Cousins’ life enters new phase

The AFL retirement media conference is often proof that big blokes do cry. Many tough, fearless veterans of 200-plus games have poignantly struggled with the moment when their football mortality is confirmed to the world.

Give Ben Cousins credit – not only can he draw a crowd, but the bloke sailed through his 20-minute announcement with aplomb.

The only times Cousins started choking up was when he spoke about his family.

Given everything they’ve been through, that’s hardly surprising.

Otherwise, it was Cousins at his best.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, the Brownlow Medallist joked: “Probably just as a bloke who never put a foot wrong.”

Then there was the reply to a question about taking a formal off-field role at Richmond.

“I’d be good with the video work, I reckon,” he said, in reference to his upcoming television documentary.

Of course, the same self-confidence that helped Cousins become one of the game’s top midfielders has also been a major chink in his armour.

Here has been the embodiment of the expression “10 feet tall and bulletproof”.

Confidence can easily become cockiness and, at worst, a dangerous misconception that the rules don’t apply to you.

There was that wink to someone in the audience, minutes after the Brownlow Medal was draped around his neck.

Just two years later, there was the public humiliation of being led, handcuffed and shirtless, to a police car in the Perth CBD.

Nice physique, Ben – but Such Is Life, indeed.

The big question now, of course, is how Cousins’ life unfolds beyond his AFL career.

There is a lot of goodwill for Cousins and a universal hope in the AFL that his Richmond comeback is the springboard to a happy, stable and long life.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether his life is a little more low-profile.

His media conference on Tuesday incredibly attracted about 150 people – even more than when Richmond legend Matthew Richardson announced his retirement last year.

Cousins deserves credit for his attitude to all this attention.

Unlike many spoilt brats who become celebrities, he has come to understand that fame is a double-edged sword.

“I don’t have a chip on my shoulder – I understand that through my football and also the things I’ve got myself caught up in off-field, it’s brought attention to me and my family and my football club,” he said.

“That’s just the football industry, there’s good and bad that comes along with it.

“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to cope with it, I’ve had to be pretty resilient at times, but it’s made me a better person.”

Let’s hope, for the sake of Cousins and his family, that he’s learnt all his hard lessons.

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