Ben Cousins: I'll stick close to Richmond family

BEN Cousins has arrived at Punt Rd ahead of a 10.30am press conference where it's expected the AFL star will quit the game.

BEN Cousins says he calls Melbourne home, but won't be hurrying to take on a job in football.

The retiring Tiger said he would stay close to his Richmond family, but planned to pursue business interests.

"I'm looking forward to exploring a few opportunities, business-wise, with some people I've been involved with as friends over the last few years, that are going to give me an opportunity," Cousins said.

"I just really enjoy Melbourne. It's been really good for me. It's been like a fresh start."

Cousins said suggestions he could work as an AFL ambassador on drug education probably lay further "down the track" and joked that a media role would be a "last resort".

But coach Damien Hardwick, who revealed he had been prepared to give Cousins another season in the AFL if he had wanted it, did not rule out an off-field position at Punt Rd for the 2005 Brownlow medallist.

"When the dust settles ... we'll sit down. (But) I think he will be outstanding whatever he does,'' Hardwick said.

''He's shown the guys within our footy club how to prepare, how to commit to something and in essence, though we haven't won a lot of games, he's brought that winning element to our footy club, so whichever way he goes, he's gonna be a winner.''

Cousins, 32, has two matches to go and will farewell the game against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium - the same team he met in what turned out to be his last game for the West Coast Eagles in the 2007 finals.

The build-up to his swansong will coincide with the airing of a tell-all documentary on Channel 7 next Wednesday and Thursday nights detailing his drug addiction and rehabilitation.

Cousins revealed he had approached Richmond officials late last week, telling them he thought it was time to quit.

Listen now: Ben Cousins press conference in full

He admitted to some "trepidation" about leaving the AFL environment, but said it was better to get out on top than to hang on for "grim death".

"By walking away from the game now I can walk away in a positive light," he said. "Not everyone is reserved the right to go out on his own terms - the game's getting harder; it can pass you by quite quickly.

"I think I'd be lying if I didn't say there was a little bit of trepidation about entering the next phase of my life, but it's probably no different to any other footballer that's played 15 years of footy, and it's been their life.

"It's been my life and it's not just a lifestyle, it's a way of thinking. It's in my marrow and that'll take a little bit of adjusting, but at the same time I'm looking forward to throwing myself into the next phase of my life with the same vigour that I've done in this one."

Pressed on how he would like to be remembered, Cousins said: "I was single minded about team success ... it doesn't marry up with someone who has had drug problems and indiscretions off-field, but that's what I played for - the enjoyment from team success and seeing guys around me doing well."

He paid tribute to his family, particularly father Bryan, mentors Kevin Sheedy and Gerard Healy, former coaches Mick Malthouse and John Worsfold, and said he would be forever indebted to Richmond for handing him a lifeline with the final pick in the 2008 pre-season draft.

"There's no doubt that getting back to football and being around a footy club helped me heal the things that opened wounds, to get a bit of self-worth and credibility back and I think I go into the next phase of my life with my head held high," he said.

"I look myself in the mirror. I don't condone a lot of the things I've done, but I can sit pretty comfortable with the way it's panned out.

"I consider myself really lucky the average football punter looked kindly upon me. It's made my journey through footy that bit more special."

Hardwick added: "He came in as a star at 18 and he'll go out as a star at 32."

Read how the press conference unfolded during our live chat below.