Yeah and you confidently predicted that Colin Sylvia would finish Top 5 in our best and fairest. Wonderful strike

rate you've got going!

Time to realise no-one takes you seriously, and if you keep putting enough 'bold predictions' out there that one

day one will eventually come to fruition...

Umm Colin Sylvia SHOULD gave finished in the top 5-10

You have to remember who the gooses are that did the B and F voting

Thank god we cut the dead wood (and I am not talking about any players)

You said we were getting Judd and Ben McKinley?

What happenend to that?

xoxo

and voss and sheedy

The club has abandoned their player.

I know they had no choice but to sack him, but I hope they don't just wash their hands clean of him and leave him to spiral out of control even more.

They got his best playing years, he was their leader, their highest profile player, he won them a flag, he brought in the cash and the fans. Now that he's become too much of a problem they dump him.

It would be nice if the club and his now former teammates continue to stick around. He might be a drug addict, but that doesn't mean he is not entitled to support. He has nothing left now, and that is likely to push him over the edge.

This whole situation highlights just how flawed the system is, but as long as Fonz and his band of merry men keep burying their heads in the sand, it's all alright, isn't it?

nah they said they will help him through this drugs problem

nah they said they will help him through this drugs problem

They also said they don't have a drug culture at their club, that they didn't know about Cousins' situation, and that Cousins was ready to come back and play after only 28 days in rehab.

I don't believe anything the Eagles say anymore, and I think they deserve as much blame in all of this as anyone. They've done nothing but help themselves throughout this entire situation.

Id take Cousins in a heartbeat.

Deestroy8 what makes you think our boys are angels? I could tell you who I have seen around town and what Ive seen around town.

But back to Benny. Im sick of this "we dont want druggies" crap. What we do want is "premierships". WCE have won 3 flags since enetering the comp. Ye sure they had druggies but they won flags.

Carlton "cheats" and they get rewarded with high draft picks and a rosy future.

Wake the [censored] up people its about PREMIERSHIPS and I wanna see one.

Who cares what Cousins does off the oval. All I know is that he is the hardest running player in the league, to the point where he is throwing up his guts.

TAKE HIM IF HE NOMINATES

I dont condone what he has done. I feel sorry for the loss of a great athlete and the impact it has on all around him.

I hope he works it out and cleans his life up.

Its a sad lesson to all about the impact of drugs taken outside the provision of proper medical guidance and supervision.

I have no sympathy for WCE and AFL who have condone Cousins and his behaviour up to now for their own ends.

Never a truer word spoken.

The Eagles and AFL should be collectively ashamed of themselves. This has been a disgraceful, over political handling of a simple situation all year, and now a player, club, sport and god knows how many familys have had to for it. Role models indeed.

I dont condone what he has done. I feel sorry for the loss of a great athlete and the impact it has on all around him.

I hope he works it out and cleans his life up.

Its a sad lesson to all about the impact of drugs taken outside the provision of proper medical guidance and supervision.

I have no sympathy for WCE and AFL who have condone Cousins and his behaviour up to now for their own ends.

Never a truer word spoken.

The Eagles and AFL should be collectively ashamed of themselves. This has been a disgraceful, over political handling of a simple situation all year, and now a player, club, sport and god knows how many familys have had to for it. Role models indeed.

Thank you guys you have summed up my feelings on this sad matter completely........

I find this whole this very sad, disappointing but unfortunately not that surprising. And it amazes me that the media have reported it like it is a huge shock that a drug addict with deep seated emotional problems and going through grief falls off the wagon and back onto the crutch he has aways known. Shocking, really!!!

The way I see it, of course Ben should be help completely responsible for his own actions, and The Eagles in reality had no choice to do what they did, especially with the monetary and draft choice threats hanging over their heads from the AFL (very big of them to do that), but it seems so massively hyprocritical that now after he gets a little too difficult to handle and therefore can't, or won't be winning any more games (or Premierships) for them any time soon, they cut him loose.

