Former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon reveals how close Saints were to signing troubled former Eagle Ben Cousins in 2009 – until he intervened

Bonnie RaynorThe West Australian
VideoExclusive never-before seen footage from former West Coast star Ben Cousins' Coming Clean interview with Channel 7's Basil Zempilas.

Former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has revealed how close the Saints were to signing troubled former Eagle Ben Cousins in 2009 – until he intervened.

Speaking to AFL Media, Lyon admitted the playing group were heavily in favour of recruiting Cousins, until he and club president Greg Westaway stopped the move.

“(There) was just a real uneasiness from the president and myself and I did more research on drug addiction and the different substances,” Lyon said.

“The players were really keen to get Ben but put simply there was a split view really between the president, myself, CEO and football manager.

“We went to a board meeting at the top of Collins Street. Commercially for the club it was going to be a boom in membership and all those things.

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“I’d made my mind up as coach that I was out and (the president) was out.

“It went to a vote. It became really simple when the president and senior coach were out.”

The 2005 Brownlow medallist ended up at Richmond for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, playing 32 games before hanging up the boots.

Camera IconBen Cousins of Richmond is carried off after the AFL Round 22 match between the Richmond Tigers and Port Adelaide Power. Credit: Sean Garnsworthy/The Slattery Media Group

Lyon felt the St Kilda crop – which boasted an incredible engine room of Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna and Luke Ball even without Cousins – struggled to hide their disappointment.

“They were shocked (when we decided not to sign him),” Lyon admitted.

“Their heads dropped.

“I just spoke about, ‘don’t worry about Cousins’. We had a lot of talent. ‘You guys can be as good as him, why don’t you train as hard’.

“I was pretty fierce at them, they were sulking a bit.”

Camera IconBen Cousins of Richmond walks the boundary line during the AFL Round 01 match between the Richmond Tigers and the Carlton Blues. Credit: Michael Willson/The Slattery Media Group

Cousins, 41, spoke at length on Sunday night’s documentary on Channel 7 ‘Coming Clean’ with reporter Basil Zempilas.

The fallen star experienced three stints in jail due to repeated drug use and issues with his former partner.

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