Warwick Capper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Warwick Capper (born 12 June 1963) is a former Australian rules football full-forward who played for the Victorian/Australian Football League's Sydney Swans with a short stint at the Brisbane Bears.
Best known for his spectacular marks, he kicked 388 goals in 123 games from 1983-1991, his best season being 1987 when he kicked 103 goals.
Contents |
[edit] Football career
Capper began playing football for the Oakleigh Youth Club in Victoria, where he was born.
Capper was noted for his marking ability rather than his kicking accuracy. With several spectacular high marks in his career, he was nominated for Mark of the Year on several occasions and won back to back awards in 1986 and 1987, consolidating his reputation as an Aussie rules high flyer. However his style of using his hands to climb the back of players was a source of controversy and many claiming his marks should have been free kicks to his opponents. Eventually the rules of marking were more strictly enforced.
Not renowned for his goal kicking feats, but in 1987 Capper managed 103 goals at an average of 4.48. He finished runner up in the Coleman Medal in both 1986 (to Brian Taylor and 1987 (to Tony Lockett).
He was also well known for his looks. He had long blond hair, deeply tanned skin and was notorious for his white boots and extremely tight shorts, which formed part of the flamboyant image of the Sydney club in the Edelsten years of the 1980s. When he moved to the Brisbane Bears at the end of the 1987 season with a $350,000 agreement for three years, he became the highest paid player in the AFL. However, Capper did not do well in Queensland, and returned to Sydney after having kicked only 71 goals in 34 games.
At the end of his AFL career, he returned to Queensland in 1992 to play semi-professionally with the Southport Sharks.
[edit] Off field notoriety
Capper's flamboyance gave him off-field notoriety. Nicknamed Wazza, Capper is widely known for his eccentric personality. Capper also purchased a pink Ferrari in the late 1980's and had what tabloids called "the wedding of the year".
In the 1980s, he posed with his wife Joanne Capper, for Playboy magazine.
In 1986, Capper made a guest appearance on Australian Soap Opera Neighbours.
[edit] Post-football career
Since retiring from football, Capper has juggled media appearances and various jobs including council roadworker. He also joined the well known Multi Level Marketing company, Amway which he spoke about on national television in the late 1990's.
He has had continued participation in football only through charity AFL Legends Matches as a water boy. In 2002, he had a brief stint as skills coach for former club Southport.[1]
Capper makes regular appearances on television as a regular guest on shows such as The Footy Show. He has appeared briefly on the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother, but he was ejected from the series by the show's producer for exposing his penis to fellow housemate Kimberley Cooper during an argument.
In 2005, Capper released a book called Fool Forward in which he openly admitted to experimenting with illegal drugs (amphetamines) during his VFL/AFL career.[2] This caused controversy since such use would be sanctioned under the current AFL anti-doping policy.
Shortly after the Sydney Swans won the 2005 AFL Grand Final, Capper again made tabloid news due to his spectacular split with long time wife Joanne.
In 2006, Capper again made the news after an incident with film director Kayran Noskca, leading to a broken nose.[3]
Later in the year he announced he was embarking on a new career as a male stripper[4].
[edit] References
- Ken Piesse (1995). The Complete Guide to Australian Football. Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 0-330-35712-3.
- 60 minutes interview
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Capper could be banned from kids footy", The Sydney Morning Herald, AAP, 2002-04-15. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ "Capper admits pre-game drug use", The Age, 2005-04-29. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ "Ex-AFL star cops broken nose", The Sunday Telegraph, 2006-06-16. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ "Warwick's love life takes off", News Limited, 2006-08-06. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
Persondata | |
---|---|
NAME | Capper, Warwick |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Australian AFL player |
DATE OF BIRTH | 12 June 1963 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |