Cousins Suspended .No show for round 1 with Sydney

[NMWBloods]

I know it is the right thing to be sympathetic to those who have fallen

You don't have to be sympathetic but neither do you have to take joy in it.

[Demsone]

So whats there to sympathise with a 29 year old head case who knew what the outcome of his action would have? I would have pity if he was a rookie, but I think he is old enough to have understood his consequences?

Maybe i have been around (not by choice) enough junkie headcases to feel no sympathy or compasion for these people and know what they are all about.

[AnnieH]

In my most humble opinion, we'll never see cousins play again.

[Industrial Fan]

So whats there to sympathise with a 29 year old head case who knew what the outcome of his action would have? I would have pity if he was a rookie, but I think he is old enough to have understood his consequences?

Maybe i have been around (not by choice) enough junkie headcases to feel no sympathy or compasion for these people and know what they are all about.

Before you come in throwing your weight around, why dont you ask yourself (as I often do): what would Mr T. say in this instance? [exeunt]

[573v30]

In my most humble opinion, we'll never see cousins play again.

Sounds good to me.

[Claret]

In my most humble opinion, we'll never see cousins play again.

Hope you are right

And I hope that Rodger Federer does an ACL, Roddick gets done for drugs, Murray ends up in a wheelchair, and the rest of the top 20 tennis players in the world also have bad things happen to them so that our Lleyton can once again dominate!

That is most important above all else!

[goswannie14]

If you are going to talk on a footy site..at least get your facts right. 98 was not the year bucks left for Collingwood..try end of 93.

Does the year really matter ...the sentiment still stands.

[NMWBloods]

And I hope that Rodger Federer does an ACL, Roddick gets done for drugs, Murray ends up in a wheelchair, and the rest of the top 20 tennis players in the world also have bad things happen to them so that our Lleyton can once again dominate!

That is most important above all else!

Finally someone who understands. It's not about seeing top class athletes play. It's about seeing all the opposition get injured or lose their way or die, while the player or team you support wins by de-fault - the two sweetest words in the English language!

[swantastic]

Finally someone who understands. It's not about seeing top class athletes play. It's about seeing all the opposition get injured or lose their way or die, while the player or team you support wins by de-fault - the two sweetest words in the English language!

Thats right it doesnt matter how you win just as long as you win.

[ROK Lobster]

I also found it strange that in another thread Crouchy gets knocked from pillar to post for his views, but some of the very same people want to show sympathy and understanding for this scumbag.

I think that Crouch's comments were found to be odd, weird and a little paranoid. I am not sure that anyone made any comment on any other aspect of his personal life (maybe there was some Catholic bashing - and someone said that he appeared to be a bit of a pain in the arse at a social event. I forgot that it is ok to bag Nick Davis for turning the other way at an airport but it is not ok to bag anyone for acting like a @@@@@ at a club presentation or whatever it was). There has been some discussion too on whether he is past his best, but that is quite normal I would imagine (except for the real supporters ). Crouch's comments were criticised, views were expressed, but he was hardly "bashed from pillar to post". It is hardly as though anyone was calling him a scumbag that deserved to get hit in the head because he did not tell the media he did not have a broken jaw

The discussion on Cousins is not really comparable. I wont speak for others but I feel some sympathy for him because his life seems quite plainly to have turned to poo. Whether or not he is responsible for that is quite beside the point. I also commented that the whole situation is quite sad, and that everyone involved, including the club and the code would be better off if it had not happened. I don't pretend to offer any understanding, and whether or not he is considered by someone to be a scumbag is beside the point. It is a lamentable situation and not something I can see any up side to. The club may be to blame to the extent that it is now the club's problem, and a stronger club would have either got him in to line or got rid of him earlier. I think the club is partly to blame for the mess it finds itself in, but not really to blame for the poor choices an adult has made.

I am, at times, critical of the club and some of its staff and players. If I were a West Coast fan I would be ropeable over the mess it is in, and would have been critical of Cousins over a long period of time. He is an excellent player and his club and team mates should be disappointed in him. I have not criticised him because, quite frankly, I am not that interested and have not followed his capers over the years. As I said when I first posted in this thread, I do not want to make excuses for him, or condone or apologise for anything he may or may not have done. At the same time I cannot see how anyone can take pleasure in the fact that a young man seems to have screwed up his life, the club has been damaged and so has the code. If 4 points (or the possibility that taking the 4 points is a little easier) in a sporting competition that you have no connection to other than as someone who hands over their hard earned to sit and watch on a Saturday evening is worth that, then Cousins is not the only individual I do not understand.

