Cuz and Gardi

[CORDZ]

Just want to say well done to Gardi for getting away from the horrific influences at his old club - from all reports I've heard he's really managed to turn his life around. Well Done Big man.

[markp]

Did anyone notice Cousins' nose grow visibly longer when he said he never ever played on drugs?.... but he couldn't go to his grandma's for xmas without taking some first.... riiiighto.

[SainterK]

Credit to Gardi, who seemed to turn his life around in a much quieter and low profile kind of way. I was worried how this doco would portray him, but it did just show how far he has come.

I actually believed him when he said that, probably a bit generous markp?

Not sure I'd have liked any teenage kids of mine watching it, because they seem to have split what should of been one complete episode in two, leaving the message disjointed and unclear.

Also confusing, until I realised the only footage of him now seems to be when he fronts the camera in the grey suit. Took me awhile to realise the somewhat jaded red shirt footage was most likely during 2008, because he had a similar hairstyle.

[Thinline]

Cousins struck me as what he was/is - an addict.

I thought he presented really well all things considered. Struck me as a pretty straight up and down dude.

I also thought it terrific that addiction was rightfully described as a disease rather than the stereotype of a lifestyle choice the media so slavishly try to perpetuate.

Thought the Weagles on the other hand looked horribly limp.

And yes, kudos Gardi.

[SainterK]

He chooses not to dump on anyone, point the finger, or portion blame....but I kind of wish he did when it came to West Coast Thinline, was anyone else just a little cynical when his former coach said the cracks only started appearing after the premiership win?

I have a feeling of all the 'raw footage' at the producers disposal, former teamates and officials can breathe a sigh of relief that the powers at be probably saw fit to edit out much of the stuff that closely connected Ben Cousins and his issues to an AFL club.

Still think it shouldn't of been split into two episodes.

[Saint Bev]

I also am sus about the trips to hospital and wonder if he now is addicted to prescription drugs. He seemed smug and arrogant to me. Sorry I don't feel sorry for him, people make their own choices, he made bad ones when the world was his oyster. I do really feel for his family though. Can't be easy watching your child self destruct.

[fingers]

I'm not sure about this whole "disease" thing.

[matrix]

dis-ease
it is what it says.
i hope he gets completely off the stuff
ice is no good.
coke pushes you past pain tolerances (so im told)

did he play under the influence?
he could swear black and blue he didnt, but it will always be there, people thinking he did
agree with sainterk, thought a single episode wouldve been better
two parts surely is just to get ratings over two nights?

addiction is a big prob for us humans
gambling, smokes, illegal and legal drugs.

all the best to him, i just hope he has something he can throw himself into after his playing days to keep him from being bored and thinking about...'just once more, it wont hurt, ive overcome it once'

[St Michele]

I also am sus about the trips to hospital and wonder if he now is addicted to prescription drugs. He seemed smug and arrogant to me. Sorry I don't feel sorry for him, people make their own choices, he made bad ones when the world was his oyster. I do really feel for his family though. Can't be easy watching your child self destruct.

It is his family I feel for although his sister seemed to know what was going on and chose not to do anything.

I think hte reason they say addiction is a disease is it impacts people differently some can use drugs and go on their merry way but some people have addictive personalities and hence have much bigger issues about it.
The only bonus I see of it being split between 2 nights is time to discuss with you kids about it and the choices he made.

I also think he should hand back the Brounlow as he was not the Best and Fairest player that year he was using drugs and had other motivations.

[plugger66]

dis-ease
it is what it says.
i hope he gets completely off the stuff
ice is no good.
coke pushes you past pain tolerances (so im told)

did he play under the influence?
he could swear black and blue he didnt, but it will always be there, people thinking he did
agree with sainterk, thought a single episode wouldve been better
two parts surely is just to get ratings over two nights?

addiction is a big prob for us humans
gambling, smokes, illegal and legal drugs.

all the best to him, i just hope he has something he can throw himself into after his playing days to keep him from being bored and thinking about...'just once more, it wont hurt, ive overcome it once'

Completely agree but some others just want to look into the negatives.

[St Chris]

I'm looking forward to seeing the Saints' involvement in tonights episode, i'm sure the club will be made to look like dirty dogs, all because we though about it, but didn't give a 30 year old drug addict a second chance....

[matrix]

one thing i did wonder....why on earth would you let yourself be filmed doing drugs?
especially if you are a high profile individual.
then again when you are high i guess its not the first thing you are thinking of

if he stays clean..then good on him. hopefully he hangs around footy

[markp]

Credit to Gardi, who seemed to turn his life around in a much quieter and low profile kind of way. I was worried how this doco would portray him, but it did just show how far he has come.

I actually believed him when he said that, probably a bit generous markp?

Not sure I'd have liked any teenage kids of mine watching it, because they seem to have split what should of been one complete episode in two, leaving the message disjointed and unclear.

