‘Such is Life’ is tattooed defiantly across Ben Cousins’ abdomen. Time will tell whether this recent hero follows the same path of self destruction that the bushranger legend Ned Kelly followed.
In September 2005, Ben Cousins’ confident grin said it all. He had just been voted the Best and Fairest player for the season in the prestigious AFL competition, and the new Brownlow Medallist had the world at his feet.
Football fame appeared inevitable for Cousins from the time he debuted with the powerful West Coast Eagles Football Club at the age of 17. In that year, he won the Rising Star award for being the best first year player in the AFL, and honours and accolades continued at a dizzy pace.
By 2007, Ben Cousins was a premiership captain, he had won his club’s Best and Fairest award four times, and he gained All Australian selection on six occasions. The 29-year-old star rover had played over 200 games for the Eagles, and few doubted that the fresh faced young man, with the boyish good looks, would continue to soar to great heights.
Cousins also seemed happy in his long term relationship with Samantha Druce, but periodic disturbing incidents raised concerns about the true stability of Cousins’ off-field life. In September 2002, the young Eagle broke his arm after falling down steps during a scuffle with team-mate Daniel Kerr. It was also known that Ben Cousins and the highly regarded Eagles’ ruckman Michael Gardiner, had connections with Perth underworld figures.
Samantha Druce and Cousins.
‘Such is Life’ is tattooed defiantly across Ben Cousins’ abdomen.
The two young stars were frequently seen with gangland boss John Kizon, a wealthy career criminal with a record that included heroin trafficking, firearm offences and assault.
In May of 2005 Gardiner and Cousins were criticised for their close association with gangland identities, especially when it was alleged that both young footballers received phone calls from local mobsters before and after a stabbing and shooting incident at the Metro City nightclub. The reputations of Cousins and Gardiner were further tarnished after both refused to cooperate with police questioning.
In May of Cousins’ 2005 Brownlow year, Gardiner and he were criticised for their close association with gangland identities...
The slide in Cousins’ life continued. In February 2006, he relinquished his four year captaincy term with the Eagles after being found guilty of avoiding a booze bus check point. In a bizarre turn of events, Cousins abandoned the car he was travelling in and swam across a river to avoid being apprehended by police. Soon after, Cousins admitted that he had a recreational drug problem, which he hoped to remedy by becoming a voluntary patient at a renowned American rehabilitation centre. By March 2007, his football club had suspended him for an indefinite period, and he and Samantha had ended their relationship.
Ben Cousins
During the following month, Cousins spent 14 days in an exclusive Californian drug rehabilitation centre. He made a triumphant return to AFL ranks towards the end of the season. Unfortunately, a serious hamstring injury kept him out of final’s action, and in November 2007, AFL Commissioners deregistered Ben Cousins as an AFL player because his alleged drug addiction was bringing the game into disrepute.
By then, two charges had been laid against Cousins after prohibited substances were allegedly found in a car that he was driving erratically. He was soon sacked by West Coast, even though the charges were later withdrawn. Following this controversy, Cousins supposedly indulged in a five day drug ‘bender’ in Los Angeles, when it was believed that he was visiting California to continue his rehabilitation program.
Police have made some attempts to identify individual or drug gang suppliers, who fed the habits of Cousins and possibly some of his former team-mates. Following his October 2007 arrest, police tested a $20 note which was found in Cousins’ car, to determine whether it contained particles of cocaine.
Traces of cocaine were found in the body of former Eagles’ great Chris Mainwaring, and investigators hoped to link samples from both players to the same drugs distributor. Thirty-three-year-old Nathan Greaves, and ex-Eagles team-mate Daniel Chick, were travelling in convoy with Cousins before being pulled over by police, and tests were conducted on samples of cocaine allegedly found in Greaves’ home.
Traces of cocaine were found in the body of former Eagles’ great Chris Mainwaring...
