Cousins forgot he was a drug addict

Ben Cousins forgot he was a drug addict after being concussed in his long-awaited comeback match in the AFL.

Cousins, who returned to the field with Richmond in the NAB Cup last Thursday, received a heavy knock to the head late in the match.

Though the Tigers confirmed the next morning he'd spent the night in hospital, it was only today that the full extent of the injury scare was revealed.

"It was like a delayed concussion," Cousins said on Melbourne radio station Nova 100.

"I was re-living or I was brought attention to things that happened 18 months ago. "

"I had a couple of crazy calls, a lady was telling me you've spent 12 months out of the game, you're a drug addict and I said, what do you mean I'm a drug addict?"

"I got on the phone and rang a girl back in Perth, I said, real serious, am I a drug addict? I was devastated."

Cousins revealed he was addicted to drugs in 2007 after a string of controversies that ultimately led to his suspension from the game for one year.

"It was a big 12 hours I tell you, we had to fit a lot in, it was like This Is Your Life.

"A couple of people that had passed away, I had no recollection of that so I was re-living that for the first time, so it was traumatic."

Cousins did not say whose deaths he had forgotten, but it was also in 2007 that close friend and former Eagles star Chris Mainwaring died from a drug overdose.

It was reported at the time that Cousins visited Mainwaring twice on the night of his death, to provide emotional support and deliver food.

Richmond officials say medics have now given their star recruit the all-clear, confirming the memory lapse lasted almost four hours after the game.

Today's revelations also coincided with news that the 2005 Brownlow medallist has tested negative to illicit drugs after giving his first hair sample as part of the AFL's stringent drug testing regime.

Cousins provided the sample in January and it's believed it was taken to London for testing.

The first attempt at obtaining a hair sample from Cousins in November sparked widespread controversy when it was revealed he had shaved or waxed his body and could not provide the required 3cm follicle.

According to News Limited reports, Cousins has been drug tested an estimated 33 times since joining Richmond and returned a negative sample on each occasion.

ninemsn 4 Mar 2009

The fictitious writings in stories like this are just PURE GOLD. The general public is supposed to digest this diarrhea ??? Because he allegedly 'forgot' all is ok?

The reality are quite simple, another drug smacked LOSER, who flaunted it in EVERYONE'S face.