Nick Riewoldt reveals 'bizarre' run-in with Ben Cousins

AFL great Nick Riewoldt has opened up about a ‘bizarre’ encounter he had with Ben Cousins in a Perth hotel.

Fallen AFL premiership player Cousins is likely to spend at least the next two months behind bars after being refused bail amid accusations he threatened to kill his ex-partner.

Speaking about the sorry plight of Cousins, St Kilda champion Riewoldt on Wednesday night said he was left “really concerned” after a chance run-in with Cousins in years gone by.

“It was completely by chance. I was staying at the hotel and walked into the foyer and heard a voice, turned around and recognised it was Ben,” Riewoldt told AFL 360.

“We’ve had a bit to do with each other in the past and he was pretty close to coming to the Saints at one stage, so we’d had conversations through dealings at AFL captain’s days.

“I went and sat with Ben and had a conversation — we spoke for a long time, for over an hour, on the couch in the foyer.

“It wasn’t that necessarily private, people were walking past and recognising Ben.

“It was bizarre really, because I could still see that charismatic kind person that we’d all experienced, I could see that in small glimpses.”

The 336-game champion said he was so concerned for Cousins’ welfare, he felt bad leaving the conversation.

“At his core he seemed incredibly clouded and almost irrational at times,” Riewoldt said.

“And I just walked away from that experience feeling really sad about the situation he was in at that moment and really concerned.

“I didn’t want to walk away, I didn’t want to leave the conversation because I was just concerned for him and for his future.”

Riewoldt went on to say he was saddened to hear the news that Cousins had been arrested again on Wednesday.

In further news, an unnamed friend of Cousins claims the former West Coast player tried to get hold of his 2005 Brownlow Medal and sell it, but his father Bryan kept it from him.

“He tried to sell his Brownlow … but he doesn’t even have it. His dad has the Brownlow in safekeeping,” the friend told News Corp on Thursday.

“He said he needed it to guarantee a bank loan, but why would he need a bank loan? He doesn’t have any property, he doesn’t have a business.”

with AAP