Warwick Capper

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 and over-the-top off-field personality, he kicked 388 goals in 123 games from 1983-1991, his best season being 1987 when he kicked 103 goals.

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.

Although Capper was renowned more for his marking than his goal kicking feats, in 1987 he managed 103 goals at an average of 4.48 per game. 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 locks, 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.

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 Lamborghini Countach in the late 1980s 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".

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 1990s.

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.cite news |url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/15/1018333476745.html |title = Capper could be banned from kids footy |work = The Sydney Morning Herald
publisher = AAP |date = 2002-04-15 |accessdate = 2006-07-22]

Capper makes regular appearances on television as a guest on shows such as "The AFL 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 an autobiography called "Fool Forward" in which he openly admitted to using illegal drugs (amphetamines) during his VFL/AFL career.cite news |url = http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/news/AFL/ Capper-admits-pregame-drug-use/2005/04/29/1114635723912.html |title = Capper admits pre-game drug use |work = The Age |date = 2005-04-29 |accessdate = 2006-07-22] Dead link|date=September 2008 This caused controversy since such use would not 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.cite news |url = http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19802526-2,00.html |title = Ex-AFL star cops broken nose |work = The Sunday Telegraph |date = 2006-06-16 |accessdate = 2006-07-22]

Later in the year he announced he was embarking on a new career as a male strippercite news |url = http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20145298-2,00.html |title = Warwick's love life takes off |work = News Limited |date = 2006-08-06 |accessdate = 2006-09-07] . Also, he has made a pornographic film that includes himself and his 25 year old girlfriend, Kristy. The X-rated movie, entitled "Warwick Capper Uncut", is 69 minutes long. [cite news|url=http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=46&p=156&sMature=1&sMediaFilm=1&sDateFromM=1&sDateFromY=1970&sDateToM=11&sDateToY=2007&record=224530|title=Australian Film Classification Board - Warwick Capper Uncut Film|publisher=www.classification.gov.au|date=2007-11-23|accessdate=2008-02-10] On 16 July 2007, Capper announced plans to run as a candidate for mayor of Gold Coast City Council. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/warwick-capper-to-run-for-mayor/2007/07/16/1184438195141.html Warwick Capper to run for mayor] from smh.com.au]

On the Triple M radio program Get This, Richard Marsland re-aired a series of prank calls using cut-up sentences from a Capper radio voice recording, to have strange conversations with celebriities. Such as James Reyne, Molly Meldrum, Derryn Hinch and Jeff Fenech. On October 31, Get This were successful in contacting Warwick and having a humorous conversation with him on-air where he was constantly cracking jokes about himself, including one comment he made, "I've got a bulge in my pants and feeling good" to which Ed Kavalee suggested it to be his campaign slogan for mayor of the Gold Coast.

References

*cite book | author= Ken Piesse| title=The Complete Guide to Australian Football | publisher =Pan Macmillan Australia | year=1995 | id=ISBN 0-330-35712-3
* [http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2004_08_08/story_1194.asp 60 minutes interview]

External links

* [http://www.warrickcapper.com/ Capper World - Warwick Capper's personal website]
* [http://www.warwickcapper.com.au/ Warwick Capper - Warwick Capper news site]
*

Notes

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=