Such Is Life

[WonnaJurah 5]

anyone else watch the documentry, its pretty moving and shocking as well,especially as an ex Eagle (Chad Fletcher) got done for drugs. It seems very common in WA with Micheal Johnson as well

i think the 3strikes rule is far to lenient for my liking

[Deeoldfart 8,005]

anyone else watch the documentry, its pretty moving and shocking as well,especially as an ex Eagle (Chad Fletcher) got done for drugs. It seems very common in WA with Micheal Johnson as well

i think the 3strikes rule is far to lenient for my liking

Outstanding documentary IMO ...... both eye opening and scary. Very much looking forward to Part 2.

[The Big Ticket 94]

anyone else watch the documentry, its pretty moving and shocking as well,especially as an ex Eagle (Chad Fletcher) got done for drugs. It seems very common in WA with Micheal Johnson as well

i think the 3strikes rule is far to lenient for my liking

Perth must be one boring place.

Found it very interesting. Ads kept ruining the mood though.

[WonnaJurah 5]

Perth must be one boring place.

Found it very interesting. Ads kept ruining the mood though.

yeah the drugs hotline thing should have been on once, not before every add break

[DeezMan 4]

And to think that this bloke was playing the elite sport that is AFL football...

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

I was disappointed with it, whilst it didn't glorify drug use I thought in some instances it glorified what he got away with.

He always has a cheeky grin on his face which doesn't help.

[45HG 1,539]

Has clearly not learnt anything from what I saw tonight.

Didn't expect much from it and wasn't dissappointed.

[Guest Jack Jack Jack Jack]

Didn't think much of it. Just seemed like he was trying to improve his image in parts.

[Red Sox 2]

anyone else watch the documentry, its pretty moving and shocking as well,especially as an ex Eagle (Chad Fletcher) got done for drugs. It seems very common in WA with Micheal Johnson as well

i think the 3strikes rule is far to lenient for my liking

No more common in WA than anywhere else

Has clearly not learnt anything from what I saw tonight.

Didn't expect much from it and wasn't dissappointed.

That's because only half of it has aired, he still uses in the 2nd half before becoming clean. So I would imagine he was a fair way away from learning anything.

Still would be learning.

[P-man 13,366]

I was disappointed with it, whilst it didn't glorify drug use I thought in some instances it glorified what he got away with.

He always has a cheeky grin on his face which doesn't help.

I got the same impression. He seems to have that grin on his face alot of the time though. Probably cause he's Ben Cousins.

Obviously the intention wasn't to glorify rec drug use but c'mon...he's winning grand finals and getting whisked away for 5 day benders by random hot blondes...all whilst doing ice coke cocktails on the weekends. Alot of people would take a few years of that life over a lifetime of wholesome sobriety.

I think it could've done alot more to show to down side to his addiction. Hopefully Part 2 goes some way towards that but I won't hold my breath.

[Hobbits's 17]

I think it could've done alot more to show to down side to his addiction.

what more do you want ? It showed him twitching, spaced out...and they've only shown part 1. how more graphic did you want it ? And how much "alot more" do you want ?

what has been shown has been pretty confronting.

[Sir Why You Little 36,893]

it is interesting that he has still not shown remorse in his Pieces to Camera. When he has the white Jacket on.

I will be interested to see whether his mood changes in part 2.

I still think Ben has a long way to go, but he has got Balls to put it all out there on TV.

A very good Documentary me thinks.

[P-man 13,366]

what more do you want ? It showed him twitching, spaced out...and they've only shown part 1. how more graphic did you want it ? And how much "alot more" do you want ?

what has been shown has been pretty confronting.

A few shots of him twitching and "spaced out" isn't going to sway anyone mate. When you see a drug addict at rock bottom, it is not a pretty sight. A world away from making a [censored] of yourself with your shirt off.

I think the scales in Part 2 need to be heavily tipped to show the full extent of the toll this has taken on his family, and probably even the likelihood of him using into the future and the lengths he will need to go to prevent that from happening. A 25 year old football superstar druggo might seem glamorous and sexy. A 45 year old retiree druggo, not so much.