Also confusing, until I realised the only footage of him now seems to be when he fronts the camera in the grey suit. Took me awhile to realise the somewhat jaded red shirt footage was most likely during 2008, because he had a similar hairstyle.

Honestly, I saw a smirking and smug guy still seemingly in denial ('it was in control but it was out of control'), who didn't appear to regret all that much... but whose judgement at the time was so out of kilter that he thought he was fine, even though he couldn't even attend a family function straight, or couldn't stop snorting coke after $10k, 4-5 day non-stop benders....

For him to claim that he never ever took drugs in the days leading up to a game or immediately before one, just because it would have been wrong, or it's not how he rolls, is about as convincing as Tiger Woods saying he never ever kissed any of the women he cheated with, because that would have been uncool.

I wish him all the best... but I reckon he is really gonna struggle.

[Saint Bev]

Credit to Gardi, who seemed to turn his life around in a much quieter and low profile kind of way. I was worried how this doco would portray him, but it did just show how far he has come.

I actually believed him when he said that, probably a bit generous markp?

Not sure I'd have liked any teenage kids of mine watching it, because they seem to have split what should of been one complete episode in two, leaving the message disjointed and unclear.

Also confusing, until I realised the only footage of him now seems to be when he fronts the camera in the grey suit. Took me awhile to realise the somewhat jaded red shirt footage was most likely during 2008, because he had a similar hairstyle.

Honestly, I saw a smirking and smug guy still seemingly in denial ('it was in control but it was out of control'), who didn't appear to regret all that much... but whose judgement at the time was so out of kilter that he thought he was fine, even though he couldn't even attend a family function straight, or couldn't stop snorting coke after $10k, 4-5 day non-stop benders....

For him to claim that he never ever took drugs in the days leading up to a game or immediately before one, just because it would have been wrong, or it's not how he rolls, is about as convincing as Tiger Woods saying he never ever kissed any of the women he cheated with, because that would have been uncool.

I wish him all the best... but I reckon he is really gonna struggle.

I would agree totally, didn't seem at all regretful. He definately has an air of arrogance about him. As for the disease. At some stage he had a choice to make, he made the wrong one. If he knew he had an addictive nature, he shouldn't have tried it. We all have to make these choices.

I also think he will struggle, in fact as stated before, not convinced he is clean.

[plugger66]

Credit to Gardi, who seemed to turn his life around in a much quieter and low profile kind of way. I was worried how this doco would portray him, but it did just show how far he has come.

I actually believed him when he said that, probably a bit generous markp?

Not sure I'd have liked any teenage kids of mine watching it, because they seem to have split what should of been one complete episode in two, leaving the message disjointed and unclear.

Also confusing, until I realised the only footage of him now seems to be when he fronts the camera in the grey suit. Took me awhile to realise the somewhat jaded red shirt footage was most likely during 2008, because he had a similar hairstyle.

Honestly, I saw a smirking and smug guy still seemingly in denial ('it was in control but it was out of control'), who didn't appear to regret all that much... but whose judgement at the time was so out of kilter that he thought he was fine, even though he couldn't even attend a family function straight, or couldn't stop snorting coke after $10k, 4-5 day non-stop benders....

For him to claim that he never ever took drugs in the days leading up to a game or immediately before one, just because it would have been wrong, or it's not how he rolls, is about as convincing as Tiger Woods saying he never ever kissed any of the women he cheated with, because that would have been uncool.

I wish him all the best... but I reckon he is really gonna struggle.

I would agree totally, didn't seem at all regretful. He definately has an air of arrogance about him. As for the disease. At some stage he had a choice to make, he made the wrong one. If he knew he had an addictive nature, he shouldn't have tried it. We all have to make these choices.

I also think he will struggle, in fact as stated before, not convinced he is clean.

Well I will be positive and go the other way. I will suggest he is clean at the moment and i also hope he stays clean. i saw nothing on the show last night to suggest he isnt clean.

[Saint Bev]

THey are not going to say anything on the show that they don't want us to know. THe trips to the hospital are not normal and goodness knows what else hasn't been told.

[plugger66]

THey are not going to say anything on the show that they don't want us to know. THe trips to the hospital are not normal and goodness knows what else hasn't been told.

How do you know? But I suppose he isnt a Saint.

[Moccha]

THey are not going to say anything on the show that they don't want us to know. THe trips to the hospital are not normal and goodness knows what else hasn't been told.

How do you know? But I suppose he isnt a Saint.

He gets tested 3 times a week and submits hair samples so I can't see how he couldn't be clean. But once he finishes football who knows?

[plugger66]

THey are not going to say anything on the show that they don't want us to know. THe trips to the hospital are not normal and goodness knows what else hasn't been told.

How do you know? But I suppose he isnt a Saint.

He gets tested 3 times a week and submits hair samples so I can't see how he couldn't be clean. But once he finishes football who knows?

Agreed. No one knows probably not even him but lets hope like other drug addicts he is always clean from now on.

[markp]

THey are not going to say anything on the show that they don't want us to know. THe trips to the hospital are not normal and goodness knows what else hasn't been told.