[Triple B]

ROK, first let me say that although I quoted Demsone, who was referring to you, I was not referring to you specifically when I made my comment re: Crouch getting bagged in the other thread. I didn't know where you stood on the Crouch issue, although from your post I do now, but was referring in general that IMHO Crouch took a bit of a walloping off plenty in the RWO community, yet Cousins was getting pity.

I never said anybody said Crouch was a scumbag either, I was referring to Cousins who is a scumbag in every sense of the word.

The thing that really gets my goat is Crouchy is just a lovely. well behaved bloke with a beautiful long time partner and for some people to criticise him and 7 days later defend Cousins just sh... me no end.

I find it almost impossible to believe that he would go out of his way to be a PITA at a club function, but I suppose it is possible he was having a bad day, although I truly find it hard to believe.

Crouch - Cousins are truly poles apart.

[573v30]

Anyone watch that report on Today Tonight? I know it's hardly a credible news source (maybe for bogans) but it "revealed" the disturbing "truth" prior to him passing out near Crown Casino.

Apparently, he offered some guy cash to take him somewhere (probably Crown) and the driver (who was interviewed of course) noted strange and paranoid behaviour exhibited by Cousins. He was allegedly in the car for 15 minutes although the car travelled about 200 metres, then left the car and passed out metres from where he departed. If any of that was true, I'd believe it.

[ROK Lobster]

Crouch - Cousins are truly poles apart.

Exactly. Crouch got bagged for making some pretty strange comments to the media (I was a bit stronger in my comments than I remembered, but given the scale of the 'issue' it was all pretty low key). It is not something one really sympathises with. I just think he is a bit a crackpot (when it comes to injuries and the media). I have met him a couple of times at the school holiday coaching clinic things and have never thought much of him either way - just as a regular sort of footy player, enjoying it in some ways and probably wishing he was somewhere else in others.

I don't think many are 'defending' Cousins. Just that it is a sad thing to happen and that (i think a few agree with me on this) there is nothing really to take pleasure in. Just as if Crouch turned out to have a career ending injury - or even some mental health issue that sparked his comments to the media - I would feel sorry for him and see no good in it. It is not a matter of defending Cousins - it is a matter of not gloating over his troubles and the troubles of the club.

[swansrock4eva]

I don't think many are 'defending' Cousins. Just that it is a sad thing to happen and that (i think a few agree with me on this) there is nothing really to take pleasure in. ... It is not a matter of defending Cousins - it is a matter of not gloating over his troubles and the troubles of the club.

Must admit I very much agree with you there RoK. On the one hand, the one-eyed part of me half-thinks "yes! that's gotta help us!" but at the same time it is more than just a football issue being dealt with so publicly - it is also a matter of a human being. While I openly admit to being critical of Cousins in the past, this has gone beyond a "boys behaving badly" thing and into far more serious realms. How long it has been at a serious level is open to speculation (probably almost as much as the specifics of the latest indiscretion/s themselves), but it was quite interesting to read a timeline of West Coast's off-field troubles in one of the papers down here. It makes one wonder WHY they have left it until now for one of their most cherished players to fall so completely and brutally (and publicly) off the wagon for them to really step in. There is so much more to all of this, and on the one hand, it is private and should probably stay that way, on the other, it would almost be good to hear the whole truth to lay as many rumours to bed as possible and allow the healing of the real issues to begin, rather than having to focus on the superfluous garbage that could end up being even more damaging than the inital problems themselves. More than anything, while the footy supporter in me doesn't mind the fact that he won't be playing Round 1 (and secretly hopes he has a minor ailment that rules him out of any game against us), the more human part of me hopes he gets himself back on track one way or another.

[Triple B]

Fair enough ROK.

We'll agree to see this from slightly different angles.

I think the problem for me is, it's Cousins.

I don't think I was outraged when Kerr got into trouble, didn't care one way or the other. It's just that Cousins has rubbed me up the wrong way for years.

Cousins and his on-field antics just sh.. me no end. Great player and all, he just rubs me the wrong way.

I'd feel the same if it was Milne, Hunter, Didak, Holland, those type of players that you just have a responsibility to despise if you are an opposition supporter.