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Cousins future unclear as Force circle
BEN COUSINS'S AFL future was back in the hands of the league's commission last night after Richmond president Gary March said the Tigers remained committed to using one pre-season draft pick on a young player.
March's declaration means Cousins is likely to find a home at Punt Road only if the AFL allows Richmond's request to put Graham Polak into cotton wool as a mature-age rookie to allow him time to recover from head injuries suffered when he was hit by a tram last June. The AFL is set to rule on the application on Monday ahead of Tuesday's pre-season and rookie drafts.
March confirmed the Tigers had spoken to Cousins. It is believed he met coach Terry Wallace in Melbourne on Thursday. But he denied there had been any back-flip on the club's stated policy that their first pick in the pre-season draft would be used to take a younger player. "We've stated all along we'll be using our pick on the pre-season draft on a junior," March said. "Our intention was always to take a young boy - that really hasn't changed."
He was responding to reports the Tigers would draft Cousins regardless of the AFL's decision on Polak. And, while some clubs expressed concern about Richmond's late move to put Polak on the rookie list, there appears to be reasonable support for the move among rival clubs. The move also has the backing of the AFL Players' Association.
The possibility of recruiting Cousins has already provoked overwhelming support among Richmond's success-starved and famously passionate supporter base, with opinion polls running at 80 per cent in the 2005 Brownlow medallist's favour.
March denied the club had committed to drafting Cousins but said contact had been made and the club was continuing to consider the issue.
"I can confirm Richmond have spoken to Ben Cousins, but at this stage we haven't made any decision on whether we're going to take Ben," March said. "Look, we've got to await the outcome of the AFL Commission's decision on Monday. We've made an application, our football department, and we'll wait to see the outcome of that, we'll make a decision from there."
In a bizarre development to the Cousins saga, the Western Force rugby union franchise yesterday declared they might be interested in the player if the AFL rules him out of Tuesday's draft.
The Perth-based Super 14 team are apparently confident Cousins, who turns 30 in June, has the necessary athletic skills to make a successful transition to rugby and have already raised the matter with Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill. "If he doesn't find a home in the AFL next week, there might be a stable for him here," Force chief executive Greg Harris said yesterday.
Harris instigated the audacious plan because he, too, made a successful transition from AFL to rugby in the 1970s. He was captain-coach of NSW in football and progressed from NSW first grade in rugby to represent a combined Sydney team. He said Cousins possessed rare athletic ability and could be a worthy addition to rugby's talent pool.
"He can run all day, kick a mile and has the best hands you've seen," said Harris, former head of the Sydney Swans match committee. "It's not hard to imagine him at fullback because many footy skills are transferable to rugby. And, by rugby standards, he hasn't had too much of a physical battering over his career."
Cousins could become eligible if the AFL doesn't allow Richmond to list Polak as a mature-age rookie, but Harris acknowledged rugby would have to conduct the same risk assessment as AFL clubs on the 2005 Brownlow Medal winner.
Rugby's drug-testing regimen is as strict as that for Olympic sports. Priority is given to random testing of urine and blood, both in and out of competition. The standard punishment for a first positive test for a banned substance, be it recreational or performance enhancing, is a two-year suspension, with a lifetime ban for a second.
"He'd have to start on a rookie contract so there won't be much money in it at first, but at least it will give him a continuing career in sport," said Harris. "He can then assess what opportunities exist if he makes the grade. Who knows? It might be the challenge and change he's looking for to get his life back on track."
Harris instigated the audacious plan because he, too, made a successful transition from AFL to rugby in the 1970s. He was captain-coach of NSW in football and progressed from NSW first grade in rugby to represent a combined Sydney team. He said Cousins possessed rare athletic ability and could be a worthy addition to rugby's talent pool.
"He can run all day, kick a mile and has the best hands you've seen," said Harris, former head of the Sydney Swans match committee. "It's not hard to imagine him at fullback because many footy skills are transferable to rugby. And, by rugby standards, he hasn't had too much of a physical battering over his career."
Cousins could become eligible if the AFL doesn't allow Richmond to list Polak as a mature-age rookie, but Harris acknowledged rugby would have to conduct the same risk assessment as AFL clubs on the 2005 Brownlow Medal winner.
Rugby's drug-testing regimen is as strict as that for Olympic sports. Priority is given to random testing of urine and blood, both in and out of competition. The standard punishment for a first positive test for a banned substance, be it recreational or performance enhancing, is a two-year suspension, with a lifetime ban for a second.
"He'd have to start on a rookie contract so there won't be much money in it at first, but at least it will give him a continuing career in sport," said Harris. "He can then assess what opportunities exist if he makes the grade. Who knows? It might be the challenge and change he's looking for to get his life back on track."
