After an up and down 2008, Jimmy Cowan has been given the job of leading the Highlanders in 2009, beating out his Southland teammate Jaime Mackintosh for the role.

Jimmy Cowan had several run-ins with the law last year due to his problems with drinking, which led to him being charged twice for disorderly behaviour in the space of a couple of months, with another charge being dropped by police. His problems with alcohol almost led to him being axed from the All Blacks, and had it not been for the All Blacks management enforcing a complete alcohol ban on Cowan, he would never have had the chance to redeem himself in the black jersey.

Fortunately, he adhered to the liquor ban - and went on to produce some of the best form of his career to date. And, by the end of 2008, he had leap-frogged Andy Ellis and Piri Weepu to become the best halfback in the country.

All his hard work has now paid off, as he becomes the first Southlander to captain the Highlanders. And while he lacks experience captaining, he has a strong group of guys around him who will offer him the support he needs.

Cowan has stated that he will take a lot from what he's learned playing alongside Richie McCaw, and use that to help turn the form of the Highlanders around in 2009. From what we've seen of them at training, we think 2009 will be a major improvement on their 2008 season - which is one best forgotten.

Jaime Mackintosh and Jason Shoemark have been named as vice-captains to Cowan.

It's great to see Cowan taking his rugby more seriously, and giving alcohol the boot - it's saved the career of one of New Zealand's most gifted players.

For the second time in as many months, All Black Jimmy Cowan has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons - this time for disorderly behaviour outside a bar in Invercargill. On May 10th, Cowan was arrested and charged for a similar offence in Dunedin following the Highlanders game against the Blues.

Clearly he has a problem when he goes out drinking, and unless he sorts it out quickly he may struggle to keep his place in the All Blacks squad. Sure, he's been 'let off' this time (other than a fairly small $3000 fine...) - but will that happen again?

It would be a real shame if it comes to that, because he's such a talented halfback - he just needs to realise the seriousness of his actions. The All Blacks have been working hard to win back the respect and support of the public, and it's shocking that problems like these keep surfacing.

And it's not only Cowan - Jerome Kaino was charged with driving-under-the-influence last week, and we needn't even mention Jesse Ryder or Lucky Mulipola...

Being a sporting personality means that you, and your actions, will always be under a microscope - and so you must conduct yourself properly when out in public! It's the same for any professional sportsperson...

If these guys can't control themselves while out, then they need to think seriously about going out at all.

Being a sportsperson doesn't mean you can do what you want, when you want to - the laws are the same for everyone, and if they can't obey them, then they need to face the same consequences that you or I would face. As much as we like Jimmy Cowan, we think the NZRU should have come down hard on him, and suspended him for a while...

But, if the All Black jersey means anything to him, he'll make sure he works hard on how he conducts himself off-field in the future.

And, moving forward, it should be the same rule for everybody - two strikes, and you're out.