Ben Cousins
Benjamin Luke Cousins is a former professional Australian rules footballer and media personality who played for and in the Australian Football League. Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of all time. During his 12-year, 238-game career with West Coast, he won several of the league's highest individual awards, including a Brownlow Medal, Most Valuable Player and a premiership medallion. He was also selected six times in the All-Australian Team and represented Australia in the International Rules Series. He was West Coast's club champion for four seasons and captain for five seasons.
Cousins' football career was marred by highly publicised off-field incidents involving illegal recreational drug use, traffic convictions and association with criminal elements. On several occasions he was fined or sanctioned by West Coast, culminating in the termination of his contract in October 2007. The following month, he was banned from AFL for one year by the AFL Commission for "bringing the game into disrepute". Amid predictions that he would remain undrafted, Richmond claimed Cousins with the last pick of the 2008 draft. He played 32 games across two seasons at the club, retiring from the AFL at the end of the 2010 season.
Cousins co-produced a documentary film titled Such is Life: The Troubled Times of Ben Cousins, saying he hoped it would serve as a cautionary tale against drug use. Released days after his retirement, it was "one of the most-watched documentaries in Australian history." Post-football, Cousins continued to struggle with his drug addiction and have run-ins with the law, and in 2017 he received a 12-month prison sentence for a variety of offences including stalking and breaching a restraining order. In 2023, after beating his addictions, Cousins joined the Seven News team in Perth where he reads the morning news sports bulletin and is emerging as one of the city’s leading sports reporters. In 2025, he joined the Hit Network to co-host the WA breakfast radio show, Pete & Kymba with Ben Cousins.
Early life
Cousins was born in Geelong, Victoria, on 30 June 1978, to Stephanie and Bryan, an Australian rules footballer who had moved from Western Australia to play for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League. When Cousins was 18 months old, his family moved back to Perth, Western Australia, where he was raised with younger siblings Matthew, Sophie and Melanie. He played junior football for the Bull Creek-Leeming Junior Football Club and for his private school, Wesley College. In his last year at Wesley in 1995, he was recruited to join the East Fremantle Football Club's senior side in the West Australian Football League and played for both his school and East Fremantle throughout the season.While Cousins was still at school, three AFL teams competed to draft him under the father–son rule: the Geelong Football Club, the West Coast Eagles, and the newly formed Fremantle Football Club. Cousins' father Bryan played 238 games for Perth in the WAFL and 67 games for Geelong in the VFL during the 1970s and 1980s. Geelong's recruiting manager, Stephen Wells, said, "Ben barracked for Geelong and we tried everything to get him here." However, Cousins preferred to remain based in Western Australia and chose West Coast in October 1995.
AFL career
West Coast Eagles
1996–1997: Rising Star Award and increasing popularity
At 17, a week after his tenth WAFL game for East Fremantle, Cousins played his first AFL match and kicked two goals for West Coast against Geelong. He won the Norwich Rising Star award for his debut season in 1996, polling 15 votes from the six judges to beat Shannon Grant by one point.Cousins' popularity continued to increase over the following seasons. In 1998, the Herald Sun ran a two-page article across its centre pages about 20-year-old Cousins, titled "West goes wild for the kid". The article portrayed Cousins as a sex symbol and "football's answer to Brad Pitt". When asked about the article, he said the popularity "comes with the territory... If you want to be a league footballer you have to accept that it is part of the game." Sports agent Ricky Nixon approached Cousins in 1998 about managing his endorsement deals, because "He's good-looking, he elected to stay in Perth and not play in Victoria, opposition coaches take notice of him and on top of that he's a future leader." In 1999, International Management Group, who managed sports stars such as Tiger Woods and Pete Sampras, said they would like to sign Ben, as "There is no doubt that he is now in the top bracket of players and has great marketing potential... Apart from being an outstanding footballer, he is a quality young man." Ross Nicholas, West Coast's marketing manager, said:
"He's easily the most sought-after Eagle... No player was, or is, as popular as Ben. His appeal is so diverse. Kids want his autograph and photograph. Sponsors want him to sit next to them. They want him to push their product... If Ben's well managed, the sky's the limit for him... They've got to find the balance between his commercial potential and his contribution to the community. The club offers protection, but it's up to Ben what demands he puts himself under."
1997–2000: First finals appearance and first All-Australian selection
In 1998, Cousins was selected in the All-Australian Team and was runner-up in West Coast's Best and Fairest. He played in his first AFL finals game in 1997 against the Adelaide Crows in a qualifying final at Football Park, and the year included another selection in the All-Australian Team and representing Australia in the International Rules Series. In 2000, Cousins signed a new three-year contract with the West Coast Eagles, reportedly worth nearly A$1 million.2000–2003: Best and Fairest at West Coast and appointed co-captain
He played his 100th game amid speculation he would take over the captaincy from Guy McKenna, who was due to retire after the same game. Cousins said, "After you play two or three seasons, you think of the possibility of a leadership role down the track, but the talk of it has certainly come a lot earlier than I would have thought." In 2001, Cousins was named co-captain, sharing the role with Dean Kemp. He won his first club Best and Fairest at the end of the season, a feat which he repeated in 2002 and 2003, and he was again named in the All-Australian Team in 2001 and 2002. Kemp's retirement saw Cousins become the captain in 2002, a role he filled until 2006. In 2005, West Coast coach John Worsfold said of Cousins' fifth year as captain, "Ben is improving all the time and with the way this group is coming along, I think he is going to be a great leader".2003–2004: Continued individual success and injuries
In early 2003, Cousins injured his ankle in a game against Hawthorn but played on through five weeks of pain-killing injections. In Round 15, 2004, he injured his back and missed six games. Cousins said, "That injury is something that I got over and am probably no chance of getting a relapse... The other side to it is, because I have played 10 years of consistent AFL footy, I've probably got an older back than someone my age". In Round 1, 2005, he dislocated a finger and missed one round after undergoing an operation. West Coast chief executive Trevor Nesbitt said, "There's no doubt that he's at his best when under pressure and he's so resilient; he plays with injuries that other players wouldn't".2004–2006: Brownlow Medal and Grand Final berth
After Cousins played his 200th game in July 2005 he was given a "rousing reception from 41,524 grateful fans", as video clips of his ten years at West Coast were shown at the end of the game. Cousins was "possibly the highest-profile sportsman in Western Australia", the youngest of the 10 West Coast players to reach 200 games and the 14th youngest in the history of the AFL/VFL.Cousins won the Brownlow Medal, the AFL's highest individual player award, on 19 September 2005 with 20 votes, ahead of teammate Daniel Kerr on 19 votes and Nick Dal Santo on 18 votes. Cousins was the favourite to win with bookmakers, after five previous top-10 finishes. He did not attend the award ceremony in Melbourne, remaining in Perth to prepare for West Coast's Grand Final match against Sydney Swans the following weekend. His celebration was "very quiet, I went over to the bar, bought the folks a bottle of champagne, had one lemonade and went up to the room. I managed to get to sleep before midnight, which was a bonus." West Coast's last training session in Perth before travelling to their first Grand Final game since 1994 was attended by 3,000 fans. Trevor Nesbitt, West Coast's chief executive, said he expected that the combination of the team's Grand Final appearance, Cousins' Brownlow win, and Chris Judd's Brownlow win in the previous year, would lead to a turnover of around $2 million in club merchandise. Nesbitt added:
"It's quite a special time for the club and it's probably worth $1 million to WA footy as a minimum I would think... The performances of Chris and Ben assist us in raising more money for WA football and their contribution is just outstanding. They're marquee players and, apart from everything else that happens with them, they are extremely beneficial for all West Australians."
West Coast lost the 2005 Grand Final to Sydney by four points, but as well as his Brownlow win, Cousins was awarded another West Coast Best and Fairest and the players' Most Valuable Player award, with 159 votes compared to runner-up Matthew Pavlich's 99 votes. He was runner-up to Barry Hall in the coaches' player of the year award, and in statistics, had 612 disposals, 24 goals, and ranked in the top five of the league in nine of the 12 categories.
2006–2007: Premiership Cup, off-field misconduct and captaincy resignation
In February 2006, Cousins resigned his captaincy after an off-field incident where he fled a booze bus. In May 2006, he signed a new three-year contract with West Coast, and in September 2006, West Coast won the Grand Final, defeating Sydney by one point. Cousins was suspended indefinitely by West Coast on 20 March 2007 after missing two training sessions. It was later confirmed that Cousins had a substance abuse problem.After returning from four weeks of rehabilitation in Malibu, California, for substance abuse, Cousins was offered an amended contract by West Coast, rumoured to contain strict conditions such as repaying the cost of rehab and undertaking regular drug tests. On 29 June 2007, Cousins was given clearance by the AFL to resume training with the West Coast Eagles, which he did the following Monday. However, he injured a hamstring in training, delaying his comeback until West Coast's home game against Sydney on 21 July at Subiaco Oval. He gained 38 disposals and six marks in the game, inspiring West Coast's win.