ST KILDA has released a statement saying the club is ‘pleased’ Ben Cousins has been given the all clear to resume his AFL career.

The AFL Commission met in Sydney on Monday and Tuesday this week, and on Tuesday afternoon announced it would lift its ban on the former West Coast star, imposed in November last year pending successful rehabilitation from drug addiction.

The 30-year-old is now free to enter the NAB AFL Draft on November 29 or the pre-season draft on December 16, but he, and any club which drafts him, will have to satisfy a stringent drug testing regime.

This will include up to three urine tests per week, and four hair tests per year, but the very fact the Saints released a statement says plenty about the lengths they are willing to go to in securing the services of the 2005 Brownlow medalist.

“The St Kilda Football Club is pleased to hear that Ben Cousins has been given the all-clear to resume his career following today’s AFL Commission meeting,” the statement read.

“The club will continue to follow its process of due diligence on the matter and will not be making any further comment at this time.”

This follows Monday’s endorsement from St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt, who spoke enthusiastically about the possibility of having Cousins as a teammate.

 “It would excite anyone if he could get back to the heights that he was,” Riewoldt said at the club’s first pre-season training session at Dendy Park, Brighton.

“He is a Brownlow medalist and a premiership player. We all hope he could get back to that so naturally you’d want to play with him than against him.”

But it’s not a one-horse race for Cousins, with Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss saying on Tuesday morning that his club is also considering making a play.

“Does it fit within our development model? We ticked that off and whether it is Ben Cousins or (former Sydney Swan) Nick Davis (who is training with the Lions) I think we need a more mature player on our list or someone that has AFL experience,” Voss said on Melbourne’s radio SEN.

But there’s no doubt the Saints are the front runner in the race for Cousins, and they are certainly the club he has had the most contact since a comeback was mooted.

He faced a series of probing questions from five St Kilda officials in late October when the club began their investigation into the merits of recruiting the West Coast premiership midfielder.

The St Kilda group did not hold back in its interrogation, querying Cousins about matters relating to the drug addiction that forced his suspension this time last year.

Two members of the Saints board, as well as coach Ross Lyon, chief executive Archie Fraser and football manager Matthew Drain, dined with Cousins and his manager Ricky Nixon.

"I think he's committed to playing football and I think he understands that one more hiccup and it would be all over," Fraser said of Cousins after the meeting.

But the Saints’ chief said he had not spent enough time with Cousins to uncover much about his state of mind beyond his strong desire to return.

"[But] I certainly know that he wants to play football ... at the highest level again and he feels it's an important part of his rehabilitation," he said.