BEN Cousins seems destined to become a Saint as St Kilda is the only club willing to take a chance on the fallen star.

The West Australian reports that the fate of Ben Cousins is likely to be revealed by late Tuesday and "St Kilda is the sole AFL club willing to gamble on the recovering drug addict".

The report said the Brisbane Lions were not "officially" out of the race but "there were some on the board, along with sponsors, who believed that acquiring the ex-West Coast captain was not in the club's best and long-term interests".

And North Melbourne, who declared an interest in Cousins, withdrew that interest after its major sponsor Mazda expressed some reservations about drafting the 30-year-old.

"That leaves St Kilda as seemingly the only option left available to Cousins, who was given until noon on Wednesday by the AFL to decide whether he will nominate for the national draft, set down for Melbourne next Saturday morning," the WA said.

If Cousins does not enter the national draft he has the option of entering the pre-season "lottery", and that deadline is December 9.

"Cousins' stance may well be dictated by the direction of the Saints board, which is expected to hold a meeting on Tuesday afternoon," the report said.

"Cousins, who flew back to Perth from Melbourne yesterday, has met with St Kilda directors and has also been involved in at least three in-depth discussions with Saints coach Ross Lyon.

"Lyon and football operations general manager Matthew Drain will present a submission to the board outlining reasons why the champion midfielder would be a good fit for a club that sees itself in premiership mode."

It said members of St Kilda's leadership group, notably captain Nick Riewoldt, had also met with the 2005 Brownlow medallist and "had spoken in glowing terms about the progress he had made in his rehabilitation".