Those are personal crosses to bear.Plenty have called for the premiership to be stripped in punishment for the actions of the players and the perceived failings of the club, but a greater punishment was self-inflicted. West Coast premiership player Ashley Hansen knew just like all of his 2006 team mates what the story would be leading into the Eagles flag reunion. But as that question lingers, and the serious concerns for Ben Cousins' well being continue, it's difficult to see it going away.In so many ways, of course that premiership is tainted. The West Coast Eagles of the Australian Football League ended the 2006 season with a record of 17 wins and 5 losses for 68 points finishing first in the AFL. John Worsfold coached the team. As the West Coast Eagles prepare to celebrate the 2006 flag, controversy continues to linger around that era. What the topic of conversation will be for the gawking footy world is much easier to predict.This is a premiership team that has been as picked apart as it has been dismissed, remembered as much as it has been forgotten. I got the opposite but that’s life.”Adam Selwood — WCE development coach/East Perth assistantBrett Jones — High performance manager at Queensland CricketChad Fletcher — Sports clothing manufacturer in BaliMichael Braun — Framing business owner/sports mediaAndrew Embley — Business development manager/sports mediaQuinten Lynch — Insurance broker /amateur football coachMark Seaby — Apprentice plumber, WA Under-18s ruck coachSteven Armstrong — Beverage sales manager/amateur football coachDrew Banfield — Managing director of small business management companyBLAST FROM THE PAST: Victorious West Coast Eagles team with the premiership cup in 2006.Former West Coast champ Beau Waters is off to Kona for IronMan World Champs after qualifying in Cairns.West Coast premiership coach John Worsfold will be aiming to plot his former side’s downfall on Thursday, when his Essendon side comes to town.Former West Coast Eagle and Investwise business development manager Andrew Embley. Pete V'landys says it mightThe Catholic school system that takes from the poor to give to the richStranded Aussies mapped in project aimed at removing the capHoneybee venom rapidly kills aggressive breast cancer cells, Australian research findsEdward was 'sickened' when he realised the driver's licence in a story about a data breach was hisAbbott says governments need to face 'uncomfortable decision' about economy over livesEpidemiologist calls for mass testing of Melburnians with no coronavirus symptomsVictoria's state of emergency to be extended after bill passes Upper HouseAFL set to announce Queensland will host grand finalTurns out a tummy ache can be COVID-19: what are less-common symptoms?China suspends barley imports from Australia's largest grain exporterWhat is China's residential surveillance detention and why has it been used to detain an Australian journalist?N95 masks are the gold standard in COVID-19 protection, but it's not as simple as putting them onKen Wyatt brands Labor plan to 'free' Aboriginal flag a stuntTrump calls Kenosha violence 'domestic terror' after touring cityThe Catholic school system that takes from the poor to give to the richEdward was 'sickened' when he realised the driver's licence in a story about a data breach was hisHoneybee venom rapidly kills aggressive breast cancer cells, Australian research findsStranded Aussies mapped in project aimed at removing the capAbbott says governments need to face 'uncomfortable decision' about economy over livesThe Catholic school system that takes from the poor to give to the richStranded Aussies mapped in project aimed at removing the capHoneybee venom rapidly kills aggressive breast cancer cells, Australian research findsEdward was 'sickened' when he realised the driver's licence in a story about a data breach was hisAbbott says governments need to face 'uncomfortable decision' about economy over livesEpidemiologist calls for mass testing of Melburnians with no coronavirus symptomsVictoria's state of emergency to be extended after bill passes Upper HouseAFL set to announce Queensland will host grand finalWA posts warmest-ever winter as 36 towns break heat recordsLive: NSW Now: Two metro lines revealed for Sydney's south-eastEpidemiologist calls for mass testing of Melburnians with no coronavirus symptomsDepression pandemic: Inside Victoria's coronavirus mental health crisisRyan was told he would be better off at home than in Canberra Hospital filled with smokeKen Wyatt brands Labor plan to 'free' Aboriginal flag a stunt The 2006 West Coast Eagles won the Grand Finals. But how should we reflect on this brilliant but flawed team? Nothing from that match will likely ever be used in an AFL promotional ad again.The 2006 grand final, as a standalone football match, was a much better spectacle than the 2005 decider. BLAST FROM THE PAST: Victorious West Coast Eagles team with the premiership cup in 2006. Credit: News Corp Australia Where are the West Coast Eagles 2006 AFL … In most cases, their greatest crime was proximity.Cousins' career can not be looked at in the same light now we know everything we know, and as he continues to fight a depressingly public battle with addiction. The team compiled a postseason mark of 3-1. The mere fact the question exists is proof enough.Ten years on from that grand final, which the Eagles won by just one point, how many moments from that game can you remember? It's a largely pointless question, but it will never go away - was the Eagles' 2006 premiership tainted?An answer doesn't really exist, nor would it really matter. The Eagles were quick out of the blocks, fast and ferocious with their dominant midfield, only for Adam Goodes and Brett Kirk to put the Swans on their back for an unlikely comeback.It was one-on-one footy, free of any presses or zones or webs, and it was electrifying.
But it has been erased.For that reason, there is a tainting to the flag because the game should be revered among the best of a generation, and the team as one of the most entertaining and influential of its period.But the prevailing argument - that the off-field actions of a group of players within that squad cast a large enough shadow over the entire organisation to disregard the achievements - is a poor one.Cousins will likely not be attending the formal celebrations Mark Seaby and Ashley Hansen were in that team, two humble and understated players without whom the Eagles would only have two premierships in their case.