Ben Cousins

[MCG-Unit]

Yes I would have Cousins at the Saints in a heartbeat
Everyone deserve a second chance

Anyway they can draft the devil himself, if it helps them win games

[Kate]

It would be his third chance.

He had his second chance at the Eagles. Stuffed it.

[kickittokosi!!!!]

I think St Kilda should definitely look at Ben Cousins.

Not only is he a great football player, but this could be embraced by the club as an opportunity to address a very real & concerning issue in our community.
Illicit Drug Use.

St Kilda could try to 'spin' this into a community awareness type of issue.

With our already established community based programs e.g. St Kilda Hearts(?) (homeless/disadvantaged team ???), i think it could be a real possiblility and could be a great fit.

Am i a bit off track here? Opinions anyone (friendly please)?

[Saints Premiers 2008]

Wouldn't be healthy for him or a certain ruckmen already at the saints to be hooking up old f'ships.

I believe half the problem with those guys was perth.

watched underbelly?

I think melbourne has a pretty good underworld scene aswell old c**k

i watched underbelly but i took it as what it is...entertainment

how naive...

[spert]

From my experience, never trust what an addict says and if BC wanted to play AFL football again, he wouldn't have the bargaining power he might think, and lots of strings would be attached to any contract. But if he cleans himself up and can give two good years, then that's two good years from a proven quality midfielder regardless of age.

[123]

divided opinion on this topic.

All I can say is I lived in st kilda for 15 years and exposure to seeing drug users on the streets as a kid and teenager made me
develop a strong repulsion to ever wanting to try or take drugs. sometimes
if we try and build a perfect culture that does not acknowledge the real dynamics in society we risk developing the problem anyway.
Ben is a sober reminder.

[evertonfc]

Id sign him up right now if I could... weekly drug testing a 100% commitment.

One year contract with the option of ripping it up at any time if he breaches our code of conduct.

Option of a second year on increased terms if we're happy and he's happy.

Make it happen saints.

exactly make it happen, make things happen saints

Agreee - this club should grow a pair of balls and make it happen.

[Dan Warna]

at 30 with no football for several months, i don't see him as a viable short term or long term option.

yes harvey is 36/37, but hamill, voss and others were finished early.

not sure that king of Gardiner have a long term future either.

crapuano, despite being outstanding till 26/27 was finished young too.

from a pure football perspective, not sure that he can capture the form of yesteryear, plenty of players haven't.

also whats his motivation? money? redemption? retirement paycheck?

further a reasonable testing regime should be in place where st kilda has access to results, the last thing we need is to take a player already on drugs, basically without testing, i wouldn't take ben cousins word alone that he was clean, nor would I take his fathers word that ben cousins was clean.

would need a subtantial period of testing leading up to his selection before we took him.

I dont' think ben cousins represents reward for risk for st kilda for basically a 30 year old player who may or may not have a significant drug problem.

[longtimesaint]

as I understand it he will go into the draft.
I can't see any club giving first or second round picks and it will probably be the pre season draft for uncontracted players.
The teams with early picks like Melbourne will have first choice, and the Saints and others could only decide whether to go for him if still available.
There is nothing we could do to get him pre draft.

[Hurricane]

He might be better going into the WWE draft rather than the AFL draft.

He would fit right in amont the likes of Edge, Triple H and Batista!

BANG BANG

[st_Trav_ofWA]

hey lets draft benny hes over 30 but who cares in his prime he was in the top 3 players of the comp !!!
while we are at it lets sign Carey hes getting on a bit but in his prime he was a top 3 player
lets sign Jezza again sure hes over 50 but in his prime he was in the top 3 players in the comp !!!

seriously if we pick up a 30 yearold drug addict (yes he maybe clean but the disease still remains ) who hasnt played footy in over 2 years we are more screwed up then imaginable
we have the GC team coming and then the WS side so the draft pool will be shallow for the next few years so we should be looking at building a team not topping it up Benny would at best play 2 seasons where as if we use all our picks on kids and not recycled players we will get at least 3 years out of them

[st.byron]

lol this thread

he's not in a position to choose a club He's an absolute GUN. I think you'll find AT LEAST 6 clubs minimum will move heaven and earth to get him.

