Thanks to a downward spiral that oscillates between the bizarrely comical and the sickeningly tragic, it looks like Ben Cousins will be remembered by the bulk of this generation as a drug addict first, and a brilliant football player second.
Cousins’ off-field woes have reached the point where people’s first image of him won’t be that of a number nine in blue and yellow sprinting down Subiaco’s wing; it’ll be that of a sad guy with a crack-pipe in his hand.
The past month has seen the ashes of Cousins’ once bright star sent further into hell. Each incident has been more peculiar and depressing than the one that preceded it.
A low-speed car chase, getting caught by police inside Perth’s SAS barracks, and reports of Cousins, disoriented, driving over gardens and taking photos on his phone of a Sikh temple for reasons known only to his psychosis. From transcendent champion to cautionary tale, tragically, Ben Cousins does not seem like a person destined to grow old.
Before he was a public figure to attack, a symbol to scrutinise and ultimately a broken man to lament, Ben Cousins was a football player who was exceptionally good at his job. An impossible combination of strength and speed, Cousins was a more compact version of Patrick Dangerfield.
Mass x Acceleration = Ben. He was fearless, a working class warrior with an animalistic attack on the ball that belied his Hollywood good looks. He was desperation personified, with his idiosyncratic kicking motion where the head hammered down as the leg extended out an apt visual representation for how he simply willed the ball to its destination.
He was omnipresent in the clinches too, with a stature that seemed to stand far taller than his 179-centimetre frame. And then there was the running.
Cousins’ gut running is legendary in football circles. Entire articles have been written to try and understand the science behind how Cousins ran the way he did. The defining image of Cousins on the football field is when he’s off to the side of it – keeled over, gasping for air in the small space between the boundary line and the interchange bench, exhausted to his body’s limit, getting ready to go again.
Cousins didn’t just run hard though – he ran smart. His economy of movement was brilliant, always running to the right spots, to track an opponent, to receive a handball, to force a contest. Chris Judd once said “I don’t think I’ve seen someone run as hard to get the footy as Cuz does”.
What made Cousins one of best midfielders of his era was the fact that he could push his body past its limits and use his brain to get the best out of those new limits.
I’ll always remember Cousins for one passage in particular, something that I’ve never heard anyone else discuss. It occurred in the final minute of the 2006 grand final. At the 30:08 mark of the last quarter with the Eagles up one point there’s a stoppage on the far wing.
Cousins sheds the Jarrad McVeigh tag, wins the ball from the tap, explodes along the boundary line, handballs along the ground to himself to shake the oncoming Amon Buchanan tackle, cuts inside at pace and takes a bounce on the cut, breaks a Brett Kirk tackle before getting somewhat lost and handballing backwards to Chad Fletcher.
This eight-second sequence is vintage Cousins; the running power, the total unison of movement with his extraordinarily low centre of gravity, the exaggerated driving of the arms up and down and the head bobbing, grimacing in a desperate, determined pain. It’s frantic, ferocious and breathtaking. What happens next is ridiculous though.
Daniel Kerr, in what could have become a legendary brain-fade, gets the ball from Fletcher and brazenly kicks the ball sideways 30 metres to a contest in the dead middle of the corridor, the MCG’s centre circle. The ball breaks to the near wing, opposite where Cousins’ run occurred. Every single player (there are at least 14 by my count) involved in the previous passage is still on the far wing, hands on their hips, finished. Everyone except Cousins.
With 30:31 on the clock, Cousins bursts onto the screen again on the near wing, exploding at pace, performing the pressure act at 30:38 that leads Nic Fosdike to kick the ball out of bounds. McVeigh, Cousins’ tagger, is 50 metres behind him. It should be impossible for a human to do what Cousins did in these 30 seconds.
In the final minute of the most exhausting game of the year, he wins the ball, runs at full pace for eight seconds and sheds three opponents, getting noticeably slowed down by the last tackle, handballs, recovers, sprints 90 metres to the opposite wing, involves himself in the play, attempts a tackle, misses, double backs and then attempts a diving smother to force a kick out of bounds.
