Cousins `risky` for clubs

As the 2005 Brownlow medallist and four-time Eagles club champion plots his comeback next year, his options are said to be drying up.

Cousins has until the end of this month to reveal if he intends to make a playing comeback this season with an eye on breaking back into AFL ranks next year.

It is understood Cousins remains keen on returning to the AFL.

But pledging compassionate support for the former star`s battle against illicit drug addiction is one thing, inviting Cousins to join an AFL club through the national draft, is a different matter.

While chief executives, coaches and football managers from Victorian clubs have refused to declare they would not recruit Cousins, it seems the exiled Eagle is considered too big a risk.

One club confirmed it had considered drafting Cousins last year had he been eligible, but the AFL suspended him in November for 12 months after bringing the game into disrepute.

Cousins is in Perth this week after another surfing retreat in the northwest of the state. He reportedly told friends at a wedding on the Swan River recently he had a Melbourne-based club to join next season.

"It`s all sorted, I`ve got a club in Melbourne," Cousins reportedly said.

Cousins, 30 this month, has until June 30 to nominate to play in the VFL as an initial step towards an AFL return. He must also pass a medical test by June 30 to play with East Fremantle, or apply for a clearance by that date to move to another WAFL club.

Cousins has continued to train daily, whether at home in Perth or on his regular visits to Melbourne and Sydney.