Matt Price has the ability to encapsulate what many Freo supporters feel. And he has a fairly impressive medium to write about it, the Australian Newpaper. Here are some quotes from his latest article.
“Except a disturbingly large chunk of me – and, from what I gather, many other Dockers fans – won’t be entirely dissatisfied with a loss. Don’t get me wrong; a win over Port, who is flying right now, would be encouraging. But the odds are Freo will lose and, if so, an unmerciful thumping would suit better than a nail-biter.
This has nought to do with tanking for draft preferences and absolutely everything to do with spite, envy and immaturity.
“You want the Dockers to get beaten, don’t you?” a wizened footy scribe surmised before I mentioned as much.
“Well, er, it’s not that simple, but sort of,” I stuttered. “How could you tell?”
“Because your mob is weak, vindictive, unprofessional, complacent, small-minded and insular and it’s the reason you’ll almost certainly never win a flag before you die.”
Which rather overstates the case, but he has a point.
Fremantle may be out of the finals race, but tonight’s result has a deliciously significant bearing on West Coast’s September prospects. By the time the ball is bounced in Adelaide, West Coast will almost certainly have beaten Essendon at Subiaco. If Fremantle conspires to lose by more than the Bombers, the Eagles will finish third behind Port. A Dockers victory – or a defeat by less than the Subiaco margin – elevates West Coast to second.
If you are still with me here, you will understand the difference. Second delivers a home game in the first week of the finals, third means playing away. Ergo, a Fremantle victory would provide the dreaded cross-town foe with a much smoother path to the grand final.”
Another of The Australian Opinion writers Patrick Smith, does not think much of Cousins…
“WENDELL SAILOR, cocaine. Ben Cousins, crystal methamphetamine. Andrew Johns, ecstasy. The three poster boys of Australian football have been illicit drug users.Two have apologised. One in Perth just smirks.
West Coast knew it had a drug culture and chose to ignore it. Only when Cousins became unmanageable through his addiction did the club suspend him.
West Coast coach John Worsfold said players lied to him and that as many as eight later admitted taking illicit drugs. Worsfold is not sanctioned for overseeing an environment so out of control that one player nearly died of an overdose on an overseas trip.
Cousins has not apologised nor has he been sanctioned by the AFL, and that is fundamentally wrong. There is grave doubt now that he will ever explain the dangers of drug use to the football community that adored him and made him rich enough to pay for his habit. Though he collected 38 possessions in his first game back from finishing rehabilitation, he sneers behind the tissue of medical advice. “
Reports in The West suggest Cousins will make an admission and apology, I hope so, for his sake.
The truth shall set you free.
