Former West Coast Eagle Ben Cousins says life has never been ...

Former Eagle and Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins says his life is the best it’s ever been and revealed his thoughts on West Coast and Sydney splitting the 2005 and 2006 premierships.

The West Coast star has fought a highly publicised battle with addiction in the years since his AFL retirement, but after reconnecting with the game he dominated, the 45-year-old declared he was in a good place.

“I wish it hadn’t had to have taken this long and run its course the way it did, but it’s nice to be working and be busy, have some real ambition back and just connect back in with friends and family. Even on a community level, life has never been better, to be honest,” he told Channel 7’s The Front Bar on Wednesday.

Cousins played 270 AFL games, 238 at the Eagles, including two all-time great grand final contests against Sydney in 2005 and 2006.

The Eagles were left heartbroken in 2005 after a famous Leo Barry pack mark saw the West Australian side fall four points short of glory and denie Cousins a flag to go with his Brownlow Medal.

However, they tasted sweet revenge the following season, toppling the Swans by a single point in another thriller in front of more than 97,000 fans.

“They were great games,” Cousins said.

“It’s easy to be a little bit more diplomatic about reflecting on that with the fact both sides ended up winning one.

“With those close finishes, they could have won both, or we could’ve, but I think it was probably just deserts that both of us got one.”