- Ben Cousins made an appearance at Optus Stadium
- Footy Great played in a previous game between players and children.
- He has rebuilt his life after a conflictive period.
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Ben Cousins looked in fine form as the football great made a stirring appearance at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Cousins, 45, is successfully rebuilding his life after his well-documented fall from grace that saw him spend time in a prison cell in 2020.
The former Eagles star is a Dancing With The Stars contestant, has been announced as a new radio host and says she is prioritizing her children above all else.
And that couldn’t have been better exemplified during Sunday’s game between West Coast and the GWS Giants, with Cousins taking part in an earlier game between players and sons and daughters.
It was a joyous session on the sun-drenched Optus turf for the Brownlow Medal-winning star, who captained the club from 2001 to 2005.
Ben Cousins made a moving appearance at Optus Stadium on Sunday
The football great played in an earlier match between players and children on the sun-drenched sand.
He played 238 games and scored 205 goals for the West Coast Eagles, winning the club’s premiership 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.
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.”
Cousins is rebuilding his life after a well-documented fall from grace
Since Cousins was released from prison in December 2020, Backshell said he has 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.