Ben Cousins to end career on his own terms

Ben Cousins of Richmond shows his emotions after losing the AFL Round 20 match between the Carlton Blues and the Richmond Tigers at the MCG, Melbourne. Slattery Images

A big day of announcements is on the cards, with Ben Cousins set to announce his retirement from football this morning and, according to one report last night, Adelaide’s Nathan Bock set to become the first current AFL player to announce he’ll move to the Gold Coast Suns.

On Cousins, a multitude of reports have him declaring he’ll hang up the boots after Richmond’s Round 22 clash with Port Adelaide. It will mark the end of a career that was never far away from the spotlight, for actions both on the field and off it.

Cousins rose to prominence at West Coast, where he played 238 games, captained the club, won the 2005 Brownlow Medal and was part of the premiership-winning side of 2006. All very commendable achievements.

Away from the playing field, things began to turn sour in early ’06, when he resigned as Eagles captain after famously running away from a booze bus. A year later he was suspended indefinitely by his club and during that time, he went to rehabilitation in California for a substance abuse problem.

By the end of 2007 he’d been banned from senior football for 12 months by the AFL for bringing the game into disrepute. He was eventually cleared to play football again in 2009, and it was with the final pick of the pre-season draft that the Tigers selected him.

Of course, his time at Richmond was never far from the spotlight, either. Every hospital visit seemed to instantly provoke whispers of a relapse. However, when uninjured, he has comfortably held his spot in the team – even finishing top five in last year’s best-and-fairest – and the young players on Richmond’s list have been able to benefit from his experience.

Jack Riewoldt said of Cousins on the weekend: “It’s like having a second captain out there, really.”

Still contributing to the end, he has returned from the controversy-that-wasn’t – his admission to hospital in July – by featuring among Richmond’s best every single game, while also collecting at least 24 disposals every game as well.

In his in-depth interview with On The Couch earlier in the year, Cousins revealed he wanted to leave the game with his dignity intact. It seems as though he may have gotten as close to that as he possibly could have, given where he was not that long ago.

In the next fortnight, attention will undoubtedly turn to his documentary (entitled Such is Life: The Troubled Times of Ben Cousins) to be aired during what’s now set to be the final week of his AFL career.

After that, it’s life after football – a stage in life that many hold fears over for Cousins. Hopefully he is able to find his feet after his playing days are over.

Last night, Nine’s Footy Classified ran with the story that Nathan Bock would announce his departure to Gold Coast today. Earlier, Seven News reported that there would be an announcement this week.

If this is confirmed, the 27 year-old key defender will become the first of a handful of players from current AFL clubs to join the league’s 17th team ahead of their entry into the competition next year. Any announcement would also lead to further speculation over who will be the next to cross over.

Names that are regularly mentioned in Gold Coast discussions include Port Adelaide’s Nathan Krakouer, Hawthorn’s Campbell Brown and Jarrod Harbrow of the Western Bulldogs. Then there’s Gary Ablett, of course, but don’t expect an announcement on that front any time soon.

At any rate, with or without an announcement today, it will be interesting to watch the Suns list come together. A new club is being born and it’s exciting to see it happen.

As one chapter in the game’s history comes to a close, a much bigger one is opening.