A cousin travelled to Perth on the weekend, but was never going to play, instead being the star attraction at a club fund-raising cocktail function.
But if all goes well, the 30-year-old will have his first competitive run in the yellow-and-black in next Thursday night's NAB Cup quarter-final clash.
Tigers defender Kel Moore said just seeing Cousins do his stuff on the training track was an experience.
"Ben's fit and well, and he's training really well, and I don't see why he won't play," Moore said on Thursday.
"The team will be selected early next week, and until then we don't know who's playing.
"Everyone's just learning everything off him – he's won premierships, Brownlows, everything.
"So the more we can learn off him the better, I think, and a lot of the young guys, including myself, just like watching the way he goes about his footy.
"During the intraclub games, I have to admit sometimes you just stand there watching him play.
"He hasn't lost it – he still gets his hands on the ball.
"I can't wait to see him in the black-and-yellow in round one."
The clash with the Pies has been moved to Thursday because Melbourne Victory is playing the A-League grand final at Telstra Dome on the Saturday night, when the AFL clash was originally scheduled, but Moore said the team didn't care where or when the game was played.
"I think everyone's just very excited – I think we should get a few people there.
"We've got most people up and running, so it's going to be hard to pick the side.
"Tell us when to play and we'll play. It doesn't really matter when."
