The behaviour of West Coast star Ben Cousins is not a "great advertisement" for the game but AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou trusts the Eagles to deal with the latest controversy professionally.

Cousins, 28, was arrested in Melbourne on Sunday for being drunk in public following a verbal clash with police.

He was later released without being charged but faces sanctions from his club.

"It's not something that's a great advertisement, particularly for the game or for Ben but I do know that the West Coast Eagles will deal with it professionally," Demetriou said during a promotional visit to the Gold Coast on Wednesday.

"He's not the only player that's been involved in such incidents.

"We'd prefer that they never happen but they do. I think it's very important to make sure that we deal with this professionally and that we send out a message.

"I know that the West Coast Eagles will do that."

The Eagles are treating the matter seriously in the wake of an incident earlier this year when Cousins fled from his four-wheel-drive after being confronted with a random breath testing unit in Perth.

Cousins later admitted he was the driver of the car and was stripped of the Eagles captaincy.

On the same night Cousins landed in trouble in Melbourne, Fremantle players Jeff Farmer and Steven Dodd were involved in a Perth nightclub altercation.

Meanwhile, Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley, chairman Graham Duff and a handful of players joined Demetriou in helping to promote AFL on the Gold Coast.

The Roos will play 10 premiership home matches at Carrara Stadium over the next three years, including games against Brisbane, Carlton and Adelaide in 2007.

Demetriou believes the progress of AFL's expansion program into south-east Queensland won't hinge on the success of the Kangaroos playing some home games on the Gold Coast.

"I don't think the Kangaroos' success next year or the year after will have any bearing on what happens with a team down the track on the Gold Coast," he remarked.

"The Kangaroos' success is obviously very important to us but we're not investing in Queensland on a one-year basis.

"If the Kangaroos are successful next year fantastic, if they're not it doesn't matter.

"We're going to push on. We're going to be investing $30 million over the next five years and I can tell you down the track we're going to be increasing that investment.

"If the Kangaroos are successful that's just a bonus for us."

Duff doesn't fear any backlash from Melbourne-based supporters deprived of three annual home games, pointing out the Roos had travelled to Canberra for several years.

"I think our supporters understand the need for the AFL to grow the game in Australia and secondly for our club to participate in that," he said.

Laidley added: "It's very hard getting excited going to Canberra, let me tell you.

"There's no-one there. If coming up here gets the boys' adrenaline levels pumping ... we think it's more of a positive than a negative."

The Gold Coast Titans will play in the NRL from 2007 but Demetriou isn't concerned about AFL's impact on rugby league in the region.

"All I can say is that the AFL and the Kangaroos are on the march," Demetriou said.

"What the other codes choose to do is entirely up to them."