Cousins in cotton wool ahead of Canberra - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Cousins in cotton wool ahead of Canberra

By Tim Clarke 19/04/2006 04:01:09 PM Comments (0)

West Coast is sweating on the fitness of reigning Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins, who is struggling with a sore hamstring ahead of the game against the beleaguered Kangaroos in Canberra on Sunday.

Cousins has not been sighted at the Eagles' nest since Saturday night's comfortable win against Richmond, which kept West Coast unbeaten whilst sending ominous messages to the rest of the competition.

After missing the clubs's recovery session on Easter Monday, Cousins was also excused training, with coach John Worsfold preferring to wrap his former skipper in cotton wool ahead of the club's third ever visit to Manuka Oval.

Despite his lack of preparation, Worsfold said he was still hopeful Cousins would be available to take on Dean Laidley's strugglers.

"He pulled up a little bit sore on the weekend ... it is not a major concern at this stage, so we are pretty confident," Worsfold said.

"We are going to look after him, he is keen to take it very quiet and give himself every chance to come up for the game.

"Cuz has often played and pulled up sore, whether it be hamstrings or broken bones, and knows himself pretty well whether he will get up and play or not.

"He doesn't miss too many games, so we would be pretty confident he could overcome it, but we won't know until probably Thursday afternoon."

In contrast to life at Arden Street, a relaxed Eagles coach said he was looking forward to another marathon selection meeting, which was likely to bring him happy headaches with the availability of fit-again forward Ashley Hansen.

Worsfold acknowledged the strength in depth of his list, which has seen West Coast ease to a 3-0 record without superstars such as Cousins and Chris Judd at full throttle.

"It was more players like Michael Braun and Chad Fletcher, who we knew would run into better form and fitness as they got more games under their belt," Worsfold said.

"The other guys we know they are going to perform well ... whether they are the real dominant game breakers, that varies week to week.

"We have had Chad Fletcher, Rowan Jones, Daniel Kerr, Dean Cox all play those roles at different times, and I know the other guys will have their chances at times during the year."

As for the plight of the Kangaroos, who will be without spiritual leader Glenn Archer and have lost their last two games by an average of 73 points, Worsfold said it makes no difference.

"I am happy taking on any team, whether they are in their best form, coming off a loss, whether it is a milestone game for anyone. It does not have any influence on the way we play," Worsfold said.

"Every team you would assume would come out really firing, what we have got to worry about is that we come out really firing."

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news