Ben Cousins is in ‘good spirits’ after receiving a job offer from his former club within hours of his release from prison.
Cousins was released from prison 10 months into his one-year sentence for stalking and repeatedly breaching a restraining order taken out by his ex-partner.
The 39-year-old former West Coast Eagles captain and Brownlow medallist was jailed in March for causing ‘ongoing terror’ to Maylea Tinecheff, with whom he has two young children.
The club offered him part-time work as a member of their Community and Game Development department as he continues his re-integration into society.
Cousins’ former teammate Glen Jakovich told the Herald Sun the fallen star has entered a ‘very dangerous period for relapse’ and it is crucial he finds the right path.
‘I think the biggest thing we’ve noticed and the whole situation of him going inside was the fact he wasn’t able to see his kids and that really affected him,’ the retired centre-half back said.
‘Not being able to see his two kids, he really struggled to deal with that before he went inside.’
Fallen AFL premiership player Ben Cousins has been offered a job with his former club just hours after his release from prison
Cousins was released from prison 10 months into his one-year sentence for stalking and repeatedly breaching a restraining order taken out by his ex-partner
Cousins’ former teammate Glen Jakovich told the Herald Sun the fallen star has entered a ‘very dangerous period for relapse’ and it is crucial he finds the right path
The 39-year-old former West Coast Eagles captain and Brownlow medallist was jailed in March for causing ‘ongoing terror’ to Maylea Tinecheff
Jakovich said the reality of working would be something new for Cousins, who he says hasn’t ever had to have a real job because of his immense footballing talent.
‘He’s never really had a job. I think there was a few little jobs there in the last couple of years but he’s struggled to hold them and hold them down and that’s where the troubles have continued for him in the last three or four years,’ he said.
Jakovich, who played alongside Cousins from 1996-2004, he thinks the former Eagle and Richmond Tiger will relish the ‘freedom’ and hopes that leads him to a ‘good path’.
The role is part of the former Brownlow medalist’s parole conditions. Cousins didn’t serve the full term of his sentence, so the employment opportunity is mandated as part of his early release.
Jakovich, who played alongside Cousins from 1996-2004, he thinks the former Eagle and Richmond Tiger will relish the ‘freedom’ and hopes that leads him to a ‘good path’
He was reunited with his two children at his parents’ home in Bitcon on Wednesday
In a statement released by the club, the Eagles said they were ‘pleased’ to be able to help him ease back into regular life.
‘The West Coast Eagles is pleased with the news that former captain Ben Cousins has been released from prison today.
‘This has been a particularly hard time for Ben and his family and we look forward to him beginning the next phase of his life.
‘He has been offered part-time employment by the club, working with our Community and Game Development department, which we believe will have mutual benefits for both parties.’
Ms Tinecheff has had a restraining order placed on Cousins since May 2016, preventing her former partner from coming within 50m of her.
Cousins, who has struggled with drug addiction, was picked up by his father Bryan from Acacia Prison on shortly after 8am on Wednesday and taken to the family home in Bicton.
In a statement, his old club have offered him a part-time job working in their Community and Game Development department
He was jailed for a year in March 2017, but has been released 10 months into his sentence (pictured during court case in January 2017)
Maylea Tinecheff, Cousins’ former partner,has had a restraining order against him in place since May 2016
His early release came as the Prisoners Review Board decided the release of Cousins ‘would not present an unacceptable risk to the safety of the community’.
As part of his parole conditions, he must stay away from Ms Tinecheff, attend counselling, and submit to random urine tests.
The father-of-two was jailed in March 2017, after he flooded his former partner’s phone with more than 2000 texts and calls in January-February.
Cousins also turned up at Ms Tinecheff’s church, home and the school their two children attended.
In November, the former Eagles player tried to contact his former partner 542 times, with 103 of those attempts taking place on the same day.
When Cousins was initially arrested, police found eight grams of methamphetamine, which his lawyer Michael Tudori told the court at the time would only last four days.
The father-of-two was jailed in March 2017, after he flooded Ms Tinecheff’s phone with more than 2000 texts and calls over two months
Cousins, 39, was fined $2400 for drug possession and driving without a licence.
During his time behind bars, Cousins was involved in a minor scuffle but was not injured.
In September, Cousins faced court over drug-driving charges, after crashing into a truck while high on methamphetamine in 2016.
His license was disqualified and he was fined $1200. He was also ordered to pay $2295 in chemical analysis fees from the crash.
During this appearance, his lawyer, Michael Tudori, told the court Cousins had ‘taken and embraced’ a job offer from his old employer but would not elaborate when quizzed by reporters.
Michael Tudori, who served as a lawyer for Cousins in September, at the time told the court the former West Coast Eagles player had ‘taken and embraced’ a job offer from his old employer
Cousins would live with his parents when he was released, the lawyer said.
It comes after Cousins had his potential release delayed in August, when results of a failed prison drug test came back just two weeks before he was eligible for parole.
As such he cannot be released until he completes rehabilitation courses which Mr Tudori said had taken too long to start.
Despite the incident, his lawyer said at the time that the disgraced former sportsman was ‘drug-free and in positive spirits’.
Before his imprisonment, Cousins was involved in many bizarre incidences, including a spate in 2015 when he led police on a slow-speed car chase, breached security at an SAS base, drove erratically outside a Sikh temple he had just photographed, and climbed onto the roof of a two-storey home.
In 2016, he was spotted behaving erratically on a Perth highway where he appeared to be directing traffic.
It is understood Cousins (pictured centre) will be living with his parents now he is out of jail