Ben Cousins Early Football and West Coast
Eagles Career
Ben Cousins was born June 30, 1978 in Geelong,
Victoria. He rose to prominence as an outstanding
footballer, playing for Bull Creek, East Fremantle and most
notably West Coast Eagles in the AFL, where he made his seniors
debut at Subiaco in Round 4 v. Geelong in 1996. He won
the AFL’s Rising Star Award in 1996.
Sporting the number 9 jumper for the Eagles, he
starred in the midfield as he demonstrated a great balance of
skill, strength, intensity and creative flair to create
opportunities on field and capitalise on them.
Ben Cousins at West Coast
Eagles
Ben Cousins - West Coast Action
Video
(love the spectacular goal at
3:27!)
Cousins captained the West Coast Eagles from 2001 to
2005, won the 2005 Brownlow Medal and the Leigh Matthews Trophy
(for the AFL’s MVP) and was club best and fairest in 2001,
2002, 2003 and 2005 (click once on the video below to see
footage of Ben Cousins' Brownlow win)
Ben Cousins Brownlow
In 2006 Cousins helped the Eagles to win the AFL
Premiership, beating the Sydney Swans by one point (West Coast
12-13-85 to Sydney Swans 12-12-84) and he played a major role
in the grand Final with 18 possessions and kicking two
goals.
Ben Cousins Off-field
Incidents
In September 2002 Cousins was involved in a fight with
team mate Daniel Kerr at a Perth nightclub.
In 2005, Cousins was involved with a police
investigation regarding a nightclub shooting, when it was
revealed that he and then teammate Michael Gardiner had
conversations with one of two men charged with disposing of a
gun fired in a Melbourne nightclub. He came under
criticism for declining to explain phone conversations he had
with one of the men charged over the incident.
On February 12, 2006, Cousins abandoned his car as he
neared a booze bus. Cousins parked his four-wheel drive across
the middle lane of a Perth highway, grabbed his keys, ran off
“to answer a call of nature” and didn’t return. The
incident cost Cousins the West Coast captaincy.
In late 2006, Cousins was arrested for being drunk
outside Crown Casino in Melbourne.
In March 2007, West Coast announced that Ben Cousins
had been suspended indefinitely for his failure to attend two
training sessions. It was also revealed that month that
Cousins had a substance abuse problem.
After his car was observed driving erratically,
Cousins was arrested on 16 October 2007 in Perth. Police
searched his car and found drugs. He was charged with
possession of a prohibited drug, and failing to comply with a
Police ordered drug assessment. His West Coast Eagles
playing contract was terminated the next day. The charges
against Cousins were later dropped.
Throughout this time, Cousins was subject to intense
ridicule and scorn from sections of the media and the
public. (click on the video below to see one example
of making fun of Ben Cousins)
Ben Cousins Life in Dance
Ben Cousins banned for 12 months, snubbed by
several clubs at the end of his ban
The AFL called Cousins to answer accusations of
bringing the game into disrepute. On 19 November, 2007 AFL
chief executive Andrew Demetriou announced that Cousins was
banned from playing in the AFL for 12 months.
The AFL drew widespread criticism for its action against
Cousins, particularly as he had reportedly never tested
positive to an AFL drug test. The ban was seen as the AFL
going outside its own policies to target a single
player.
Cousins publicly resolved to beat his addiction and
committed to rehabilitation in the USA. He also announced
that he was planning to make a documentary about his
rehabilitation to help other people understand the process and
to serve as a cautionary tale for others.
During his playing ban, he still featured regularly in
mainstream media, including an interview with The Footy Show
(click on the video below to watch Ben Cousins' interview with
The Footy Show).
Ben Cousins Interview
Although considered for a while by Collingwood (see
below), after being cleared to play by the AFL in November
2008, Cousins was considered by
bothSt
Kilda andBrisbane
Lions. Despite both clubs were
rumoured to be interested in Cousins, both declined the
opportunity to secure Cousins’ services.
Ben Cousins secretly investigated
by Collingwood
On October 17, 2008, it was revealed that, while
considering to draft
Cousins,Collingwood club management had
hired a private investigator to secretly observe Ben
Cousins' actions and movements. Furthermore,
Collingwood management had approached the Victorian Police
Commissioner Christine Nixon and secretly discussed Ben
Cousins with her. Both Collingwood and Nixon have
remained tight-lipped about the exact nature and
outcomes of those discussions.
Collingwood subsequently decided not to pursue
Cousins. Some have speculated that Collingwood would have
invested their Private Investigation fees better had
they sent their PI to observe Alan
Didak.
Football commentators joined Cousins' manager Ricky Nixon
in criticising Collingwood's actions to secretly monitor
Cousins, especially due to the implied condemnation of Cousins
when Collingwood refused to consider signing Cousins
and yet refused to comment on the details of their observations
and enquiries about Cousins.
Kevin Sheedy support for Ben Cousins return to
AFL
On the evening of November 26, 2008 in a public
Q&A at a Tom Hafey
dinner,Kevin
Sheedy grilled Richmond football
operations manager Craig Cameron about the Tigers'
reluctance to consider recruiting Cousins.
