West Coast Eagles bad boy Daniel Kerr implores Ben Cousins to break addiction to drugs in jail
EAGLES bad boy Daniel Kerr has told how he hit rock bottom after a five-day stint in prison and has implored Ben Cousins to use his time in prison to change his life.
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EAGLES bad boy Daniel Kerr has implored Ben Cousins to use his jailhouse stint to break his addiction to drugs and change his life.
Kerr yesterday told the Sunday Herald Sun how he found rock bottom after a five-day stint in Perth’s Hakea Prison.
He was arrested in 2015 after attempting to set a friend’s house alight after a string of run-ins with the law, with his wife refusing to bail him out.
Kerr has just finished a 12-month corrective services order and suspended jail term that saw him conducting regular urine tests.
Cousins and Kerr played fast and loose throughout their careers, with the 220-gamer admitting to regular partying and use of drugs including ice.
But stuck in his jail cell for 12 hours a day, Kerr realised if he did not change his life he would quickly return to prison.
Yesterday he said Cousins, in jail for 12 months for drug and stalking offences, needed to follow the path he had chosen.
“As much as it was only the blink of an eye, when you spend time in jail you either make a decision to live a life of breaking the law and accept you are going to end up back there, or you make a decision to pull your head in and start living a more respectable life, Kerr said.
“I went in and it just wasn’t for me. Everything you take for granted as a free person gets taken away from you and you are locked in a very small cell for 12 hours a day so it is horrible.
“The night I got locked up I made the decision I couldn’t lead this life any more.
“I have hope for Ben. His mental state ebbs and flows. I really do hope this extended time away from drugs and partying gives him an ability to make rational decisions on where he wants to go with his life when he’s eligible for parole in August.”
Kerr yesterday strapped back on his boots at Tyabb to play in the first of a string of 15 football games across Victoria — finally able to leave West Australia under the terms of his order.
Asked about Cousins at a prematch function he said:
“I don’t think this enforced rest off the drugs will be a bad thing for him.
“I love the guy to death.”
Kerr said he was “one of the ones playing up the most” during his time at West Coast but declines to say how long he has been drug-free.
He says his main issues were related to bad choices and hanging around with the wrong people rather than pure addiction to ice, other drugs or alcohol.
But he says with Cousins in jail and unable to get a regular supply of drugs it might be the only chance for him to snap his habit.
“I don’t think it is any secret there are drugs in jail but there is not the ability to go on prolonged benders and not get noticed,’’ he said.
“Hopefully this period in jail for Ben, he has time to sit down and reflect and it gives him the ability for his brain and body to recover.
“When I am out in the community with the kids, I talk about healthy bodies and healthy minds making healthy decisions.
“Hopefully his mind gets healthy and from there the decisions he makes are about a healthier way to live.”
He admits many people will not forgive him for his behaviour but says he has slowly turned his life around.
Arrested for breaching a restraining order against him after a string of vile texts to his wife, he has now salvaged that relationship.
His girlfriend Michelle is pregnant with a girl, and Kerr is able to spend time with daughters Lola and Ruby to ex-wife Natasha.
He is working fulltime after starting a foundation Together We Can which helps lift school attendance rates and takes sport, music and art into regional areas for indigenous kids.
“I am back in a good place with my ex-wife. We get along really well now. I am seeing the kids as much as I like at the moment,’’ Kerr said.
“I see them three times during the week and have them overnight every second weekend, which is as good as any man gets when they have gone through a separation.”
While AFL greats including Robert Walls and Kevin Bartlett believe the Eagles 2006 premiership is tainted, Kerr disagrees.
He yesterday defended that premiership and former coach John Worsfold after criticism he did not do enough to help a generation of fallen Eagles.
“The premiership in my opinion is not tainted,’’ he said.
“Everything that is getting brought up was performance de-enhancing. The team was a hardworking team and we had a hardworking culture, not a drug culture.
“The only thing that can taint a premiership is if people take performance-enhancing drugs and there was none of that going on.
“I can only speak from personal experience and if I didn’t have John in my life as a player and even post-football my life would have ended up in a lot worse place.
“Even after getting in trouble, he was constantly calling me. He has never not answered one of my phone calls or never not been there to help me.”
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