[two sheds jackson 3]

I watched about half of it and changed the channel. It was about what you'd expect from a Channel 7 documentary; a glib, uninformative tabloid piece, and I agree with P Man that from what I saw, they glossed over the more serious aspects of drug addiction. It's not that they glorified it, it's just that they turned a deathly serious and complex issue into a fluffy, easily digestible piece of popcorn entertainment. I also agree with WYL that he is clearly very much in the process of fighting his addiction and has a long way to go, and I'm not sure if participating in these types of programs is the best thing for a recovering addict, but I guess that's his call.

i think the 3strikes rule is far to lenient for my liking

Why?

If you were a drug addicticted footballer and were thinking of coming out and trying to get help, and the AFL had a one-strike policy for recreational drug use, would this not make you less likely to come forward? If you were a drug addict, and you got caught by your employer, fired from your job and publically outed and shamed in the newspapers and berated by f)ckwit journalists and the general public, do you really think this would actually help you to fight the addiction? I think the AFL's drug policy should be changed, but with more of a view towards better educating players about the dangers and improving rehab services for footballers, at the expense of taking a punitive approach against recreational drug users, which is a proven failure as a deterrent.

[Red&BlueBlood 61]

And to think that this bloke was playing the elite sport that is AFL football...

And he was also one of the original "gut runners", imagine how good he could of been if he didnt do the drugs...?

The reason i think he had that grin on his face was because he was letting out a big secret, something that he kept secret for a long time (to the outside world). He was also an elite athlete, top 10 player of his era that had a massive drug habit throughout his playing days... He looked like he had got away with something because he did, lets not forget he never tested positive at anytime during his career.

Either way he was an AFL Footballer, so being fair should only be judged on his footy.

[bush demon 2,033]

WAs this on channel nine? they rake in huge profits with alcohol sponsorship of sport, esp. cricket. then again alcohol isn't a "d.r.u.g", is it. as long as you are not "on drugs" it's ok to cause ruination of society through alcohol-induced disease and violence washed down with large frothies of hypocrisy. Ben Cousins is such an easy target because he confirms the generally prevailing ignorance on this subject.

[two sheds jackson 3]

WAs this on channel nine? they rake in huge profits with alcohol sponsorship of sport, esp. cricket. then again alcohol isn't a "d.r.u.g", is it. as long as you are not "on drugs" it's ok to cause ruination of society through alcohol-induced disease and violence washed down with large frothies of hypocrisy. Ben Cousins is such an easy target because he confirms the generally prevailing ignorance on this subject.

Excellent post. It was actually on Channel 7, but your point is just as valid. They plug every vice they are legally allowed to plug, and for all their pretenses, they are not actually doing anything to seriously educate people about drugs. All they do is create alarmist segments exaggerating the dangers of drugs and prevelence of drug use(and this is dangerous in itself, because when kids know they're being bullshitted, they're less inclined to listen to valid warnings about the very real dangers of drugs), or, occasionally, producing "inspirational" fluff pieces about overcoming addiction like Such is Life, in an effort to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

It is an absolute, objective fact that alcohol and gambling cause far more damage to society at large than every illegal drug combined, and the major networks cannot credibly present themselves as being genuinely concerned about drugs when they do so much to facilitate the problems caused by these two industries.

Edited August 25, 2010 by two sheds jackson

[Fork 'em 6,981]

Noticed Worsfold has a similar smirk on his face whenever the camera was pointed at him .

It appears club new alot more about their captain being a coke fiend for alot longer than the rest of us .

[Gorgoroth 12,910]

In regards to the smirk, do not forget a lot of what we saw filemd was in 2008 when he still really did not think he had a problem or done anything wrong to anyone bar himself.

[BAMF 4,284]

I would really like to see an un-cut version.

I know they are trying not to glorify drugs. But I want to know why he did it? What made him keep going? What he felt like before and while getting high. Did he ever think he shouldn't be doing this? None of these answers yet. Just the usual. Drugs are bad, [censored].

