Cousins set to line up for Port...Melbourne
June 27th 2008 00:34
Former Brownlow Medallist and West Coast captain Ben Cousins loos set to sign with the Port Melbourne Football Club, using the VFL team as a possible springboard back into the AFL ranks.
Cousins is currently serving a 12-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute, after he was found guilty of taking drugs, sometimes during the AFL season.
The fallen star is joining the Gary Ayres-coached side in a training capacity, as he takes his first steps in rebuilding his AFL career.
"I intend to hopefully register with Port Melbourne in the hope of coming over to Melbourne at some stage later in the year and training," Cousins said.
"I don't intend to play at this stage, but I'm certainly keeping the options open.
"(Port Melbourne) is an area I think I'll probably be staying. I've had a bit to do with (coach) Gary Ayres over the years . . . it seemed a logical, easy choice and they were happy to have me."
Wherther the former Eagles premiership player wants to return to the big league is another matter altogether.
"At this stage I'm just keeping that option open and seeing how I feel at the end of the year. The decision will be made, I think, once the season is over.
"I want to do a bit more football-specific training and see how the body feels. I don't want to come back and slip up again. I want to be 100 per cent certain that 1) I can do it, and 2) that it's what I want to do.
"I've maintained my fitness . . . but I've done it with the view of keeping the option open and meeting all the criteria the AFL set for me, so that when the opportunity comes, the decision is mine."
Cousins' former team take on Hawthorn this evening at the MCG.
Cousins is currently serving a 12-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute, after he was found guilty of taking drugs, sometimes during the AFL season.
The fallen star is joining the Gary Ayres-coached side in a training capacity, as he takes his first steps in rebuilding his AFL career.
"I intend to hopefully register with Port Melbourne in the hope of coming over to Melbourne at some stage later in the year and training," Cousins said.
"I don't intend to play at this stage, but I'm certainly keeping the options open.
"(Port Melbourne) is an area I think I'll probably be staying. I've had a bit to do with (coach) Gary Ayres over the years . . . it seemed a logical, easy choice and they were happy to have me."
Wherther the former Eagles premiership player wants to return to the big league is another matter altogether.
"At this stage I'm just keeping that option open and seeing how I feel at the end of the year. The decision will be made, I think, once the season is over.
"I want to do a bit more football-specific training and see how the body feels. I don't want to come back and slip up again. I want to be 100 per cent certain that 1) I can do it, and 2) that it's what I want to do.
"I've maintained my fitness . . . but I've done it with the view of keeping the option open and meeting all the criteria the AFL set for me, so that when the opportunity comes, the decision is mine."
Cousins' former team take on Hawthorn this evening at the MCG.
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