“A moment that left everyone in tears…”: Ben Cousins opens up about his personal health bɑttle on live radio — as the AFL community left devɑstɑted after hearing the full HEARTBREAKING story…

AFL fans have reacted with shock after Ben Cousins revealed the devastating effects of a concussion he suffered late in his career that made him forget the death of his good mate and the fact he was sacked by West Coast. Speaking on Mix 94.5 in Perth on Tuesday, the former Brownlow Medallist opened up on the effects of concussion and revealed a particularly bad one he suffered late in his career while playing for Richmond.

Cousins won a premiership and Brownlow Medal while playing for West Coast, and captained his beloved Eagles. But he was sacked by the club for off-field indiscretions and ended up at Richmond in 2009. He played 32 games for the Tigers before retiring in 2010.

It was during his two-year stint at Richmond that he copped the worst head knock of his career. The concussion was so bad that it left Cousins with no memory of the fact he’d been sacked by the Eagles, and he also momentarily forgot about the death of good friend Chris Mainwaring.

“It was one of the first games I played. It was a pre-season game. I started the game and I came off halfway through the first quarter,” Cousins said. “I don’t remember getting hit or knocked at all.

“I sat on the bench and had no memory whatsoever of the previous two or three years and I was like a goldfish. So every 30 seconds I would have no memory of the conversation I just had. I kept going ‘why am I playing for Richmond? What’s happened’.

“They go ‘you know, we picked you up over the summer’. ‘Why aren’t I playing for West Coast?’. No memory. This just kept happening. It was bizarre. Even after the game we went over the tape to see if I copped a knock in the vision and there was nothing in the vision where we thought ‘gee it could have happened there’. It was bizarre.”

Ben Cousins had no memory of Chris Mainwaring’s death

Mainwaring died in 2007 at the age of 41, but Cousins had to be filled in about what had happened. “Even after the game I was still talking in circles. People were trying to fill me in on the blanks (of the last few years) and they said ‘you know, you’ve been sacked from West Coast, you went to rehab’, I went ‘what?’. I had no memory of it,” he added.

“Even someone said ‘Chris Mainwaring has passed away’. That was like being told for the first time. I was so emotional, I was in tears. I had no memory of it. It was bizarre.”

Cousins endured a well-publicised battle with drug addiction that ended his time at the Eagles, and saw his life spiral out of control after retirement. After a stint behind bars, he’s managed to get his life back on track and appears to be on the straight and narrow.

He’s set to play in the reborn EJ Whitten Legends Game at Marvel Stadium later this month, joining fellow greats like Cyril Rioli, Gary Ablett Jr, Luke Hodge and Nick Riewoldt. “For me, the chance to play alongside Cyril, you know? I’m excited about that,” he said.

“Everyone’s situation is different but because he was 28 when he stopped playing, we all felt he had so much good footy left in him. To see him run around and have a kick is exciting and I’m looking forward to hand-passing to him or getting one off him. It’s supposed to be like riding a bike, isn’t it? It’s a young man’s game but I can get myself up for one, surely. How hard can it be?”