The Coast have apparently ignored what has been an open secret (in Perth at least) for so long simply because he continued to play fantastic footy (which is amazing all on its own) which suited them just fine, and therefore it didn't suit them to take a stand on his and plenty of other players ongoing off field behaviour.

And please lets not forget the other players who have been overshadowed and unfortunately forgotten in all of this by the ongoing Cousins saga. Its a mighty list.

All Premiership players - Daniel Kerr on police tapes and with two assault convictions next to his name, Chad Fletcher who allegedly nearly died in Las Vegas, Daniel Chick who again seems to have been allowed to keep doing what he was doing, yet again. Not to mention that he should be condemned for apparently being out with a friend who is a recovering addict while he gets high. Talk about enabling his addiction, and of course Chris Mainwaring dying of an apparent overdose.

Yep their culture over their is fantastic !!!

We should pick him up!

He'd keep outta trouble (if he wants to) in a new team. Difficult to "change" in the same atmosphere..............

Never a truer word spoken.

The Eagles and AFL should be collectively ashamed of themselves. This has been a disgraceful, over political handling of a simple situation all year, and now a player, club, sport and god knows how many familys have had to for it. Role models indeed.

Honestly, anyone with kids who has to use an AFL footballer as a role model for them is seriously flawed themselves. <_<

Honestly, anyone with kids who has to use an AFL footballer as a role model for them is seriously flawed themselves. <_<

Damn straight!

Kids look up to their parents & those around them.

Not people on a football field.

Damn straight!

Kids look up to their parents & those around them.

Not people on a football field.

mate...i know that when i was a kid, i looked up to footy players and wanted to be one...my parents were and are great but you are bieng a bit of a tool. footballers are role models whether you like it or not..kids dont just look up to their parents unless they are complete idiots..they have idols and for a lot of kids, it is footballers. every footballer is a role model to australian kids and that is a fact whether we like it or not!

Correct. Like it or not they are. They do things that influence the youth, both on and off the field, weather they mean it or not. My parents were great, but footballers were better. Its an ignorant and narrow minded view to say they are not.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I fail to see how West Coast are at fault with regards to this. As soon as the whole Ben Cousins & Drugs thing hit the media, they were the ones who offered to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and help get him out and get him rehabilitated. The club would have had professionals there for him to go to whenever he wanted.

Ben is an adult and should be held solely responsible for his actions. He was on annual leave from the club, so therefore he is free to do whatever he wants. To everybody here, have you ever had to tell your work where exactly you were going to be for every moment of your annual leave? Of course not, because that's your own personal business. WC should have probably checked on him after the Mainwaring incident, but apart from that they shouldn't be babysitting him for every second of his life.

Correct. Like it or not they are. They do things that influence the youth, both on and off the field, weather they mean it or not. My parents were great, but footballers were better. Its an ignorant and narrow minded view to say they are not.

If the parents are good with their kids and educate them about the potential dangers of drugs and other such hazards, then kids should be able to see that whilst players like Cousins are champions on the field, their behaviour off it is far from the stuff of greatness. Kids look first and foremost at how players act ON the footy field. If a kid has been brought up properly, then he will know where to draw the line in following his idols.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I fail to see how West Coast are at fault with regards to this. As soon as the whole Ben Cousins & Drugs thing hit the media, they were the ones who offered to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and help get him out and get him rehabilitated. The club would have had professionals there for him to go to whenever he wanted.

Ben is an adult and should be held solely responsible for his actions.

I agree,

and the AFL shoulld'nt be sanctioning West Coast for this incident.

Addiction is an illness and should be seen as such. Cousins is pre-disposed to this curse and should be supported as much as possible.

Just a sad episdode with no winners.

I agree,

and the AFL shoulld'nt be sanctioning West Coast for this incident.

Addiction is an illness and should be seen as such. Cousins is pre-disposed to this curse and should be supported as much as possible.

Just a sad episdode with no winners.

I'm a winner - I hate the little [censored]!

BTW predisposed to addiction - nature or nurture... sorry don't buy that one at all. It's called free will.

