by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago
Trouble continues at West Coast with Ben Cousins being suspended from the club for missing several training sessions. While it has not been confirmed, it is believed Cousins had again been out drinking the night before. According to club officials, the suspension is indefinite but Cousins, under AFLPA rules, will be paid according to the terms of his contract. However, he will not be allowed to train with his teammates nor will he be allowed to play in the WAFL.
Chairman Dalton Gooding said it was a "sad day" for the club, but enough was enough. Gooding told a media throng that Cousins had a number of private and personal issues to deal with, one of which was a split from long-time girlfriend Samantha Druce. Gooding said the club would work with Cousins, who has been urged by club officials and his family to seek professional help, to help him overcome his problems and return to the team.
Cousins' seemingly out of control lifestyle has had a cascade effect on the rest of the club with what was supposed to be a happy weekend ending in altercations among several players. It began when Andrew Embley, his wife Rayne, and Samantha Druce went to the house Cousins shares with teammate Daniel Chick, whose lifestyle has also been a concern for the club. Embley and Chick had an acrimonious confrontation after a heated exchange between Chick and Druce. The anger continued the next day at the club with Chick storming out after an argument with assistant coach Peter Sumich.
The following day, Coach John Worsfold said Embley and another teammate had been working very hard to help Cousins and that the stress and emotion of the moment had gotten the better of Embley.
It has also been revealed that former coach Ken Judge (2000-2001) tried to alert the club to Cousins' problems. And last year, club officials as well as John Worsfold wrote letters to Cousins and Worsfold met with Cousins who, at the time, expressed remorse for his behavior and promised to do better.
Dalton Gooding appeared on last week's Footy Show and admitted what the club had been previously denying - that a minority of players at the club had drug problems.
The Cousins file:
2002 - Cousins breaks his arm during a fight between himself and teammate Daniel Kerr at a nightclub
May, 2005 - Cousins and former teammate Michael Gardiner are questioned by police over their alleged association with Perth gangsters after a bar room brawl
December, 2005 - Cousins is arrested for drunk and disorderly outside the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Several weeks after this incident, it is believed his family gave him an ultimatum to clean up his act
2006 - Cousins flees from a police checkpoint known as a booze bus and is subsequently stripped of the captaincy of the Eagles
Cousins father, Bryan, who played for the Geelong Cats, said he is very disappointed at the club's failure to address what he called the "cultural problems" and the drug issues at the club.
Despite his unsavory off-field behavior, Cousins remains the most decorated player in Eagle history: 2005 Brownlow Medal, four club best and fairest awards, six-time All-Australian, 2005 AFLPA MVP, and a member of the 2006 premiership side. He was club captain 2001-05 for 104 games. He is also seventh on the club's games record list with 231 games (202 goals) since his 1996 debut.
Source: Melbourne Age
Article last changed on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:01 PM EDT
