Cusack - Super League glee
Australian prop made the right decision to join Super League
By Phil Jackson Last updated: 5th January 2008
New Hull FC prop Peter Cusack insists he has no regrets about making the move from Australia to the KC Stadium.
The 30-year-old opted out of the final year of his contract with NRL side South Sydney Rabbitohs at the end of last season in favour of a move to Super League.
He co-captained the club to their first NRL finals last season and, despite having played for 10 years in Sydney, Cusack is adamant he has made the right choice.
"I've only been here a week and I already know this was the right decision for me," Cusack told the club's website.
"Since we arrived everyone has been so good, friendly and helpful. That makes such a big difference.
"The boys have been terrific as well, they have all been so welcoming and I have already sensed a great spirit in the camp.
"Scott Logan, who is a big mate of mine, was spot on when I asked him what Hull was like. He gave the place a big rap and that certainly helped me in making up my mind."
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Hull face Dewsbury Rams in pre-season on Sunday, but are sure to get a sterner test in Paul King's Testimonial game against Huddersfield Giants on January 13 and Cusack cannot wait to get going.
"It will be good to get my first game under my belt," he added. "This is an exciting experience and hopefully during my time here we can win things.
"I am still very ambitious and I'd like to think I can help Hull win some trophies. I'm also excited about playing in the Challenge Cup, a competition with such history."
Watch Cusack's first Super League debut live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm on February 8 when the Airlie Birds get their new campaign underway against Warrington Wolves.
(c) 2008 BSkyB
Football club to felicitate Ganguly
Friday, December 07, 2007 14:14 IST
KOLKATA: East Bengal football club will felicitate city boy and former Indian team skipper Sourav Ganguly on playing his 100th Test in Australia this winter.
East Bengal was the first to felicitate him after his first Test at Lords' in 1996. The Working Committee last night decided to felicitate Ganguly on playing his 100th Test.
''We were one of the first to recognise the prodigious talent the young boy had in 1996. We want to celebrate his success after a decade of international cricket when he plays his 100th Test,'' one of the officials said on Friday.
It was also learnt that a letter was sent to Ganguly seeking his time and convenience.
The working committee has decided to appoint Manoranjan Bhattacharya and Tushar Rakshit as scouts to spot talents across the country. They will travel to different venues and see and spot the talents for themselves.
The recruiters would then be employed based on their reports and coach's recommendation.
It was also decided that they would recruit two foreign players within an age-group of 25 and make him play the Kolkata premier league.
(c) 2005-2007 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cousins charges dropped
Disgraced former Eagle Ben Cousins has had his charge of refusing a driver assessment dropped by West Australian police.
The charge was laid last month when Cousins was pulled over by police in the Perth suburb of Northbridge.
The revelation means that Cousins will no longer have to face court after his charge of possessing a prohibited drug was also dropped soon after he was arrested.
Cousins' arrest in October was the catalyst for West Coast's decision to delist the former Brownlow Medallist but it would appear that the 29-year-old's argument for wrongful dismissal may be strengthened in light of all of his charges being dropped.
However, the Eagles confirmed on Tuesday that their position hadn't changed in relation to Cousins' contract with the club.
"At the time the decision to terminate Ben's contract was made, it was emphasised that the decision was not dependant upon results of the police charges and that remains the situation," the Eagles said in a press release.
In any case, the potential for Cousins to launch a battle to remain on West Coast's list next year may be quickly snuffed out with the fallen star due to face the AFL commission on Monday to answer a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.
The AFL will almost certainly deregister the former West Coast captain as a player for at least 12 months if he is found guilty at the hearing.
Cousins' life spiralled further out of control in late October when it was revealed he delayed the resumption of his drug rehabilitation in California by a week due to a cocaine binge which left him hospitalised.
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
Lappin appointed to Blues coaching panel
Retired Carlton player Matthew Lappin will join the AFL club's coaching panel as an assistant development coach.
Lappin, who spent nearly a decade at the Blues before retiring at the end of last season, was appointed to the panel under head coach and former teammate Brett Ratten.
Lappin, 31, will continue his playing career with Carlton's VFL affiliates Northern Bullants where he will assist Bullants player-coach David Teague.
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
T-Birds sign up Port Power as sponsor
The Adelaide Thunderbirds secured their financial future - and perhaps alienated half of their market - by naming AFL club Port Adelaide as the netball club's major sponsor.
Significantly, the sponsorship will see the Thunderbirds adapt a logo and uniform strikingly similar to the Power's when they play in the new trans-Tasman competition which replaces the national league next year.
It's a gambit that will challenge those netball supporters who align themselves with Port's heated AFL crosstown rival Adelaide.
While acknowledging the new deal had effectively turned the Thunderbirds into a billboard for Port to work on extending their own support base, Netball SA chief executive Greg Humphreys said it was a partnership that would strengthen both parties.
"We share so many similar goals and our partnership has been developing over the past few years," he told reporters.
"Our colours were getting a little tired, but as far as identity is concerned we are still the Thunderbirds and it is a strategic alliance with Port."
Humphreys argued the deal was well-timed to coincide with the switch to the trans-Tasman competition, the ANZ Championship, in 2008.
He also went out of his way to compliment the Crows.
"All I can say to Crows supporters is this is a strategic alliance, similar moves have been made at other clubs," he said.
"I don't think any supporters will not go to the games because the Crows colours aren't flying, Adelaide are a fantastic football club."
Power chief executive John James said the sponsorship was a way of pushing further into the female market for members and supporters.
"More than half of our supporters are females, so we thought it logical to get involved and support the country's largest female sport and South Australia's team in the international competition," he said.
