Five clubs who had draft picks ahead of the Tigers decided to pass on Cousins, who won the league's most prestigious individual award, the Brownlow Medal, in 2005.

He also led his former club, the Perth-based West Coast Eagles, to the Australian Football League title in 2006 before being suspended in early 2007 for drug use.

Three other teams - Collingwood, St. Kilda and Brisbane - said earlier they wouldn't draft Cousins after meetings with him or his manager. Yesterday's draft was the midfielder's last chance to re-enter the AFL for at least another 12 months.

Officials from Richmond, a Melbourne suburb, initially said they had no interest in signing the 30-year-old Cousins. But in the past few days, the team changed its stance, possibly swayed by dozens of callers to radio talk shows and on Internet forums who wanted the Tigers to take a chance on Cousins.

Cousins' manager Ricky Nixon said his player is in excellent physical shape.

"For Richmond fans it's pretty exciting at the moment and for AFL fans in general," Nixon said. "There's no doubt in the last few days the overwhelming support of the football public has been tremendous. Ben now needs to take that on board and use it to his advantage."

In November, Cousins was given permission by the AFL to resume his career in the 2009 season if he agreed to strict drug testing - urine tests up to three times per week and hair-testing samples up to four times a year.

After Cousins was suspended at the start of the 2007 season for drug use, he attended rehabilitation sessions in Malibu, California. He played only seven matches for the Eagles last year due to the suspension and a hamstring injury. The Eagles terminated his contract in October 2007.