AFL CHIEF executive Andrew Demetriou says Ben Cousins' return to top-flight football is far from assured despite mounting speculation the former Eagle is eager to resurrect his career with Collingwood in 2009.

Cousins, deregistered by the AFL last year for bringing the game into disrepute, has made bold steps in the past few months to resurrect his 238-game career.

The 30-year-old trained with WAFL clubs Perth and East Fremantle in the latter part of this season and earlier this week met with the AFL's medical staff in his bid to show he is over his drug addiction, which led to his fall from grace at West Coast.

Cousins also met with Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse and football operations manager Geoff Walsh in Perth this week.

But Demetriou said despite all the signs appearing to point to a Cousins return, there were still hurdles the 2005 Brownlow Medallist needed to clear before being given the green light by the AFL.

"There are obviously a couple of steps and the first of them is for him to decide that he wants to play football," Demetriou told Fairfax radio on Friday.

"Until he makes that decision and decides to nominate for the draft and indicate that is what he wants to do, we don't do anything.

"He has obviously been liaising with our medical officers, we have sent him a note to the conditions he will have to go through before he would be considered and that will have to go to the AFL Commission, who is the only body who can re-register him before he can play AFL football.

"They (the AFL conditions) involve things around testing, medical reports from his medical officers and our medical officers . . . that would play a very large role, and what is his frame of mind and his attitude.

"Does he want to play? Is he healthy, has he been rehabilitated? Again this is all presumptuous; we don't actually know whether he wants to play."

Demetriou also confirmed Cousins would be target tested should he return to AFL ranks.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said Cousins would need to show beyond doubt he was over his drug problems before the Pies would consider drafting him.

"Ben, first of all, has to be (interviewed) by the AFL to prove that he's not a drug addict anymore and that's not just like turning up to get a Panadol at the local chemist, it's a fairly significant health issue," McGuire told SEN radio.

"So I think while we all get excited about the football element of this, there's a massive human element to be considered long before anyone decides anything."

McGuire added that Collingwood would discuss Cousins' possible recruitment with the players given the decision's significance.

"One of this magnitude I think it has to be a club decision," he said. "I think the players would get a say in this. It's not just the matter of him getting a kick for you.

"And I'd also talk to the players' parents, everything. This is a big decision. I think with this one, the decision has to be made that you want to help rehabilitate the guy.

"Would he make that big a difference at (almost) 31 years of age? Well, it's questionable.

"If it's a good thing for football to help rehabilitate one of our own and then we all go into it together, it needs to be a pretty broad church of opinion to say yes, let's take on what is a pretty big task."