[e25 5]

Noticed Worsfold has a similar smirk on his face whenever the camera was pointed at him .

It appears club new alot more about their captain being a coke fiend for alot longer than the rest of us .

I dunno mate, I was hearing about it for years beforehand but never believed it.

I did go to Perth once a few years back, on a footy trip and a few of the guys I was with were VFL players at the time, so they had the hookups with the AFL boys and where to go.

( No sign of cuz though)

They knew a few of the blokes there and we all had few huge nights out. I know it's everywhere, but at that time the Perth scene was all about drugs. Moreso than back in melb.

I remember a few us talking to some girls at a club, and we asked them what there was to do around Perth and they said straightfaced "Do drugs or have sex. That's about it."

I know it says a bit about how classy they were, but it summed it up for me. Seemed to be the attitude of everyone we bumped into over that week.

Snapshot view, but it's all I really have to go on.

[1.21 GigaWatts 1]

And he was also one of the original "gut runners", imagine how good he could of been if he didnt do the drugs...?

The reason i think he had that grin on his face was because he was letting out a big secret, something that he kept secret for a long time (to the outside world). He was also an elite athlete, top 10 player of his era that had a massive drug habit throughout his playing days... He looked like he had got away with something because he did, lets not forget he never tested positive at anytime during his career.

Either way he was an AFL Footballer, so being fair should only be judged on his footy.

I'm assuming you mean we should only judge his career/future awards/inductions etc. on his footy? Because I think as a person I can judge him (based on what he's chosen to display to the public) as a bit of a [censored].

I don't want that taken the wrong way, the guy was an amazing footballer and he seems like he has now learned how to deal with his addiction. I wish him luck.

[John Crow Batty 8,860]

I didn't watch it and don't care about it. There seems to be a lot of goulish fascination with this jerk who seems to have burned the candle at both ends and gotten away with it so far. To me it goes to show haw much of a sham the AFL's drug policy is. How a junkie glutton like him can never fail a drug test makes me wonder of what other truths that don't speak their name exist in this game.

As for Perth, I go there every year for family reasons. Only has good weather and beaches. Everything else about it sucks. When bad weather hits it would have to be the one of the most depressing cities in the world. The largest two demographic types seem to be up themselves new money fatties or total losers. Perhaps he does have a valid excuse for his excesses.

Edited August 25, 2010 by america de cali

[tarzan16 40]

i really liked it. i had a friend back home in a very similar situation, the twitching bit really brought back some terrible memories, i actually got quite emotional. very well done doco so far. i really like ben cousins and commend him showing us all what addiction is about, believe me it took some balls to do this. lessons will be learned from this.

[The Chazz 4,077]

I thoroughly enjoyed it actually. For me it showed just how hard it must be for these elite athletes. Regardless of skill level, the sarifice these blokes have to make is massive. yeah sure, they earn big dollars for doing so, but sometimes, and especially in Ben's case, the big dollars played a part in his issues. While we all like to think these guys will remain angels off-field, the temptation is too great for some, with that temptation turning in to an addiciton in this case.

For a young guy that had the world at his feet at such a young age, you can see how easy it was for him to get caught up in the circles he did. To some degree, he'd probably be honoured that a few of the underworld figures wanted to get involved in his life. I'm pretty sure that if a Mick Gatteau wanted to meet me for a coffee I'd go, most in here would be the same. No doubt they were offering the playboy lifestyle that a lot of us dreamt about - hot girls, fast cars, pretty much being bullet-proof, endless amounts of cash, etc, unfortuantely that life comes at a cost.

Regardless of what people think about his cheeky smirk or whatever, that's Ben Cousins. While I hope to god that my kids don't go down the same path as he did, I do respect him for coming out and being able to face all these issues in the public eye, regardless of how it is received. I do have serious questions about the West Coast Eagles Football Club - how could they allow this culture at their Club?

One thing I will say, let's not forget the fact that we (Melbourne FC) have players that would have the same temptations every week. Lets hope that one of our blokes doesn't go off the rails, especially when we start to become successful and the players are more recognised in the public.