It's called free will.

Until you are addicted.

Sorry but there is nothing free about that.

There is a reason why footballers, and other sportsmen get paid so much money in comparison to the average person.

It's because their job brings in the money of sponsors and supporters. When a footballer acts like a tool and is hung in the media, their capacity to bring in the big money is reduced, they are not representing their club the way they should.

So whether footballers like it or not, they are role-models and they are constantly in the spotlight. It's part of their job and their bank accounts are more than enough compensation.

Until you are addicted.

Sorry but there is nothing free about that.

I'm not trying to be deliberately inflammatory, but I have no sympathy for his position or other drug users or alcoholics or any even smokers trying to give up. All my empathy is used up for those that have no control over their situation... like their kids.

There is a reason why footballers, and other sportsmen get paid so much money in comparison to the average person.

It's because their job brings in the money of sponsors and supporters. When a footballer acts like a tool and is hung in the media, their capacity to bring in the big money is reduced, they are not representing their club the way they should.

So whether footballers like it or not, they are role-models and they are constantly in the spotlight. It's part of their job and their bank accounts are more than enough compensation.

thankyou

I agree,

and the AFL shoulld'nt be sanctioning West Coast for this incident.

Addiction is an illness and should be seen as such. Cousins is pre-disposed to this curse and should be supported as much as possible.

Just a sad episdode with no winners.

addiction is an illness i agree. but predisposition? if you mean in the way that he could get off the drugs and become 'addicted' to god, because he has seen the light, and you are trying to say he has an obsessive, addictive perosnality, then possibly you are right. but otherwise i dont believe that at all. it is an illness, but you got yourself into the mess. would you have much sympathy for me being hung over on a sunday? prob not, i got myself into the mess...

Drug addiction is an illness, there is no doubt about it. It is an illness like drinking and gambling addictions are. Why we choose to condemn some addictions and not others, I'm not sure, all are equally destructive.

The difference is, that addiction illnesses are mostly self inflicted. Do I feel for Cousins that he just lost a good friend and that his world is falling apart? Of course I do, nobody deserves that.

But I find it hard to feel sorry for him or sympathize with him when a friend of mine is going through a second bout of cancer which is not self inflicted. I save my deepest sympathies for her, not for people who choose to spend their money on drugs, and won't admit they need help. His smug look as he walked in and out of court today really irritated me, although not as much as the idiots who were cheering for him.. god the people of Perth are delusional!

Drug addiction is an illness, there is no doubt about it. It is an illness like drinking and gambling addictions are. Why we choose to condemn some addictions and not others, I'm not sure, all are equally destructive.

The difference is, that addiction illnesses are mostly self inflicted. Do I feel for Cousins that he just lost a good friend and that his world is falling apart? Of course I do, nobody deserves that.

But I find it hard to feel sorry for him or sympathize with him when a friend of mine is going through a second bout of cancer which is not self inflicted. I save my deepest sympathies for her, not for people who choose to spend their money on drugs, and won't admit they need help. His smug look as he walked in and out of court today really irritated me, although not as much as the idiots who were cheering for him.. god the people of Perth are delusional!

to be honassed, if something like this happened to neita in a couple of years time, i would probably cheer him and support him

to be honassed, if something like this happened to neita in a couple of years time, i would probably cheer him and support him

You would cheer a player outside a court when he is up on charges of drug possession and refusing a drug test, after he has already been in trouble and brought the club into disrepute a number of times? Would you say to a friend "good on you for being in trouble with the law and having a drug addiction, you are my hero"?

It's because of idiotic fans who idolize and continue to support and defend Cousins, that he needs to get the hell away from WA. He is treated like a god instead of someone who has big problems and needs serious help, and the smug look on his face says to me that he is buying into the hype with no sign of remorse. If he wasn't Ben Cousins, but instead an anonymous civilian, nobody would be cheering for him.

You can support a player when they are going through a tough time, but justifying their actions through continued adoration is only going to do more damage.