Cousins unlikely to play AFL again – Matthews

 

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By Laine Clark, 23 Oct 2007 Laine Clark is a Roar Pro

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Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews has conceded that fallen star Ben Cousins is unlikely to play in the AFL again.

The Brownlow medallist was dumped by West Coast last Wednesday, a day after being charged with possessing a diazepam tablet without a prescription.

The ex-West Coast captain was also charged with refusing to take a driver drug test, after being pulled over for driving erratically.

On Friday, police said they made a mistake when they laid the drug charge – and they formally dropped it in Perth Magistrates Court yesterday because diazepam is prohibited only in injectable liquid form.
But Matthews – a four-time AFL premiership-winning player and coach – said he could not see a way back to the AFL for the premiership-winning midfielder.

“I would say it is very unlikely, for obvious reasons,” he said.

“(But) who’s got a crystal ball?

“I’m one of 16 clubs. I can’t talk for the other clubs.”

Matthews said the AFL’s image “obviously has” taken a battering and he could understand a parent of a potential draftee expressing concerns over the possibility of their child joining the West Coast.

“The world is about perception and reality and sometimes perception is what we go on because we don’t know reality,” he said.

“I’ve got no idea what happens at the Eagles because we are not there.

“But you can understand that thought being expressed because the perception is something that we all have to cope with.

“But we are 3,000 miles from Perth so I can make observations from a long, long way away.”

Cousins, 29, is expected to return to California soon for a second stint in drug rehabilitation.

Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said last week that there was no chance of Cousins playing for the Eagles again.

And even if he wanted to enter the draft system in coming years, Cousins would need the permission of the AFL.

© 2007 AAP

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