Cousins strained his hamstring in last week’s loss to St Kilda, casting doubt on whether he would play this week against Port Adelaide in what would be the final game of his AFL career.
The 2005 Brownlow medallist trained away from the main group on Thursday morning at Victoria Park.
The bulk of his work involved running in 50m straight lines while checking in regularly with the Tigers’ conditioning staff, coach Damien Hardwick and his assistants. He seemed to be running just short of top pace.
Cousins’ teammate Jack Riewoldt said he was confident the 32-year-old could make the right call on his body.
“It’d be a great story for football and it would be a great story for Ben if he played on the weekend,” Riewoldt said on Thursday morning.
“That is going to come down to Ben himself and I know he’s not going to sell his teammates short. He is not going to go out there if he doesn’t think he can play.
“The medical staff have got to make a decision on him as well. I fully trust they are going to make the right decision. If the fairytale does happen it is going to be great for the club.”
Cousins has played 269 AFL games, 238 of which were for West Coast, including the 2006 premiership.
The first part of the documentary detailing his drug addiction was shown on Channel 7 on Wednesday night, drawing 1.99 million viewers Australia-wide. The second half screens on Thursday night.
The Tigers will train one last time on Saturday morning at Punt Rd before Sunday’s clash with the Power.