Again, he does all this in 30 seconds. Fosdike’s kick would be the last play of the game. The siren goes before the throw-in reaches Dean Cox and Stephen Doyle. Ben Cousins and the West Coast Eagles win the premiership.
This is one of the most incredible individual passages I’ve seen on a football field. And nobody knows about it, which touches on the contradiction of Ben Cousins. Off the field, Cousins behaves like a rock-star, and it’s not just the drug use. He wears deep V neck t-shirts, has a million dollar grin that looks eerily like Tom Cruise’s and drives around Perth with his shirt off.
In interviews he is captivating – a ball of masculine charisma. On the field though, Cousins was the definition of working class. He never courted attention. He seemed quiet, focused and driven. He rarely smiled, celebrated or talked trash. His game was closer to brutal than flashy. Gut-running is the least glamorous skill. He was a warrior – courageous, inspirational and humble.
To me, the beauty of playing sport is that whoever you are in everyday life, you get to leave that behind once you strap on the boots. You can be whoever you want to be on the field. Silent types become stirring leaders. Arrogant jocks become selfless workmen. If you try hard enough, in the context of sport at least, an average person can become a hero.
I don’t think Ben Cousins has any idea who he is in real life – at least the evidence suggests that. As a footballer though, within the reassuring confines of four quarters and a stadium’s walls, Cousins had an identity. He was a hero; a working class hero, which is something to be.
I don’t know Ben Cousins the person. He strikes me as a genuine, sympathetic, deeply troubled guy but any judgment I make about his character is pure speculation. I knew Ben Cousins the hero though. And thirty years from now when I think of Ben Cousins, the hero is the person I’ll choose to remember.
Ben mitchell
Guest
Good yarn. Description of those dying seconds of the 2005 gf not quite accurate. Fosdike was in the same initial contest on the wing and also gut ran to go and find the footy and get that kick under pressure from Cousins. Fosdike was a freak aerobic runner and brilliant gut runner. Should have won the norm smith in 2005. Great footballer.
jax
Guest
WC addressed it head-on by sacking their former captain and best player. Then they made Glass captain after Judd left and to this day WC have one of the best anti-drugs programs in the game. They engaged the leadership of the SAS military in Perth to coach WC on some of the things that our SAS troops are trained in and one of them now sits on WC's board. They were threatened with losing their AFL license if they didn't clean things up and your comments makes it sound like they didn't take threat that seriously which is just ludicrous. Glass went on to become the AA captain and he named in the AA team 4 times overall. Glass is now mentoring the Crows leadership group and blind freddy can see the impact that it has had on the Crows already, not forgetting the massive cultural contribution from former WC strategy coach Phil Walsh. So we have the SAS, Glass and Walsh (just to name a few) all working on WC's culture and leadership post 2007 and you think it's just lip-service. You're post is light on facts and big on assumptions and rumours AB.
Darlene Marron
Guest
Ben is one off the g8s in AFL & the Eagles greatest amongst others. . Shame he was derailed by other players & badly influenced by those around him. He should be remembered for his out standing talent on the field. The hierarchy of the Eagles needed to take some responsibility & acted but they didn't step up. They salute one other player & name a game after him. Show the same respect for all players especially those who did it clean through out their careers. Shame Ben wasn't out there now in some capacity with the game. Ben sadly is unwell & I wish him & his family all the best.
Darlene Marron
Guest
I'm with you. What a brilliant gritty hard working player. I met him when I played womans footy as he came to watch. I miss him on the field &I wish he was still out there contributing in some capacity. The Eagles hierarchy got it wrong. They should take some responsibility. He is unwell & from a early age they let bad influences bring in drugs & turned a blind eye. Yet we celebrate another player who died unfortunately but he was a perpetrator drugs /drink irresponsible. Double standard. To all players who just played footy & didn't get involved you deserve the accolades. Benny deserves respect on the field ad he will always be one of the greats. I
Veronica
Guest
What a great article. I , too, would prefer to remember Ben the player and hope he gets the help he needs to turn things around now.
