Author(s): Ben Cousins

SPORT

Ben Cousins has one of the most extraordinary stories in modern Australian sport. He's perhaps the most gifted player of his generation - a former captain of the West Coast eagles, a Brownlow medallist, a premiership winner, voted the AFL's Most Valuable Player - but he's best known for what he has done off the footy field rather than on it. Ben is a self-confessed drug addict, whose drug binges would last for days and involve incredible amounts of cocaine, crack and ice. But what's really remarkable about Ben's story is that the two sides of his life - the captaincy, the premierships, the Brownlow, the accolades, and the frenzy and squalor of the drug scene were actually done at the same time, side by side. Ben's book is an account of this double life, and what it has cost him, his family and his friends. It's also an account of his battles to beat his addiction, and his battle to keep playing football against the entrenched opposition of a large number of people in the game.