Nic Naitanui recounts the brilliant five-word sledge Ben Cousins once hit him with after inheriting the Eagles great’s iconic No 9 jumper

West Coast great Nic Naitanui has opened up on the story of how he inherited Eagles legend Ben Cousin’s iconic No 9 jersey.

The ex-Eagles ruckman, who retired in 2023, also revealed that Cousins had hit him with a brilliant sledge, that had also ‘overwhelmed him’ when the pair next met on the footy pitch.

Cousins is widely regarded as one of the best players to have ever starred for the West Coast, booting 205 goals across 238 matches for the club, notably helping the WA side win the 2006 Grand Final.

The 2005 Brownlow Medallist was delisted by the Eagles in 2007 after he was charged in relation to drug offences. Those charges were later dropped, with Cousins going on to join up with Richmond in 2009.

Naitanui, who admits he idolised Cousins as a youngster, joined the Eagles as a second pick in the 2008 national draft and made his debut for the club in 2009.

He was the first to wear the jumper since Cousins, with Harley Reid subsequently being handed the honour.

Naitanui spoke on how he inherited Cousin’s (pictured) jersey, claiming it was ‘overwhelming’

‘I had a cut out on my fridge, Cuzzy was the one who was kicking with me and I got a photo of it, so I was like that was pretty cool,’ Naitanui told the BackChat Studios podcast.

‘A year or two later you’re getting to wear his jersey.

‘I’m like this is cool but it’s scary. A lot of weight comes with that number. There was a lot of drama leading to that number being free.

‘It was wild.’

Naitanui was considered one of the most promising young prospects in his year group, would go on to make his AFL debut for the Eagles in round 12 of the 2009 season against Richmond.

Coincidentally, on the other side of the field for the match was Cousins, facing off against his old club for the first time. 

‘But as you said my first game was against Richmond, which was against Cuzzy and it was Cuzzy’s first game back against West Coast,’ Naitanui added.

‘That was weird in itself again.’

Cousins would later leave the Eagles and go on to play for Richmond, where he and Naitanui once met on the field

Naitanui told the podcast a funny story of how Cousins told him to ‘take his jersey off’ when they prior to a centre bounce

Harley Reid was selected by the West Coast Eagles with the No 1 draft pick in 2023 and was handed the iconic No 9 jumper

Naitanui then revealed that he stepped up for the first centre bounce of the match when Cousins delivered a hilarious sledge to the Eagles star.

‘I’ll never forget at the centre bounce Cuzzy said to me: “Take my jumper off mate”.

‘That killed me,’ he said laughing.

‘I was just overwhelmed by the whole occasion because it was a 7 o’clock start at Telstra Dome and I had already been building it up in the hotel room, s***ing myself and then you’ve got one of my idols growing up telling me to take his jumper off. I’m like: “Ah man we better win.”

‘We lost,’ he replied.

He and Cousins are great friends still, with the Eagles legend congratulating the 2018 premiership winner on an outstanding career.

‘It was a privilege to wear that jumper for a long time,’ Cousins told The West Australian.

‘Peter Wilson and Brayden Lyle were some of the guys that went before me but it was great to see him (Naitanui) take it and make it his own, he really did.

‘Whoever takes it over from him has big shoes to fill.

‘It’s been great to see him running around in the jumper that I played in and have such a wonderful career becoming the man that he is.’