Adam Heuskes (born 20 March 1976) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

most remembered for his on field flamboyance and controversial off-field behaviour, which twice resulted in rape allegations. His decorated career includes the title of “most likely player to sexually assault a woman in the off season” Recruited from South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Norwood, Heuskes made his AFL debut in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

with the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

and immediately attracted attention in the media and the football world for his outrageous hairstylings. He was traded to

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, a decision which the Swans later regretted, as Heuskes earned All-Australian selection later that year. Heuskes' attacking flair as a defender set up numerous goals. For the

1999 AFL season The 1999 AFL season was the 103rd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured six ...

, Heuskes was traded to the Brisbane Lions, where he was a solid contributor during the Lions' 1999 finals campaign. He retired suddenly at age 24 towards the end of

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, having lost the motivation to play at the full time professional level; then-coach

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

commented that he simply walked out on the club after his final match without attending the next recovery session. Heuskes later played 31 games for SANFL club North Adelaide before succumbing to an ankle injury in 2005 which forced his retirement from all forms of the game. Heuskes has a daughter, Tayla, born in 1994, and is married to Nikki Kosmider.

Off-field behaviour and controversy

Heuskes has gained notoriety for incidents involving alcohol, and an inability to maintain self-control. He has twice been accused of raping young women in front of, or with, teammates. Police have been involved in both of these cases, and one woman claims she was paid for her silence. Both women later spoke out in a ''

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

'' program about sexual assault in AFL Also known for his flamboyant style, two notable haircuts included the image of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

shaved into the back of his head, as well as his guernsey number (39). He was also a cross-dresser who appeared on televisions' '' The Footy Show'' and '' Live And Kicking'' regularly during 1998 and 1999. He once dressed up as

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

and performed the song ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

''.

Statistics

:Adam Heuskes' player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 10 , , 1 , , 1 , , 76 , , 61 , , 137 , , 22 , , 19 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 7.6 , , 6.1 , , 13.7 , , 2.2 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 17 , , 2 , , 2 , , 133 , , 112 , , 245 , , 51 , , 20 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 7.8 , , 6.6 , , 14.4 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 22 , , 3 , , 0 , , 242 , , 123 , , 365 , , 88 , , 23 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.0 , , 5.6 , , 16.6 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 22 , , 0 , , 0 , , 284 , , 137 , , 421 , , 95 , , 32 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.9 , , 6.2 , , 19.1 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 15 , , 1 , , 2 , , 150 , , 90 , , 240 , , 66 , , 14 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 10.0 , , 6.0 , , 16.0 , , 4.4 , , 0.9 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 31 , , 25 , , 1 , , 1 , , 299 , , 143 , , 442 , , 151 , , 24 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.0 , , 5.7 , , 17.7 , , 6.0 , , 1.0 , , 5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 31 , , 14 , , 4 , , 1 , , 155 , , 71 , , 226 , , 81 , , 10 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 11.1 , , 5.1 , , 15.1 , , 5.8 , , 0.7 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 125 ! 12 ! 7 ! 1339 ! 737 ! 2076 ! 554 ! 142 ! 0.1 ! 0.1 ! 10.7 ! 5.9 ! 16.6 ! 4.4 ! 1.1 ! 12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heuskes, Adam Sydney Swans players Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Brisbane Lions players North Adelaide Football Club players Norwood Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) 1976 births Living people Australian rules footballers from South Australia Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People from Boronia, Victoria