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Ben Cousins of Richmond looks on during the AFL Round 01 match between the Richmond Tigers and the Carlton Blues at the MCG, Melbourne. Slattery Images
Richmond may have finally worked their way off the bottom of the ladder over the weekend, but all the talk yesterday was about Ben Cousins being admitted to intensive care after an adverse reaction to a sleeping pill.
It was terrible news to hear and it isn’t over yet, with Cousins reportedly in an induced coma.
“This morning his girlfriend rang the club and spoke to the club doctor to let him know that she found it difficult to rouse him and it was decided to take him to Epworth hospital,” Richmond football manager Craig Cameron said yesterday.
He also said the club won’t know more for the next day or so, and: “We’ve got no suspicion that there was anything illicit involved.”
Undeterred by that comment, it didn’t take long for the media to jump on the story and slip into their usual habits whenever Cousins makes the news.
“Cousins pill drama,” screamed one TV graphic yesterday. “Controversy has intervened again,” wrote the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph. “He will be a drug addict until the day he dies,” said Nine’s Craig Hutchison, in response to a fellow host having the audacity to describe Cousins as a “recovering” drug addict.
While it’s probably not such a bad idea to treat a Cousins hospital admission with a degree of scepticism, you can’t help but feel it’s all a bit unfair.
If any other AFL player were admitted to hospital yesterday under the same circumstances, everyone would be wishing him the best and hoping for a speedy recovery.
But there’s a different set of rules for Cousins.
No one knows the full details at this stage, and Cousins himself is in no state to respond to any critics, yet he still cops it. And it’s intriguing, because when you actually sit down and look at what details we do know, it’s difficult to find anything all that “controversial”.
He’s taken caffeine tablets before the game. Nothing illegal there. Nothing we didn’t already know players were doing.
He’s had red wine, in moderation, with his girlfriend at home after the game. Nothing illegal there. Nothing we didn’t already know players were doing.
He’s then taken a sleeping pill after that. You could probably fault him at this point; players should know not to mix drugs so casually. But still, nothing illegal with taking a sleeping pill. Nothing we didn’t already know players were doing.
There may be more to it. But we just don’t know right now, so it would be blatantly unfair on Cousins to assume otherwise.
Certainly, it seems a bit early for The Australian to be reporting: “The hope Ben Cousins held of playing a 16th season in 2011 all but disappeared yesterday.”
Despite not being the player he once was, Cousins is holding his own out on the footy field. He gets more than 20 possessions most weeks, he’s ranked fifth at the club for disposals per game. He’s also become a real mentor for younger players and provides that rare commodity known as experience.
By no means is he guaranteed a spot on the Tigers’ list next year. But it’s hard to see how, on the information out so far, yesterday’s news would have any influence on the club’s decision-making.
Perhaps the real issue here is how footballers are using caffeine tablets and sleeping tablets. Some tried to play down the use of sleeping tablets yesterday, but it’s easy to suspect they are more prevalent than most people think. A number of Geelong players have taken sleeping tablets the night before grand finals.
At any rate, using the caffeine tablets pre-game and then sleeping pills post-game doesn’t sound like the greatest idea in the world. But I’m no expert.
I would, however, like to wish Cousins all the best and hope for a speedy recovery.