Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas has slammed the AFL over its treatment of troubled former star Ben Cousins.

Counsins was in the news against last night, with reports that the premiership player and 2005 Brownlow Medalist, was taken to hospital following an incident with Police, in which he was reportedly attempting to direct traffic in the middle of a busy highway.

Thomas wrote on Twitter that the league should have done far more to help Cousins, who has a history of drug abuse.

"We've been hearing about Ben Cousin' massive downward spiral for years but AFL don't want a bar of it. Another incident overnight," Thomas wrote.

"AFL only interested in society initiatives that promote their brand. Not interested in "real" issues. Too hard. Want distance. Damage brand."

Cousins played 238 games for the Eagles, before being sacked by the club in 2007 due to off-field issues. He then joined the Tigers in 2009, after a 12-month lay-off from AFL football, playing 32 games in two seasons with his new club.

24 COMMENTS

  1. So a Telstra employee leaves and Telstra are meant to baby then 5 yrs later , a postal worker 5 yrs later , and bank employee and so on . . Because he played afl football what makes him different to other employees

  2. The Eagles should have done more as well didn’t care as long as they won a premiership, they knew what was going on, but just dumped him because he might have given them a bad name, they should take a lot of the blame for destroying a persons life.

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