When Ben Cousins joined Richmond in a blaze of publicity via the AFL’s 2009 pre-season draft, following a stellar playing career at West Coast, esteemed triple Brownlow Medallist Ian Stewart offered him some sage advice.

Stewart, who had transferred from St Kilda to Richmond in 1971, winning a third Brownlow with the Tigers, as well as playing in a premiership, said: “Make sure that you embrace Richmond because you’ll never find yourself in a better club.”

Although Cousins did not enjoy the success at Tigerland that Stewart did, in 32 games across two seasons, he certainly took the advice to heart.

Cousins, a special guest on Channel Seven’s popular Front Bar show this week, declared: “I don’t like Richmond . . . I LOVE Richmond.

“I will forever stay connected to the group and the footy club because they played such an important part of my life, which far exceeds football.

“But even just from a pure football sense, one of the great things to come out of not finishing up at West Coast, was the opportunity to come here and play football . . .

“We had some tough times on field, but even after I finished up, most of the time from afar, to just sit back as a supporter and a fan of the footy club, to be on the ride with the Tigers.

“There were a good eight or nine guys that went on to play in premierships and steer the Club through a dynasty . . .

“To watch that from afar has been one of the great joys of my footy life.”