Ben Cousins has shared how his need to “escape” his high-pressure football career led to a downward spiral that saw him battle addiction.
The AFL legend said what started as letting off steam on the weekends soon turned into something much darker.
“It can happen very easily,” says the 46-year-old ball magnets podcast.
“Early in my career, I really embraced that concept of hard work and dedicating myself to football. “I think there were some things in my personality or my nature that predisposed me to feel like I needed an escape or to get away,” he continued.
“For me, I did it in ways that, maybe not at first, eventually became problematic. At first it was a strange night drinking with whoever, but quickly for me that didn’t hit the spot and I was having something.
Ben explained: ‘You know, everyone’s journey is different, but for me (addiction) didn’t happen overnight.
“But there was a bigger picture and eventually it all fell apart.”
Cousins has been rebuilding his life in recent years after a fall from grace, but says there is “no quick fix” and that he is willing to pay his debts.
Ben Cousins has shared how his need to “escape” his high-pressure football career led to a downward spiral that saw him battle addiction. Pictured at the Brownlow this month with his sister Melanie.
“I certainly don’t miss or forget the hard work and commitment it took to get back to where I am,” he explained earlier this year.
“It’s a long-term game… You don’t do something and suddenly it changes overnight.”
Ben won the Brownlow Medal in 2005 and captained the West Coast Eagles from 2001 to 2005, achieving the club’s best and fairest awards in four of those seasons.
He played 238 games and scored 205 goals for the West Coast Eagles, winning the premiership with the club in 2006.
The AFL legend said what started as letting off steam on the weekends soon turned into something much darker. “It can happen very easily,” the 46-year-old tells the Ball Magnets podcast. Photographed in 2006
His dramatic fall from grace has been well-documented since 2007, when he publicly battled a drug addiction and confronted his failed relationship with Maylea Tinecheff.
He was later sacked and given a one-year suspension from the AFL for repeated offences.
In 2021, Susan Backshell, who has acted as a mentor to Cousins since his last stint in prison, told Daily Mail Australia that he remains solely focused on his children.
Sitting in a cold, cramped cell for the sixth time in 13 years, Cousins decided enough was enough after seven months behind bars in 2020.
Ben has returned to television and appeared on Dancing With The Stars earlier this year. Pictured with her dance partner Siobhan Power.
He told her he wanted to make amends and clean up his life, and Backshell gave him an ultimatum: “Give it your all or forget it completely.”
Since Cousins was released from prison in December 2020, Backshell said he never questioned his commitment to sobriety and the betterment of his community.
Last year, his cousins announced that he would participate in several speeches on their Such Is Life tour, which began in July.
The tour, which promised to tell untold stories from his football career, marked something of a catharsis for the controversial Brownlow Medalist.
He also returned to television, appearing on Dancing With The Stars earlier this year.