Okay so the Roos and Blues are out... fair enough.

Could easily be the last piece of the premiership puzzle for
Hawthorn, Collingwood or the Bulldogs. Why wouldn't these clubs be interested. They wouldn't have to give anything up for him.

Heck Geelong's already super midfield would be unstoppable... they'd have 3 Brownlow midfielders (wth Ablett to win 1 i'm sure)

They you've got the Ess, Melb and Rich coaches who are desperate to show that they're on the way up

and those conditions 123... are kind of laughable when u put it in the context that this will most likely be a bidding war.
................

reckon you're on the money Skeptic. Will be snapped up if available. Absolute gun player.

[plugger66]

Someone will pick him up but I dont think we should for 2 reasons.

1 MG and Cousins together again isnt a good idea.

2. Dont think we need a 30 year old in our team. Lets face it we are very unlikely to win a flag in the next 2 years.

But the one reason I wouldnt use to not get him is his drug problem. Lets face it we all deserve another chance and anyway who knows if any Saints players havent had drug problems before.

[matrix]

apparently he is on the footy show tonight

[saintspremiers]

apparently he is on the footy show tonight

imagine if he announces he's playing for The Borough!

Huge crowds at Port's next match!!

[Apu]

After watching Ben on the footy show last night I am now even more convinced that we shouldnt have him on our list. Upon being asked the question "Why would an AFL club want to draft you?"

His reply- "the real question is why wouldn't they!!!!"

[saints11]

I heard on sen today that cousins is most likely to go to sandi next year. does that mean the saints will be getting him?

I personally wouldn't want him at the saints

[Hurricane]

After watching Ben on the footy show last night I am now even more convinced that we shouldnt have him on our list. Upon being asked the question "Why would an AFL club want to draft you?"

His reply- "the real question is why wouldn't they!!!!"

Bringing me back to original point that his GIANT ego wont let him sign a 1 year, low pay, performance based contract

I would avoid this guy like the plauge cause I am imagining a disruption of Everitt like preportions

BANG BANG

[ausfatcat]

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/v ... 79155.html


It's Port

[bethb7]

I'v heard from a good source that he's never been to rehab only for that 2 week stint last year he's been going cold turkey I couldn't trust him myself. I would want a good young kid insted of Cousin's he is 30. Did anyone see the footy show interveiw with him last night? I hate his arrogance.

[Corkin Ocean]

Surprised anyone on here would seriously consider it. Huge potential downside. No upside.

How does he help build the team? Which developing, long term prospect would people drop next year to play him? Armitage? Eddy? Geary? Steven? What would that achieve?

[mad saint guy]

I'm undecided on the topic.

Pros
Likely to return to form and is exactly what we need in our midfield
With his time out of the game there is a strong chance his body could hold up for another 3-4 years
If he is recruited, plays well and stays out of trouble he would bring a huge amount of positive media attention to the club
Wouldn't cost too much in the way of draft picks and isn't going to command a massive salary

Cons
Will be over 30 by the time we could draft him and we are looking a long way off being a contender
No certainty to stay clean. Any slip up would bring the club under a lot of scrutiny
Takes the spot of a young midfielder
Questions on how long it would take him to return to the fitness required for AFL footy
Has the potential to have a negative influence on the club culture/draftees
The duo of Cousins and Gardiner at the same club would be a very worrying sign

Right now I am probably leaning towards the view that there is too much risk to outweigh the potential gain, but I wouldn't be upset if we recruited him cheaply.

[Dan Warna]

some more theorising.

if our window is closed or closing, will cousins want to come to a club rebuilding?

if so what can he add in teaching the next generation of players than lenny, harvey, thompson, burke can't teach them? if its premierships, then certainly steven king, schneider and dempster have that experience as well.