Other Eagles were rumoured to be upsetting the ‘West Coast eyrie’. Daniel Chick was reportedly under investigation for drug use, Daniel Kerr was questioned for possible drug use and physical assaults, and on a 2006 off-season trip to America, Chad Fletcher nearly died. Fletcher was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital when he reportedly started choking on his own vomit, and, after being admitted, at one stage he stopped breathing. After a four day stay in hospital, Fletcher returned directly to Perth, where he denied that his near death experience was caused by a drug overdose.
Tim Lane, a respected sports commentator, pointed out the apparent double standards that have been adopted by AFL executives in regard to Ben Cousins and former Carlton President, Richard Pratt. On 20 June 2008, Lane focused attention on the AFL’s conflicting attitudes toward Cousins and Pratt, in his regular column for The Age.
...double standards that have been adopted the AFL executives in regard to Ben Cousins
In November 2007 Pratt’s company, Visy, was found guilty of colluding with rival company Amcor in a price-fixing operation. Justice Peter Heeney was scathing in his condemnation of Pratt’s conduct, and fined Australia’s fourth richest man a massive thirty-six-million dollars.
By 2008, Pratt was facing additional criminal charges. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accused the Melbourne business tycoon of lying to them about his business practices. Pratt has stood down from his club presidency position, while the case is being resolved.
Andrew Demetriou, the AFL’s Chief Executive Officer, reminded the general community about the need for presumption of innocence before any judgements about Pratt’s conduct are made. Lane agrees with this ‘worthy sentiment’, but correctly recalls that the Commission deregistered Ben Cousins as a player while charges against him were still pending. Consequently, an alleged recreational drug user with no actual criminal convictions, was punished prematurely. When Pratt, an AFL club president, was convicted of more serious crimes, no action was taken. As Lane noted:
[The AFL] somehow managed to condemn Cousins, while giving the green light to Pratt.
In late June 2008, Ben Cousins began what may be his return to AFL football, by becoming a registered player with VFL club Port Melbourne. The AFL may still require the former Brownlow Medallist to undertake a drug rehabilitation program, but, at present there is some chance that Ben Cousins will resume his AFL career in season 2009.
In late June 2008, Cousins began what may be his return to AFL, by becoming a registered player with VFL club…
In February 2008, Cousins made candid public statements about his fall from grace:
‘At the end of the day, I ran the gauntlet,’ the fallen star admitted. ‘… I am someone who has lost my livelihood [and] hurt my family and friends [sic].’
Ben Cousins with a police officer.
Such is life. Will Ben Cousins finally resurrect his own life, or will he follow the tragic path followed by Ned Kelly and plummet to self destructive ruin?
In 2006, Chris ‘Mainie’ Mainwaring joyfully embraced Ben Cousins after the Brownlow Medallist added an AFL premiership medallion to his already crowded array of trophies. Mainwaring was at the MCG to share his close friend’s greatest triumph in life. Unfortunately, only two years later it became obvious that Ben would tragically no longer share ‘Mainie’s’ triumphs or tragedies.
Chris Mainwaring
He was one of the 1987 founding squad, and after debuting with the Eagles at the age of 21, Chris Mainwaring became one of the club’s best and most popular players. Adoring fans loved the courage and skill displayed by the blond wingman, and ‘Mainie’ became one of the West Coast Eagles’ most decorated players. He represented his club in 201 games over a 12 year period and he played in both the 1992 and 1994 AFL premiership teams. He was twice named as an All Australian representative and he was selected in the Eagles’ 1996 Team of the Decade.
He twice lost his license for drink driving...
Yes, the boy from Geraldton did make mistakes throughout his heady sporting journey. He twice lost his license for drink driving, and in 1993 he was arrested outside Gold Coast nightclub and charged with cannabis possession. West Coast supporters and administrators readily forgave him; they always felt benevolent towards that likeable rogue, ‘Mainie’.
