Extensive Definition
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 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.
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.
Capper makes regular appearances on television as a 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
an autobiography called Fool Forward
in which he openly admitted to using illegal drugs (amphetamines) during his
VFL/AFL career. 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.
Later in the year he announced he was embarking
on a new career as a male
stripper. 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. On 16 July 2007, Capper announced
plans to run as a candidate for mayor of Gold
Coast City Council.
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
- The Complete Guide to Australian Football
- 60 minutes interview