[3] During his 12-year, 238-game career with West Coast, he won several of the league's highest individual awards, including a Brownlow Medal, Most Valuable Player and a premiership medallion.

Cousins' football career was marred by highly publicised off-field incidents involving illegal recreational drug use, traffic convictions and association with criminal elements.

When Cousins was 18 months old, his family moved back to Perth, Western Australia,[8] where he was raised with younger siblings Matthew, Sophie and Melanie.

At 17, a week after his tenth WAFL game for East Fremantle, Cousins played his first AFL match and kicked two goals for West Coast against Geelong.

[8] He won the Norwich Rising Star award for his debut season in 1996, polling 15 votes from the six judges to beat Shannon Grant by one point.

"[11] Sports agent Ricky Nixon approached Cousins in 1998 about managing his endorsement deals, because "He's good-looking, he elected to stay in Perth and not play in Victoria, opposition coaches take notice of him and on top of that he's a future leader.

In 2005, West Coast coach John Worsfold said of Cousins' fifth year as captain, "Ben is improving all the time and with the way this group is coming along, I think he is going to be a great leader".

[21] West Coast chief executive Trevor Nesbitt said, "There's no doubt that he's at his best when under pressure and he's so resilient; he plays with injuries that other players wouldn't".

[23] He did not attend the award ceremony in Melbourne, remaining in Perth to prepare for West Coast's Grand Final match against Sydney Swans the following weekend.

[26] He was runner-up to Barry Hall in the coaches' player of the year award,[26] and in statistics, had 612 disposals, 24 goals, and ranked in the top five of the league in nine of the 12 categories.

[30] After returning from four weeks of rehabilitation in Malibu, California, for substance abuse,[28] Cousins was offered an amended contract by West Coast, rumoured to contain strict conditions such as repaying the cost of rehab and undertaking regular drug tests.

During his first year in the AFL, Cousins said his chest often felt tight and he had difficulty playing, "but if I monitored my asthma correctly and took the right medication, I was able to overcome those effects".

West Coast's football manager, Rod Lester-Smith, said Cousins may have been affected by asthma, low blood pressure from playing the game earlier, and a corked leg that caused some internal bleeding.

"On 12 February 2006, Cousins fled a booze bus, abandoning his Mercedes-Benz and girlfriend Samantha Druce in the middle lane of Perth's Canning Highway and running from police with a male passenger.

[65] On 3 December 2006, Cousins was arrested for public intoxication after passing out in front of Crown Casino in Melbourne and spent four hours in jail.

[72] On 4 May, he released a televised apology, saying:[73] "As you are aware, I have been at an overseas rehabilitation centre for the past month undergoing treatment for a number of personal issues, including illness as the result of substance use...

I know that in order to play football again I will have to be accepted back by the players and staff of the West Coast Eagles and the AFL, and I'm willing to fulfil any obligations imposed on me.

"Chris Mainwaring, a former West Coast Eagles player and close friend of Cousins, died of a drug overdose on 1 October 2007.

[74] Cousins received renewed media attention, as he was the last person to see Mainwaring alive, having visited him twice on the night of his death to provide emotional support and deliver food.

[78] The media reported that Cousins was missing and had failed to attend treatment in Malibu,[79] and he was admitted to hospital several days later after an alleged cocaine binge.

Painted by South Australian artist Megan Roodenrys, it shows Cousins in bed battling through a sleepless night during his drug scandal.

The Richmond Football Club denied reports that it had warned Cousins to curb his drinking amid fears his AFL career could be shortened by excessive alcohol consumption.

[85] On 12 April, Cousins was among four Richmond players suspended by the club after a drunken escapade at the team hotel in Sydney earlier that week.

In May 2011, it was reported that since Cousins' departure from AFL football his life had lost direction: he had failed to commit to a mining job in Western Australia and was struggling to find focus.

His father confirmed that his son's attempt to rebuild his life had taken a "couple of bad turns" in the previous three months and that he was battling "troubled times".

[95] Cousins was committed by doctors to a suburban mental health unit under police escort on 13 January 2012 after suffering a four-day episode of drug-induced psychosis while being treated at Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital.

[98] On 11 March 2015, Cousins was arrested in the Perth suburb of Bicton after leading police on a slow-speed car chase, stating he could not stop due to a family emergency.

[99] Four days later, it was reported that Cousins had been sent to a mental health facility after he was found inside the Special Air Service's Campbell Barracks in Swanbourne.

[106] As part of his parole conditions, Cousins began part-time work in the West Coast Eagles' community and game development department, but abruptly left the job in April 2018.

In August 2018, he was arrested and charged with multiple offences, including drug possession, making threats and breaking a violence restraining order.