Brendan Fevola has opened up about the time he stayed up all night in a casino with fellow AFL baddie Ben Cousins because he was so worried about the troubled footballer’s mental state.
Speaking on the ‘Fifi, Fev & Nick’ radio show on Melbourne’s 101.9 FM on Wednesday with Cousins as a guest, Fevola revealed he was seriously concerned for his partner’s well-being at the time.
“We know each other very well,” Fevola said of the West Coast Eagles greats.
“I have never told this story in public. There was one night after one of my best friends’ engagement party, [former Richmond captain] You and Chris Newman came from Perth and we were at Crown.
“I wasn’t there with Ben, but I was going upstairs to stay at the Crown, and Ben got on the elevator.
“I said, ‘Morning buddy, how’s it going?’ and something happened with your rental car and you couldn’t get to the airport, you missed the plane and you said, ‘Can I?’ Can I stay with you tonight?” “
Brendan Fevola has opened up about the time he stayed up all night at Crown Casino with fellow AFL baddie Ben Cousins.
Ben Cousins’ dramatic fall from grace due to an ongoing drug addiction has saddened many football fans (pictured after walking out of a Perth court in 2016 for breaching a violence restraining order)
Cousins has turned his life around in recent years, prompting calls for him to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
‘So, we went up to our room on the 33rd floor. You had a couple of phones, you kept removing the battery and then you were charging it. I was like, “You okay buddy?” and Ben says, “I just don’t know.”
Fevola then added: “We sat there all night and I didn’t go to sleep because I was a little worried about Ben.
‘We sat and chatted for about seven hours until you left the next morning. We delved into some things.
And I couldn’t believe how worried I was about you. You were worried about me.
“Two cooked units sitting there, chewing fat, talking about life.”
Fevola then asked Cousins how he had managed to turn his life around after a drug addiction, which landed him in jail on multiple occasions.
“It’s hard to put it down to one thing,” the 2005 Brownlow Medalist said in response.
‘Unfortunately, when I think about it now, I wish that [drug addiction] It didn’t have to run its course like it did. It wasn’t for lack of wanting to turn things around sometimes, but it’s just… it’s just a complicated thing.
“I remember that night [in Crown Casino] affectionately. We’ve always had a good time catching up, but I wasn’t feeling very well at the time.’
Cousins (pictured left, with fellow West Coast legend Chris Judd) did more than enough on the field to deserve a place in the AFL Hall of Fame.
Channel Seven first took a chance on Cousins by offering him a news broadcasting position in Perth in a move that has helped the troubled former AFL star turn the corner.
Fevola, whose previous gambling addiction once caused him to lose $360,000 in four days on the punt, admitted he was “not feeling well either.”
Cousins, 45, thanked ‘Fev’ for ‘constantly checking in’ when the fallen football star was at his lowest, before expressing his deep regret at how his off-field behavior has made many former teammates turn your back on the champion. midfielder
It comes as calls have grown for Cousins, who won an AFL premiership in 2006, to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
The former Brownlow medalist has been eligible since 2013 but has been consistently overlooked due to his past conduct.
His public battles began in 2007, when rumors surfaced about his illicit drug use amid incidents such as abandoning his car to evade police and being found asleep outside a casino.
Cousins has since significantly changed his life by working at Channel 7 as a sports newscaster in Perth three times a week.
He has also joined a Perth breakfast radio team on Mix94.5 and is about to debut on Seven’s hit show Dancing With the Stars.
And after joining Seven last year, the former West Coast player has been analyzing AFL games on the weekends.
Cousins’ resurgence has not gone unnoticed by football identities either.
“I will say it’s a pleasure to see Ben in the form he’s in now, and I’ve seen quite a bit of him,” AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder said.
‘Believe [Cousins’ recovery] It’s fantastic…what I will say with the Hall of Fame, and it’s almost my precursor to our committee discussions every year, is that it’s not about who’s in, it’s about who’s not.
“It’s an incredibly high bar to be an AFL Hall of Famer, and it’s an even higher bar to be a legend, so we’ll look at those things in due time.”