Can Cousins bridge the gap?

well tbh as I said 18 months ago when people were pointing to the richness of WCE talent and how they would be a power for a decade and how clever they were with their second and third string talent, that they really only had 5 stars in the their side, and they brought their GOPs into it, that and they played as if their was geniune camaraderie.

kerr/cox/Glass can't carry the team, and the embly's and rosa's are second string.

we were being told that Rosa was every bit as talented as lenny and dal santo and how could we have missed out

yes, cousins circa 2005 can lift the saints, but it will be 2009, and we should have learned after drafting capuano, doc clarke and co that 3 years is A LONG TIME.

Cousins may be able to play 3 or 4 seasons more, or he maybe another one straight into the st kilda wing of the epworth.

I dont' think we'll be in an opportunity to grab him, but if we are, we should really consider where we are, what we hope to achieve, and what he adds to the mix.

when we are trying to BUILD a team ethic over the individual ethic, do we want someone who shows little contriteness and history of putting himself above others?

[st_Trav_ofWA]

some more theorising.

if our window is closed or closing, will cousins want to come to a club rebuilding?

if so what can he add in teaching the next generation of players than lenny, harvey, thompson, burke can't teach them? if its premierships, then certainly steven king, schneider and dempster have that experience as well.

Can Cousins bridge the gap?

well tbh as I said 18 months ago when people were pointing to the richness of WCE talent and how they would be a power for a decade and how clever they were with their second and third string talent, that they really only had 5 stars in the their side, and they brought their GOPs into it, that and they played as if their was geniune camaraderie.

kerr/cox/Glass can't carry the team, and the embly's and rosa's are second string.

we were being told that Rosa was every bit as talented as lenny and dal santo and how could we have missed out

yes, cousins circa 2005 can lift the saints, but it will be 2009, and we should have learned after drafting capuano, doc clarke and co that 3 years is A LONG TIME.

Cousins may be able to play 3 or 4 seasons more, or he maybe another one straight into the st kilda wing of the epworth.

I dont' think we'll be in an opportunity to grab him, but if we are, we should really consider where we are, what we hope to achieve, and what he adds to the mix.

when we are trying to BUILD a team ethic over the individual ethic, do we want someone who shows little contriteness and history of putting himself above others?

agree and then some !!
if the bloke was available at the start of this year maybe the start of the year befor definatly but now ..... we are not in a possition to top up

[Teflon]

some more theorising.

if our window is closed or closing, will cousins want to come to a club rebuilding?

if so what can he add in teaching the next generation of players than lenny, harvey, thompson, burke can't teach them? if its premierships, then certainly steven king, schneider and dempster have that experience as well.

Can Cousins bridge the gap?

well tbh as I said 18 months ago when people were pointing to the richness of WCE talent and how they would be a power for a decade and how clever they were with their second and third string talent, that they really only had 5 stars in the their side, and they brought their GOPs into it, that and they played as if their was geniune camaraderie.

kerr/cox/Glass can't carry the team, and the embly's and rosa's are second string.

we were being told that Rosa was every bit as talented as lenny and dal santo and how could we have missed out

yes, cousins circa 2005 can lift the saints, but it will be 2009, and we should have learned after drafting capuano, doc clarke and co that 3 years is A LONG TIME.

Cousins may be able to play 3 or 4 seasons more, or he maybe another one straight into the st kilda wing of the epworth.

I dont' think we'll be in an opportunity to grab him, but if we are, we should really consider where we are, what we hope to achieve, and what he adds to the mix.

when we are trying to BUILD a team ethic over the individual ethic, do we want someone who shows little contriteness and history of putting himself above others?

Theres a first for everything...good post Dan.

Im a no to Cousins - the reasons are many but the main one is we simply need youth and as best quality youth we can lay our hands to bring them through whuile the likes of Ball, Dal, Montagna et al are there (I think these aere of an age we can do this)

Cousins would put us back years - no tks lets the Pies have him........they'll need a replacement for Burns...