How do you know? But I suppose he isnt a Saint.

He gets tested 3 times a week and submits hair samples so I can't see how he couldn't be clean. But once he finishes football who knows?

Agreed. No one knows probably not even him but lets hope like other drug addicts he is always clean from now on.

Yep, who would know...

But should someone like that even be taking/mixing sleeping pills?... he seemed more than aware of the dangers of them and other prescription drugs in the doco.

[plugger66]

THey are not going to say anything on the show that they don't want us to know. THe trips to the hospital are not normal and goodness knows what else hasn't been told.

How do you know? But I suppose he isnt a Saint.

He gets tested 3 times a week and submits hair samples so I can't see how he couldn't be clean. But once he finishes football who knows?

Agreed. No one knows probably not even him but lets hope like other drug addicts he is always clean from now on.

Yep, who would know...

But should someone like that even be taking/mixing sleeping pills?... he seemed more than aware of the dangers of them and other prescription drugs in the doco.

Probably not but in his defence a lot of footballers take them. Maybe he has tried not taking them and just cant sleep.

[markp]

Yep, who would know...

But should someone like that even be taking/mixing sleeping pills?... he seemed more than aware of the dangers of them and other prescription drugs in the doco.

Probably not but in his defence a lot of footballers take them. Maybe he has tried not taking them and just cant sleep.

Yeah, but it's a bit like a gambling addict buying a tatts ticket and a scratchy isn't it?

[Thinline]

I also am sus about the trips to hospital and wonder if he now is addicted to prescription drugs. He seemed smug and arrogant to me. Sorry I don't feel sorry for him, people make their own choices, he made bad ones when the world was his oyster.

That is completely ill-informed. Taking drugs is a choice, granted. And many people - assuming a youth misspent according to the usual modern standards - make that choice. Not everyone becomes addicted. Addiction is a poorly understood disease. The sooner people start accepting that as a fact and not some airy-fairy explanation for things they couldn't be bothered enquiring about, the better.

Blind ignorance on the topic of addiction s***s me.

Show some respect for human frailty, for f**** sake.

Not everyone's a good two shoes robot. And thank christ for that.

[Mr Magic]

one thing i did wonder....why on earth would you let yourself be filmed doing drugs?
especially if you are a high profile individual.
then again when you are high i guess its not the first thing you are thinking of

if he stays clean..then good on him. hopefully he hangs around footy

A lot of the filming was done by his then girlfriend.

What was shown last night as the 'finished product' has been severely edited to not name/show others involved.

Anybody hear Terry Wallace this morning on radio?

He stated categorically that Cousins was not 'clean' when they spoke to him befrore recruiting him.
He claimed to ahve 'fallen off the wagon' and was fearful of testing positive in a 'hair folicle' test, which was why he turned up shaved down.

Wallace also stated that he thought it was common knowledge that Cousins wasn't 'clean' at that time, and that he only cleaned his act up after he realized nobody wanted him (ie after the Saints rejected recruiting him).

[saintnick12]

one thing i did wonder....why on earth would you let yourself be filmed doing drugs?
especially if you are a high profile individual.
then again when you are high i guess its not the first thing you are thinking of

if he stays clean..then good on him. hopefully he hangs around footy

A lot of the filming was done by his then girlfriend.

What was shown last night as the 'finished product' has been severely edited to not name/show others involved.

Anybody hear Terry Wallace this morning on radio?

He stated categorically that Cousins was not 'clean' when they spoke to him befrore recruiting him.
He claimed to ahve 'fallen off the wagon' and was fearful of testing positive in a 'hair folicle' test, which was why he turned up shaved down.

Wallace also stated that he thought it was common knowledge that Cousins wasn't 'clean' at that time, and that he only cleaned his act up after he realized nobody wanted him (ie after the Saints rejected recruiting him).

Very interesting. I didn't hear that today.
Maybe that's why we decided against him in the end as we knew he was not clean. I had always thought he was clean by that stage.
Makes the risk taken by the tigers even bigger.
I'm sure if he'd fallen off the wagon while a saints player it would have been portrayed as all our fault. At least now we can claim that our rejection helped him turn his life around, even though they were saying at the time that our rejection would cause him to relapse.

I watched the show last night with interest and will be watching again tonight. Given I believe they only started filming him specifically in 2008 when he was out of the game, I think tonight's episode will have more footage of him as things were happening as last night was more of the story up until that point, told in retrospect with lots of interviews interspliced. They did seem to be glorifying the drug taking a little...showing it right from the start and over and over.

I too found the West Coast part in this a little glossed over. They really didn't do anything until they were forced to. It might only be a few years later but a club would be forced to now...just the way it is.
Hard to believe that he had been taking drugs since a young age and nothing was done by anyone. Bad that he was allowed to get away with it as long as he hid it and kept playing well.
I will be interested to see if tonights episode has more on how he managed to never test positive....how many years ago did the AFL start testing for recreational drugs?