AFL great Ben Cousins responds to missing out on AFL Hall of Fame nod: 'I totally understand their decision'

Ben Cousins has responded to news that he won't be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame anytime soon, saying he totally understands the decision of the committee.

The premiership winner and All Australian undoubtedly has the playing credentials to achieve the league's highest honour, but his well-documented battles with booze, drugs and his criminal past have held him back to date.

That includes a conviction for stalking his ex-partner, which saw him spend seven months in jail in 2020.

Cousins has turned his life around in a big way in recent years, appearing healthy, clean and sober and picking up a new job as a television news presenter in his home town of Perth and tipped to appear on Seven's Dancing with the Stars.

However those efforts have not swayed the AFL, with Cousins ruled out of contention for the 2024 inductions and reportedly not set to be considered for several more years.

On Wednesday morning, Cousins told Mix94.5's Pete & Kymba for Breakfast that he doesn't expect to be named.

'I don't find myself thinking about this, you know, ever really,' said Cousins.

'It's an honour that, um, it's hard to come by and, you know...

'There's been so many great players over the years, I wouldn't be envious of the job of trying to only put in a limited few each year.

'I totally understand their decision.

'I, like everybody else, will sit there and be looking forward to celebrate whoever gets in this year.

'That's just the way it is.'

Inductees are chosen partly based on their character, and the hall of fame has updated its rules to allow for the removal or suspension of members – a decision sparked by Barry Cable's civil court conviction for child sexual abuse.

However, despite recent AFL actions to address violence against women, including a moment's silence and participants linking arms, The Age has reported that Cousins was not considered for induction into the hall of fame even before these events.

The process of how the AFL makes these decisions is kept confidential.

It comes after the AFL announced that Cousins' off-field scandals hadn't ruled him out of the Hall of Fame in April.

'I will say it's a joy to see Ben in the shape he's in right now, and I've seen a fair bit of him in the west,' AFL commission chair Richard Goyder said at the time.

'I think [Cousins' recovery] is fantastic ... what I would say with Hall of Fame, and it's almost my precursor to our committee discussions each year, is it's not who's in, it's who's not in.

'It's an incredibly high bar to be a Hall of Famer in the AFL, and it's even higher to be a Legend, so we'll look at those things in due course.'