K
Guest
You took the words right out of my mouth. 'Sickeningly tragic'? 'Comical'?! How is watching another human suffering funny. Mental illness can happen to anyone. Drugs or not. Have some heart & lift these people up. Don't keep them sick for your entertainment. Anyone who enjoys seeing another being suffer has the worst problems of all. I wish Ben all the best. These things happen to the best of us.
MACDUB
Guest
I don't know, hence the question Mustafa. If I knew, why would I ask? Logic not even once.
Birdy
Guest
I'm not going to pretend to know anything about AFL. I've watched a couple of games on TV with friends but that's it. Everyone has seen highlights of the post gf scenes involving cousins, he was whacked , totally completely off his face.
Professor
Guest
I am curious mustafa. By that same logic I assume we "know" that hawthorn was on the gear over the last couple of years because of Buddy as was Sydney last season? Martin at Richmond, Swan at collingwood, Libba at the doggies? We know nothing. 2007 after Akermanis made claims against the eagles they were investigated by ASADA, so I highly doubt that they were "souped up" as they played.
jax
Guest
We're you at LSHS Sharon?
jax
Guest
What stupid, ill-informed comments from Mustafa and Mike. How do you know he played on it Mustafa? Were you there? Did you see him and others actually take something with your own eyes? I knew quite a few of the players from that era and they weren't all on it as you are proposing, and questioning the entire team is preposterous. You wouldn't have a clue. Cuz won the Rising Star in his first year and he wasn't on the gear then. He didn't need gear to play incredible football and I doubt that he ever played on it but I can't be sure of course. How would I know? He frequented my business weekly, as did his family. His long term girlfriend at the time was a friend, as was he. We knew when he was on the gear, you could tell and he was fairly open about it amongst friends. I saw him refuse gear in-season many times but off-season was a different story so I've seen both sides. He is a really good guy with an addiction and he needs all the support in the world but he needs to drive it. Get well Ben.
AB
Guest
Yes, Cousins was great to watch. But he was part of a sick culture that pervaded WCE, which I'm not sure the club has ever fully addressed. And given his apparently super-human athleticism on the field; his self-confessed cheating on drug tests; his obvious lack of inhibitions about illegal substances; and West Coast's determination to look the other way; surely there has to be a question mark next to both Cousins' record and West Coast's 2006 flag. It isn't that hard to join the dots.
Mustafa
Guest
Good question. We know he was actually, and quite a few of his West Coast team mates too. The Swans were gyped by the Eagles. Judd left because of this. He hints at it when questioned.
Mustafa
Guest
Are you kidding, the guy earned more than a lot of people do over a lifetime. He was given houses, cars, you name it. Money might run out when he sells the 20 houses he owns.
Ads
Guest
Think you will find the author is referring to his on field work ethic, not his life in general.
BigAl
Guest
. . . furthermore, as I've said on this forum more than once, how come the coach - John Worsfold - a qualified Pharmacist - had no idea what was happening - right under his nose ?????
BigAl
Guest
Just what I was thinking ! - working class he wasn't, flawed genius he was...
Birdy
Guest
Dani E. I think it'more the senior player group that has to take more responsibility. They know what's happening. It's this don't be a dobber mentality that has to be broken. An extreme example Ben Cousins could very well end his own pain and so could Carney who is RL's carbon copy. If some one reported it in the early days maybe they very well could have saved a life
DaniE
Roar Guru
Gotta agree with you - I was from Sydney working in Perth during Ben Cousins glory years and it was the adulation was overwhelming sometimes. I worked on the field during a local pre-season derby at Subi Oval, a couple of weeks after he was busted for running from the police, and a big group of WCE fans at the boundary actually scared me a little with their fanatical belief that he was framed. Never quite had that experience in all my sport-watching years previously. So unhealthy and if he was already into drugs then, no wonder he's deteriorated so much. I however can't imagine how a club can really shield a player from the effects of being worshipped like that plus monitor their recreational choices away from footy.
Milo
Guest
Full stop. Yanks call it a period.