is genuinely repentant - laughing about how "Nina and Suzy...they were good times...til I ended up in the back of an ambulance" did him no favours in my eyes. He still seems to think it was all a big joke.

Shit the bloke isnt even allowed to have a sense of humour for the rest of his life is he? We won the cup that year and you didnt. Get over it.

 

[esquilax]

Why ?

Because you seem content to carry on as if Cousins' action effected no-one else when this is clearly NOT the case.

 

[esquilax]

no surprise that of the 15 AFL clubs, its mostly Fremantle supporters wading in here with "questions" to ask. Youre not fooling anybody you trolls. Youre desperately want to see some sort of evidence that makes our premiership in 2006 revoked or something.

And Cousins owes you nothing. So piss off flogs.

No, we want you to understand what you were worshipping, and the club culture (hopefully now past) that was in place.