I am so proud of Richmond for taking the plunge on Ben Cousins. Here is a club that is about its supporters, not its latest sponsorship deal.
Here also is a guy who was never convicted of possession of drugs, nor was he ever accused of taking performance enhancing drugs (anyone who thinks recreational drugs taken off-field are performance enhancing needs to join the real world), yet has been scapegoated and hung out to dry.
He will be a great asset to Richmond, if he gets fit, as he would be to every AFL team.
Shane Warne took steroids, did his time, and was back. There were no questions of weekly urine tests.
So what about Cousins?
I do not condone elite sports people doing drugs any more than other people. In fact, it may be more risky as an elite athlete may have higher tolerances than others, and be at higher risk of taking too much.
But in no way is it performance enhancing.
Does anyone else wonder why there are never any cases of AFL players on steroids? Surely club doctors are giving them everything possible to hasten healing.
Are they not tested for steroid use?
Olympic athletes are not allowed caffeine, what drugs are not allowed in AFL?
If the point of the drug rules is to protect the players, then surely the painkillers players are pumped full of during a game, that suppresses the pain of injuries, fall into both the hazardous to players well being and performance enhancing boxes.
Where are the moralists who are plaguing our game when it comes to the 30 year-olds with broken bodies who have spent years on pain killers in order to play?
AFL is a game for cowboys, for people who can think and execute outside the box.
How then can we expect our stars to be conformers? Sure, zero tolerance for anti-social activities which mostly the court system deals with, but the witch-hunting that goes on is just absurd and largely hypocritical
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
It was sheer desperation from the Panthers in defence. They held off North Queensland's second-half comeback in a thriller for a 26-20 win.
Penrith have won plenty of games under Ivan Cleary, but few can have seen them have to grit it out as much as this…
Fans and pundits were concerned the subjective nature of the 'disruptor' rule would create inconsistencies. Fox League's Corey Parker thought this was a clear-cut…
The Cowboys made a second-half fightback against the reigning premiers - and it all started with a try to Valentine Holmes that came off…
Penrith had to make over 200 tackles in the first half and still led the Cowboys 18-4. Paul Alamoti galloped away for an intercept…
The Cowboys had all the territory but the Penrith defence stood firm. Dylan Edwards was doing everything for the Panthers, making a try-saving tackle…
