CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has wished Ben Cousins all the best in his quest to return to AFL football in 2009, but confirmed at a media conference on Wednesday it will not be with his club.

Cousins, who turns 30 on Monday, is reported to have completed the necessary paperwork to play state league football in the second half of the season, an important step in his bid to return to the elite level after being de-registered following his admission of illicit substance abuse late last year.

"I think Ben, at 30 years of age, doesn’t fit the criteria; we’re going down more of a youth-type set-up," Ratten said from Princes Park.

"If Ben was around 25 we’d maybe have a look and do our research and sit down and have a chat about it, but probably [not] where he is in his football [career]. How much has he got left? Probably not that many years in the game."

After several years in the football wilderness, Ratten’s youth-focused rebuilding program is starting to bear fruit with the Blues vying for a spot in the top eight on the back of some heartening performances.

Cousins, the 2005 Brownlow Medallist, brings obvious talent to the table and while the coach can understand the sentimental aspect of seeing him reunited with premiership teammate Chris Judd, he made it clear that his priorities lie elsewhere.

"Yeah, but does that take away from the game time that Bryce Gibbs might get in the midfield or someone else? That’s why we probably wouldn’t go down that path," he said.

"It would be great for the romance [for him] to get back with Juddy and play, but it’s about what we can do as a football club and our needs and I don’t think Ben fits that."

Ratten expressed his hopes that Cousins would make a full recovery from his addiction, but admitted any prospective club would have to look long and hard at him before taking the committing.

"I think you’d have to see where Ben’s at and see if he’s overcome that and hopefully he has because he’s been one of the great players of the competition over the past 10 years," he said.

"It would be great for him if he could get back into the game from a rehab point of view, but all that aside, what we need to do as a club is probably not go down [the path] of 30-year-olds coming into our footy club."