Sunrise host Natalie Barr asks AFL star Ben Cousins very personal question as he begins new role after ‘troubled past’

FORMER AFL bad boy Ben Cousins has opened up to Sunrise host Natalie Barr about his personal struggles, calling it a “long road”.

The pair got vulnerable while surrounded by footy fans in Melbourne‘s Federation Square on Friday morning, ahead of Saturday’s final clash between Collingwood and Brisbane.

SevenSunrise’s Nat Barr put Cousins on the spot and asked him if he was ‘well’[/caption]

GettyThe former West Coast star played against the children of ex-players in March[/caption]

Cousins, who played for West Coast and Richmond, suffered a staggering fall from grace after his retirement which involved drug addiction and stints behind bars.

The 45-year-old embarked on a new career journey as Seven News Perth’s sports presenter in June.

Barr asked Cousins: “Are you well?

“Because we’ve obviously seen lots about you and I know you don’t want to get into it but people have been worried about you.”

Cousins said it had been a “long road”.

He reflected: “It really has. I wish it hadn’t needed to run its course like it did, but life’s great at the moment.

“When you strip everything back and assess your life, for anybody, it really is in its simplest form, goes back to what makes you happy and for a long time I wasn’t.

“But, you know, I very much am these days.”

He said “life was good” and he was grateful to have been given the chance to take on a new role that was “out of his comfort zone”.

Cousins told Barr: “It has been daunting.

“I’ve done a fair bit of work over the past 18 months in the lead up to doing it live so there’s definitely been some anxiety and nerves attached to it, so it’s a work in progress.”

The AFL great was awarded several of the league’s highest individual awards during his 12-year, 238-game career with West Coast.

But his reputation was marred by off-field misdemeanours ranging from illegal recreational drug use to traffic convictions and association with criminal elements.

He was banned from AFL for a year in 2007 for “bringing the game into disrepute”, returning to play 32 games across two seasons with Richmond.

Cousins retired from the AFL at the end of the 2010 season.

The dad-of-two is now focused on his relationships with his children, playing park football, and is back on the red carpet attending AFL functions, as well as presenting Seven’s morning sports bulletin.

In other AFL news, legend Ron Barassi has died aged 87 of complications from a fall.

Ron was a prominent figure in Aussie Rules football and the first-ever player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

He played 253 senior VFL games during his career: 204 at Melbourne and 49 for Carlton.

Meanwhile, Bec Daniher has given a major update on her father Neale’s condition in a candid interview with Let’s Talk.

She said her dad had “been able to defy the odds, but the odds are turning around a little bit now”.

The former Essendon player and Melbourne football club coach was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease in 2013.

GettyBen Cousins is back on the red carpet attending AFL functions[/caption]