TonyK
CibbuanoShow Ben respect: Nixon
June 28th 2008 22:36
BEN COUSINS' manager Ricky Nixon has taken aim at the AFL clubs that have already ruled out recruiting the former West Coast captain, saying they should show more respect.
Nixon was particularly critical of Adelaide football manager John Reid, claiming his sharp dismissal of the 2005 Brownlow medallist showed a lack of feeling.
Reid was one of a number of club representatives who this week ruled themselves out of taking Cousins should he be granted permission to resume playing after a 12-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute.
When asked if the Crows were considering drafting Cousins, Reid said dismissively: "We're just not interested."
Nixon said Reid out of touch with modern football.
"I'd say, 'Grow up' to the clubs that have come out and said they don't want Ben," Nixon said yesterday.
"People like John Reid, from Adelaide . . . fair dinkum, to come out and make negative comments like he has made is just infuriating. This bloke is so old hat that it is not funny.
"He should get out of the game because he is yesterday's man who makes the most bumbling comments that I've ever heard in my life. 'John is a parent, so perhaps he should put himself in the shoes of Ben Cousins's parents.
"Obviously, if it were his son or daughter, he wouldn't appreciate the comments that are being made."
Nixon said several AFL clubs had approached him to get a feel for where the former Eagle is at in his recovery from drug addiction but he firmly believes that Cousins will not not play in the VFL or the WAFL this year.
"He is going to come over to Port Melbourne and train a bit and he is going to train over in Western Australia, but the chances of him playing are highly unlikely," Nixon said.
"I don't want him to play (this year). I don't see any reason why he needs to.
"I do understand the AFL, and everybody else, wants to see him fit and healthy and training, but I don't think anyone needs to see him run out on the ground and actually play a game.
"I think we all know that he can play. We just need to see that he is fit and healthy, that is the priority."
Nixon said the risk of injury, being tagged and copping too much public scrutiny were all concerns if Cousins returned to the field this year.
"There are other ramifications to consider if he happens to play," he said.
"The fact that he is going to be heavily tagged and create a pressure situation is perhaps not conducive to getting back into AFL, to be honest.
"At the end of the day, if he is declared fit later in the year and if he is able to nominate for the draft, I don't think the few AFL clubs that I have spoken to haven't been too worried about him playing, that's for sure.
"People need to understand there is about a five-step process. Step one is training, and he could do that for five or six weeks, then step two might be to play one or two games, three might be to nominate for the draft, four is to get selected in the draft, and step five might be running out on the MCG for the first round next year.
"Everyone wants to know about step five, but they have to understand that we are only at step one now."
Nixon was particularly critical of Adelaide football manager John Reid, claiming his sharp dismissal of the 2005 Brownlow medallist showed a lack of feeling.
Reid was one of a number of club representatives who this week ruled themselves out of taking Cousins should he be granted permission to resume playing after a 12-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute.
When asked if the Crows were considering drafting Cousins, Reid said dismissively: "We're just not interested."
Nixon said Reid out of touch with modern football.
"I'd say, 'Grow up' to the clubs that have come out and said they don't want Ben," Nixon said yesterday.
"People like John Reid, from Adelaide . . . fair dinkum, to come out and make negative comments like he has made is just infuriating. This bloke is so old hat that it is not funny.
"He should get out of the game because he is yesterday's man who makes the most bumbling comments that I've ever heard in my life. 'John is a parent, so perhaps he should put himself in the shoes of Ben Cousins's parents.
"Obviously, if it were his son or daughter, he wouldn't appreciate the comments that are being made."
Nixon said several AFL clubs had approached him to get a feel for where the former Eagle is at in his recovery from drug addiction but he firmly believes that Cousins will not not play in the VFL or the WAFL this year.
"He is going to come over to Port Melbourne and train a bit and he is going to train over in Western Australia, but the chances of him playing are highly unlikely," Nixon said.
"I don't want him to play (this year). I don't see any reason why he needs to.
"I do understand the AFL, and everybody else, wants to see him fit and healthy and training, but I don't think anyone needs to see him run out on the ground and actually play a game.
"I think we all know that he can play. We just need to see that he is fit and healthy, that is the priority."
Nixon said the risk of injury, being tagged and copping too much public scrutiny were all concerns if Cousins returned to the field this year.
"There are other ramifications to consider if he happens to play," he said.
"The fact that he is going to be heavily tagged and create a pressure situation is perhaps not conducive to getting back into AFL, to be honest.
"At the end of the day, if he is declared fit later in the year and if he is able to nominate for the draft, I don't think the few AFL clubs that I have spoken to haven't been too worried about him playing, that's for sure.
"People need to understand there is about a five-step process. Step one is training, and he could do that for five or six weeks, then step two might be to play one or two games, three might be to nominate for the draft, four is to get selected in the draft, and step five might be running out on the MCG for the first round next year.
"Everyone wants to know about step five, but they have to understand that we are only at step one now."
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