"We know who make the decisions in the household and they're females."
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
Eagles may escape sanctions
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou hinted strongly on Thursday the West Coast Eagles won't face the loss of either premiership points or draft picks as a result of the latest indiscretion by fallen superstar Ben Cousins.
This is despite the AFL's public warning back in April that the Eagles could be charged under rule 1.6 relating to conduct unbecoming - resulting in the loss of premiership points and draft picks or receiving a heavy fine - if another one of their players transgressed.
Demetriou said the Eagles' fate would be decided at an AFL commission meeting on November 19 - just five days before the national draft - raising the possibility the Eagles could be stripped of at least the number three draft pick they secured for trading Chris Judd to Carlton.
But Demetriou said despite Cousins' arrest and subsequent court appearance this week for possessing drugs, he believes the Eagles have done much to rid the club of its drug culture - which was first highlighted when Cousins' drug addiction was revealed prior to the start of the season.
"The West Coast Eagles football club has made significant progress over the last few months to amend the culture of this football club," Demetriou, speaking from Paris, said on Thursday.
"They are still a very good football club but unfortunately they have a player within their ranks that has fallen through the cracks."
Demetriou said the latest in a long line of blemishes against the Eagles this season would be discussed by the AFL commission in November.
"I can't pre-empt what the AFL commission will determine but I have got no doubt it will be discussed."
"We are all aware the AFL commission made it quite clear (back in April) that the Eagles were put on notice and that if there were any more transgressions the AFL reserved the right to have a look at it."
Demetriou said the AFL would wait on a written report from the Eagles and on more information from the police before deciding if the club should face sanctions following Cousins' latest run-in with the law.
However Demetriou said he supported the club's decision to sack the 2005 Brownlow Medalist and former captain, who was only months into his rehabilitation and whose previous scrapes with the law included running from a booze bus in February, 2006 and failing to co-operate with police when investigated over links to Perth underworld figures in May, 2005.
Demetriou was also critical of Cousins' failure to again co-operate with police when arrested on Tuesday.
"No AFL player is above the law, we have always said that," he said.
Cousins was dumped by the Eagles after breaching the strict conditions he was placed under when the club - with AFL approval - allowed him to return in round 16.
However Demetriou denied the AFL and the Eagles had made a mistake in allowing Cousins to return and thus placing him back in the spotlight so soon after he first admitted his drug addiction.
"His return was based on medical advice and that was that Ben Cousins in order to minimise the possibility of re-lapsing had to have a goal and that goal he set himself was to play football again."
"So the further away from him playing football increased the chance of him relapsing and the closer he got to playing football minimised the chance of him re-lapsing and as it turned out he managed to get back by round 16."
"I'm sure there will be discussion in hindsight whether that was correct or whether he should have spent more time out of the game but it was based on medical advice."
However Demetriou conceded that Cousins was now unlikely to play in the AFL again.
"Absolutely no doubt he is just not ready to play football," Demetriou said.
"He has got serious health issues and that should be the only priority for him and his family but whilst getting his health in order that doesn't excuse the accumulation of incidents West Coast took into account when they terminated his services this week."
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
Nine Cats rewarded for stellar season
SPORTAL - Tuesday September 4, 9:38 PM
Premiership favourites Geelong have been rewarded for their stellar season with nine nominees in the 40-man squad in contention for All Australian selection.
Midfielders Gary Ablett, Cameron Ling, Jimmy Bartel and Joel Corey were joined in the squad by defenders Matthew Egan, Darren Milburn and Matthew Scarlett and forwards Steve Johnson and Cameron Mooney.
The 40-man squad features 22 players that are yet to receive All Australian honours, with the Cats the team with the most nominees.
"All Australian selection is recognition for a tremendous year of football, as the best player in your position across the entire competition," AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said.
"All Australian selection is also a recognition of the quality of those players you have competed against, to win your spot, and the aim of this approach is to highlight the outstanding players who are in contention for selection, and those who eventually win out to claim a position as one of the elite players of the season.
Among the players unlucky not to make the squad were Collingwood's Tarkyn Lockyer, Brisbane's Simon Black and Brownlow medal winners Adam Goodes and Chris Judd.
Collingwood, Melbourne and Carlton were the only clubs who did not have a player nominated in the squad.
Defenders: Jed Adcock (Brisbane Lions) Craig Bolton (Sydney) Campbell Brown (Hawthorn) Matthew Egan (Geelong) Sam Fisher (St Kilda) Dustin Fletcher (Essendon) Darren Glass (West Coast) Roger Hayden (Fremantle) Andrew McLeod (Adelaide) Nick Malceski (Sydney) Darren Milburn (Geelong) Matthew Scarlett (Geelong)
Forwards: Jonathon Brown (Brisbane Lions) Brett Ebert (Port Adelaide) Lance Franklin (Hawthorn) Brent Harvey (Kangaroos) Brad Johnson (Western Bulldogs) Steve Johnson (Geelong) Corey Jones (Kangaroos) Scott Lucas (Essendon) Cam Mooney (Geelong) Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle) Matthew Richardson (Richmond) Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
Midfielders/Ruckmen: Gary Ablett (Geelong) Jimmy Bartel (Geelong) Joel Corey (Geelong) Chad Cornes (Port Adelaide) Kane Cornes (Port Adelaide) Dean Cox (West Coast) Nick Dal Santo (St Kilda) Luke Hodge (Hawthorn) Nathan Foley (Richmond) Daniel Kerr (West Coast) Brett Kirk (Sydney) Brendon Lade (Port Adelaide) Nigel Lappin (Brisbane Lions) Cameron Ling (Geelong) Hamish McIntosh (Kangaroos) Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn).
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