It's also been reported that Sheedy met with Cousins
in Perth and met with various members of the Richmond board to
encourage dialogue between Cousins and the club with a view to
Cousins playing for the Tigers.
Ben Cousins drafted by
Richmond
On December 16,
2008Richmond gave
Ben Cousins an opportunity to resume his AFL Career,
selecting him in the AFL pre-season draft. In the days
prior, Richmond sought the AFL's approval to have the
recovering-from-injury Graham Polak moved to their rookie
list effectively giving Richmond another pick in the
draft. After what was reported to be massive
deliberation, including soliciting the opinions of all other
clubs, the AFL refused Richmond's request. Richmond
then decided to relax their youth-focus recruiting policy
enough to use their one pre-season draft pick (no. 6)
to secure Ben Cousins.
The decision was publicly supported by many Richmond
fans, the Richmond players and Kevin Sheedy.
(click on each of the two videos below to see
on Ben Cousins' press conference on joining
Richmond)
Ben Cousins - Richmond Press Conference Part
1
Ben Cousins - Richmond Press Conference Part
2
Tom Hafey Criticism of Ben
Cousins
On February 26, 2009 the Melbourne Herald Sun reported
that Tommy Hafey had criticised Richmond's
decision to draft Cousins. Hafey was quoted as
saying: "People ask me, 'Doesn't he deserve a second chance?' I
say, 'No, he doesn't'; he had his chance and he blew it."
Another former Richmond champion, Kevin Bartlett was asked his
thoughts and in stark contrast to Hafey, he
said: "Actually, I'm all for people
having a second chance and that includes Ben."
Ben Cousins Comeback -
Richmond Tigers No. 32
On the evening of February 26, 2009, Ben
Cousins made his return to Seniors AFL in an NAB Cup match for
Richmond against Collingwood. Although Richmond lost the
match, there was strong visible and audible support for Cousins
from the crowd. In jumper number
32 for the Tigers, Cousins showed strong commitment at the
ball, gathered 21 disposals mostly gained in the
first half before he 'ran out of legs' and was left
concussed by a heavy bump which forced him from the
field. TV footage showed him vomiting on field at one
stage. Post-match, Richmond coach Terry Wallace expressed
his satisfaction at Cousins' performance in the game at this
early stage in his return to top level
football.
The day of Ben Cousins' return to playing
AFL, his father publicly expressed his surprise and
gratitude for the level of public support for Ben in his return
to senior football.
On March 27, 2009, Cousins played his first game of the
regular season for the Tigers against Carlton. A hamstring
injury kept him sidelined for several weeks of the 2009
competition and he returned in May, 2009.
Ben Cousins
Finger
Ben Cousins in GQ
Australia
The August/September 2009 issue of GQ
Australia magazine features an interview and phot shoot with
Ben Cousins. GQ editor Nick Smith expressed
admiration for Ben Cousins' strength and tenacity
in putting distance between himself and addiction. Perhaps
better suited to the pages of a women's magazine, the video
below shows part of Cousins' photoshoot for
GQ.
Ben Cousins knocked out by
Lance 'Buddy' Franklin
In round 21 of the 2009 season, Ben Cousins was
knocked out by a clash with Hawthorn's Lance Franklin and
Cousins subsequently left the MCG playing arena with
concussion. Cousins had possession and Franklin could have
extended an arm to attempt a tackle, but instead kept his arm
in. This exposed Cousins moving head to Franklin's
shoulder. The match review panel reported Franklin for
the incident and the AFL tribunal imposed a two-week suspension
on Franklin, which outraged Hawthorn and caused extensive
controversy in the football
media.
Ben Cousins back at Subiaco
Oval
In 2009 Ben Cousins made two significant returns to
his former home ground, Subiaco Oval. In round 10,
Richmond thrashed Fremantle and Cousins was among his new
club's best players with 25 possessions.
In round 22, Richmond played West Coast at
Subiaco.In the week preceding the match, West
Coast's administration invited the four-time club champion and
club captain to West Coast's club champion voting and
presentation night on Spetember 11. Cousins was
originally in doubt for the West Coast game with a suspected
fractured cheekbone after he was knocked out by
Hawthorn's Lance 'Buddy' Franklin in a clash the preceding
week, but was cleared to play.
Although not named in his team's best players in the
Richmond v West Coast match, Cousins topped his team's
disposals with 28, as Richmond went down to the Eagles by 80
points.
Bruce McAvaney interviewed Cousins in the week leading
up to the game.
Ben Cousins signs for second
year at Richmond
On 16th September, 2009, Richmond announced that
they have signed Ben Cousins for at least another year.
The announcement was made by club president Gary
March at the club's Best &
Fairest function.
Ben Cousins - Jack Dyer
Medal
On the night of 16th September, in Richmond's best and
fairest voting for the 2009 Jack Dyer medal, Ben Cousins ranked
5th with 145 points, behind Brett Deledio (1st), Daniel Jackson
(2nd), Chris Newman (3rd) and Richard Tambling
(4th).