Cousins, 28, whose substance-abuse problem had become an open secret in the football community
In recent weeks, he has broken up with his long-time partner Samantha Druce, a break-up that was not necessarily the catalyst for his latest meltdown, but came as a result of it. So desperate are Cousins' personal problems that his emotional state is dangerously fragile.
West Coast is reported to have urged him to seek rehabilitation, potentially over an extended period at a facility, a suggestion Cousins' family has been subtly pushing for several months.
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou, a close friend and former business associate of Mr Gooding's, yesterday referred to West Coast's "cultural problem" — the closest the AFL has come to discussing drug use and abuse among the team which has included the highly addictive amphetamine known as 'ice'.
The problem for the AFL — apart from the obvious issue of the drug culture which appears to have disproportionately infected some of its clubs — is the chilling fact that the most successful team in the competition has so openly flaunted its ongoing alcohol and substance abuse.
West Coast may have been woefully inept at dealing with the club's off-field issues and yet it has clearly succeeded in overseeing its champion team's on-field form and discipline — a paradox that has sent the message that you can, in some cases, take drugs, party hard, break the law and still win premierships.
If Cousins, Kerr and the recently departed Gardiner are repeat offenders, there is an equally disturbing pattern in the club's failure to address its social problems.
Tomorrow night, the AFL will hold its annual official launch in the knowledge that its drug problem is no longer an open secret but a public scandal that has brought down one of the game's greatest champions.
It will also suspect there is more to come.