After injuries forced his retirement, Chris Mainwaring became a successful sports journalist and TV presenter, but his moods and lifestyle were unpredictable. The father of two was thought to be experiencing marriage problems with his partner Rainie when he unexpectedly dropped some work commitments in early October 2007, and reportedly indulged in a drug and alcohol fuelled weekend ‘bender’ when his family returned to Geraldton.
Ben Cousins visited his friend twice during the day, and late that night concerned neighbours contacted ambulance services when Mainwaring began shouting incoherently in the street. Paramedics were sent away by Mainwaring, but before midnight the 41-year-old former football champion died from a heart attack after consuming large quantities of cocaine, anti-depressants and alcohol.
After his shock death, police tried to establish whether or not the same dealer had supplied both Mainwaring and Cousins with illegal drugs. Approximately 1,200 people attended Mainwaring’s funeral in Geraldton on 8 October.
Another Eagle had spiralled from the nest. On this occasion, the fall was fatal.
Horse racing is loved by many highly respectable citizens, but the sport also has a long legacy of attracting the criminal class. Recently, two scandals involving a notorious gangland boss, and an alleged drug dealer arose in Victorian racing circles.
Jim Cassidy
Tony Mokbel had a passionate involvement with Victorian horse racing before drug dealing allegations led to his rejection by the racing fraternity. Between 1997 until at least 1999, leading Australian jockey Jim Cassidy allegedly accepted more than $50,000 from Mokbel in return for tips about horses he was riding. This practice is widely known to be illegal, as trainers and jockeys are banned from tipping in return for money. Cassidy has steadfastly denied any involvement.
Australian jockey Jim Cassidy allegedly accepted more than $50,000 from Mokbel in return for tips about horses...
Cassidy, who has won two Melbourne Cups, was banned from racing for 21 months in 1995, after the ‘Jockey tapes’ scandal, when he and two other jockeys were accused of tipping and pretending to fix the outcome of a race.
A Melbourne Age newspaper investigation alleged that Mokbel laundered millions of dollars through Australia’s racing industry. It is believed that at least one Victorian bookmaker wrote cheques to Mokbel in return for cash, even though no bets were laid. One well-placed source described this system as ‘the purest form of money laundering’.
Tony Mokbel first came to police attention in the late 1980s, and by April 1999 the extent of his criminal activities prompted Victorian racing officials to ban him from owning horses. A champion thoroughbred named ‘Pillar of Hercules’ was owned by a syndicate which included Mokbel, and this two million dollar horse was confiscated by police. It was allegedly sold for slightly less than that its reported value after the crime boss skipped bail.
By the late 90s and early 2000s, stewards warned several jockeys to stay away from Mokbel. Damien Oliver and Danny Nikolic had been associated socially with the drug baron, but it is believed they heeded official advice, and severed their connections with him.
Jim Cassidy’s involvement with Mokbel attracted intensive media coverage on 14 June 2008, and, shortly afterwards, another scandal rocked Victorian racing circles.
It was revealed that Dayle Brown, the newly appointed chief of Racing Victoria’s Integrity Services, was illegally employed by a suspected drug trafficker 14 years before he assumed the position. It also became known that a position Brown held with Queensland Police terminated after only a few months, following a 1995 internal inquiry.
...illegally employed by a suspected drug trafficker 14 years before he assumed his position of responsibility in Victoria.
In late 1994, strip club owner Paul Pavlovski asked Brown and a police associate to track down the Adelaide whereabouts of his estranged wife and their children. At that time Pavlovski was being investigated by the NCA for drug trafficking, but Brown strenuously denied any knowledge that his former friend was under both federal and state police scrutiny. Never-the-less, Brown accepted a fee from Pavlovski for his duties, and he actually identified himself as a policeman when he was questioning at least one witness in Adelaide.
Brown has since described the trip as being ‘an error of judgement, and claims that he has not spoken to Pavlovski since 1994.
Details surrounding this issue were still emerging when this book went to print.