Former AFL star Ben Cousins arrested in Perth

Troubled former AFL premiership player Ben Cousins has been released on bail after being charged with breaching a violence restraining order and possessing methamphetamine.

Cousins was arrested outside a house in Canning Vale at 1pm on Monday and spent the night behind bars in the Perth lock-up.

The VRO charges are understood to involve his former spouse, with an agitated and dishevelled Cousins telling a magistrate he still wanted to be able to see his children, aged five and three.

The Brownlow Medallist and former captain of the West Coast Eagles, who has a history of drug abuse, was suspended from the AFL for one year in 2007 for bringing the game into disrepute.

He made a comeback with Richmond before retiring in 2010.

Since then, Cousins' troubles have continued under the glare of the public, most recently in June when he was reportedly treated in hospital after standing in the middle of Canning Highway in Como directing traffic.

He was granted bail in the Armadale Magistrates Court on Tuesday to appear again on November 22.