New West Coast captain Shannon Hurn has defended ex-Eagles great Ben Cousins, saying his AFL career should be respected.

But he adds West Coast cannot control what happens outside the club.

The repercussions from the Eagles’ “Wild West” era of the mid-2000s have reared again, with police arresting Cousins three times in the last couple of weeks for his bizarre behaviour.

Daniel Kerr, another former West Coast star, has also been in the news, with police investigating a suspicious fire at his ex-wife’s home.

Mick Malthouse, who once coached Cousins at West Coast, said on Tuesday he was mortified by the latest troubles of the 2005 Brownlow Medallist, saying he was no longer a hero.

“Everyone is going to look at it differently and Mick is certainly entitled to his opinions,” Hurn said.

“Ben was certainly an excellent player, so what he did for the footy club was great, the way he played was fantastic.

“If you look at it from a pure footy sense, he was a great footballer.”

Hurn added the Eagles were still helping ex-players such as Cousins and Kerr.

“But we understand we’re here to play footy,” Hurn said.

“So while they are part of our history, at the moment we’re still here trying to play footy and trying to win games.

“We certainly wish them all the best and hope they can back on and live a good, normal life.”

He said Cousins has been an important figure in the club’s history.

“He’s certainly very important to what we have achieved,” Hurn said.

“We certainly respect what he did as a player – outside the footy club, we can’t really control that.

“We still welcome him into the club.”