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/ne...as-force-circle/2008/12/12/1228585123446.html
BEN COUSINS'S AFL future was back in the hands of the league's commission last night after Richmond president Gary March said the Tigers remained committed to using one pre-season draft pick on a young player.
March's declaration means Cousins is likely to find a home at Punt Road only if the AFL allows Richmond's request to put Graham Polak into cotton wool as a mature-age rookie to allow him time to recover from head injuries suffered when he was hit by a tram last June. The AFL is set to rule on the application on Monday ahead of Tuesday's pre-season and rookie drafts.
March confirmed the Tigers had spoken to Cousins. It is believed he met coach Terry Wallace in Melbourne on Thursday. But he denied there had been any back-flip on the club's stated policy that their first pick in the pre-season draft would be used to take a younger player. "We've stated all along we'll be using our pick on the pre-season draft on a junior," March said. "Our intention was always to take a young boy - that really hasn't changed."
He was responding to reports the Tigers would draft Cousins regardless of the AFL's decision on Polak. And, while some clubs expressed concern about Richmond's late move to put Polak on the rookie list, there appears to be reasonable support for the move among rival clubs. The move also has the backing of the AFL Players' Association.
The possibility of recruiting Cousins has already provoked overwhelming support among Richmond's success-starved and famously passionate supporter base, with opinion polls running at 80 per cent in the 2005 Brownlow medallist's favour.
March denied the club had committed to drafting Cousins but said contact had been made and the club was continuing to consider the issue.
"I can confirm Richmond have spoken to Ben Cousins, but at this stage we haven't made any decision on whether we're going to take Ben," March said. "Look, we've got to await the outcome of the AFL Commission's decision on Monday. We've made an application, our football department, and we'll wait to see the outcome of that, we'll make a decision from there."
In a bizarre development to the Cousins saga, the Western Force rugby union franchise yesterday declared they might be interested in the player if the AFL rules him out of Tuesday's draft.
The Perth-based Super 14 team are apparently confident Cousins, who turns 30 in June, has the necessary athletic skills to make a successful transition to rugby and have already raised the matter with Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill. "If he doesn't find a home in the AFL next week, there might be a stable for him here," Force chief executive Greg Harris said yesterday.
Harris instigated the audacious plan because he, too, made a successful transition from AFL to rugby in the 1970s. He was captain-coach of NSW in football and progressed from NSW first grade in rugby to represent a combined Sydney team. He said Cousins possessed rare athletic ability and could be a worthy addition to rugby's talent pool.
"He can run all day, kick a mile and has the best hands you've seen," said Harris, former head of the Sydney Swans match committee. "It's not hard to imagine him at fullback because many footy skills are transferable to rugby. And, by rugby standards, he hasn't had too much of a physical battering over his career."
Cousins could become eligible if the AFL doesn't allow Richmond to list Polak as a mature-age rookie, but Harris acknowledged rugby would have to conduct the same risk assessment as AFL clubs on the 2005 Brownlow Medal winner.
Rugby's drug-testing regimen is as strict as that for Olympic sports. Priority is given to random testing of urine and blood, both in and out of competition. The standard punishment for a first positive test for a banned substance, be it recreational or performance enhancing, is a two-year suspension, with a lifetime ban for a second.
"He'd have to start on a rookie contract so there won't be much money in it at first, but at least it will give him a continuing career in sport," said Harris. "He can then assess what opportunities exist if he makes the grade. Who knows? It might be the challenge and change he's looking for to get his life back on track."
Harris instigated the audacious plan because he, too, made a successful transition from AFL to rugby in the 1970s. He was captain-coach of NSW in football and progressed from NSW first grade in rugby to represent a combined Sydney team. He said Cousins possessed rare athletic ability and could be a worthy addition to rugby's talent pool.
"He can run all day, kick a mile and has the best hands you've seen," said Harris, former head of the Sydney Swans match committee. "It's not hard to imagine him at fullback because many footy skills are transferable to rugby. And, by rugby standards, he hasn't had too much of a physical battering over his career."
Cousins could become eligible if the AFL doesn't allow Richmond to list Polak as a mature-age rookie, but Harris acknowledged rugby would have to conduct the same risk assessment as AFL clubs on the 2005 Brownlow Medal winner.
Rugby's drug-testing regimen is as strict as that for Olympic sports. Priority is given to random testing of urine and blood, both in and out of competition. The standard punishment for a first positive test for a banned substance, be it recreational or performance enhancing, is a two-year suspension, with a lifetime ban for a second.
"He'd have to start on a rookie contract so there won't be much money in it at first, but at least it will give him a continuing career in sport," said Harris. "He can then assess what opportunities exist if he makes the grade. Who knows? It might be the challenge and change he's looking for to get his life back on track."
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/ne...as-force-circle/2008/12/12/1228585123446.html
