The Soaring

Well, I just I picked a fine weekend to be out of town. It just so happens to be the biggest weekend for the club in the off-season through the demotion of Michael Gardiner and of course, the Run Ben Run incident involving the captain Ben Cousins.

So where do you begin?

Let’s start with the Captain:

• In the football world you’d suspect drink-driving is not a capital offence. It may depend on the circumstances, the seriousness of the offence (0.05 - 0.74 is only an infringement in WA I believe) and the player’s history but by and large it’s stupid but not terminal. But the bizarre manner in which Cousins’ abandoned his car in fear of blowing in the bag doesn’t readily fit the usual DD bill. Why would you run? All this has done is serve to fuel more speculation rather than the relative benign story of an over the limit charge/infringement. In many ways this made it a bigger story than it needed to be.
• From what I understand, the biggest issue is the fact Cousins’ did not disclose the matter to the club who had it broken to them by the media. Not the way to build trust with your employer when you are the face of the club. This is what really has the club hot as in recent years it’s players have been involved in off field incidents which similarly look like unexplained brain-explosions, which in turn does not do a whole lot for the image of a club with stated values of Leadership, Passion and Professionalism.
• “Mr Nisbett said Cousins had to learn to be answerable for his off-field behaviour “If he has done that and he has run from a booze bus, well obviously it’s a ridiculous thing to do,” he said “Because he like any other citizen should have gone through the booze bus like everyone else has to.”" I can’t resist the word play here - but is Cousins’ still running from his off-field responsibility? Oh, the irony!
• Cousins, along with Michael Gardiner, were given a “last chance” by the club hierarchy after last years Metro nightclub shooting. The player’s implication in that was shaky at best, but the boys probably did themselves no favours by not being able to clear themselves from implication. In view of that, you wear the future consequences. Now, it appears the consequences are high stakes indeed. No club can maintain it’s integrity in a high profile situation like this if it suddenly forgets about what it is on record as saying - “Last chance Ben” means something now, unfortunately has to give.
• The player’s response has been interesting. It is being reported on one hand Cousins will step down as captain today, and on the other hand that the players are heading for a confrontation with the club saying none of them will agree to take over as a show of solidarity. Cousins may have “100% support” from the players but this is a much bigger issue than just what happens within the club. Cousins is the club captain and represents the club to it’s supporters, sponsors and the rest of the public. Therefore, the player’s views on this are not the be all and end all of the situation. I can understand the mateship aspect of the player group and the apparent tightness of the group is admirable, but to be frank I would’ve hoped at least some of the more senior players could see the bigger picture on this one.
• This is not the end of the world by any means. Let’s be straight about it. Ben should cop this on the chin, do the right thing and step down and then work with the rest of the club to galvanise the efforts of the team to prove the critics wrong in 2006. Seriously. Yes, players have a responsibility to their clubs whom they represent, and the clubs in turn have a responsibility to their fans who dig deep and oil the wheels of this machine known as the AFL (directly or indirectly). But ultimately, whoever is captain, whoever is not, let’s move on and play football with plenty of motivation to prove the knockers wrong

A short comment on Michael Gardiner.

• It’s a sad story. To try and be diplomatic I will say that amongst Eagles’ fans Gardiner has probably endeared himself the least of all current players due to what could be fairly or unfairly described as his aloofness. In view of that it may not be all that surprising he has worn out his welcome with Woosha who’s reign has been marked by not tolerating a lack of effort in his players. Through injuries Gardiner is no longer the player of 2002/2003. Whether he will ever re-ascend to those heights is debatable at best. He’s effectively been called out by the club to lift his game and earn his way back. Whether he does or not is, I guess, up to him.