Anthony Stevens (born 2 July 1971) 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 who played for the

North Melbourne Kangaroos The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos al ...

. He was named as ruck rover in the club's official 'Team of the Century'. Stevens was a member of North Melbourne premiership sides in

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In 1998, he was an

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

; additionally, in the same year, he represented

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

football. He was a

Best and Fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

winner for his club twice, in 1997 and 1999. Stevens lost two litres of blood and had two operations after injuries caused when falling glass hit Stevens outside the Redback Brewery Hotel in North Melbourne on 11 March 2000. Stevens suffered a 20-centimetre gash from the corner of his mouth along his right cheek and down the side of his mouth. In 2002, he was involved in a much-publicised controversy involving

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbou ...

after it was revealed that Carey had been having an extramarital affair with his wife Kelli Stevens. The condemnation from Anthony Stevens and his teammates caused Carey to resign from the North Melbourne Football Club. Stevens retired at the end of the 2004 season, but he and former Kangaroos teammate

Glenn Archer Glenn Archer (born 24 March 1973) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the North Melbourne Football Club. Archer had a reputation as one of the most courageous players ever to play the game. Th ...

got together to play one match for the

Caulfield Grammarians Football Club Caulfield Grammarians Football Club, is an Australian rules football club based in Caulfield East, Victoria. The club, composed of Caulfield Grammar School alumni is, along with Old Melburnians, the (equal) second oldest consecutively competi ...

. After he retired from the AFL, Stevens accepted an ambassadorship with the VCFL. He played with

Benalla Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822. It is the administrative centr ...

in the

Goulburn Valley Football League The Goulburn Valley Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. It is a member of the Victorian Country Football League and has won the Victorian Co ...

for a number of years.

Wayne Carey's affair with Stevens' wife

In March 2002,

had an extramarital affair with Stevens' wife, Kelli. Making the situation even messier was the fact that Carey was himself married to his long-term partner Sally McMahon. Carey and Stevens were attending a party at teammate

's house. Carey is quoted as saying Kelli followed him into the toilets in front of a large crowd, including her husband. An argument ensued between Carey and Stevens, and both players subsequently failed to attend football training. In the face of his team being united against him, as well as nationwide condemnation, Carey resigned in disgrace from North Melbourne. Carey's then manager

Ricky Nixon Ricky Lee Nixon (born 3 April 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL and a former sports agent. At the height of his career, he was one of the most high-profile sports agents in Australia, and a powerful figure in the AF ...

famously stated that his client was on "

suicide watch Suicide watch (sometimes shortened to SW) is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that any person cannot attempt suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates or patients in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital or milit ...

" during the aftermath. To avoid media attention, Carey fled to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, USA. Stevens had played groomsman to Carey at his wedding to Sally. North Melbourne champion and AFL Hall of Famer

Brent Harvey Brent Harvey (born 14 May 1978), often known by his nickname "Boomer", is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He holds the record for most matches played ...

said it set the club back "four or five years". The aftermath of the affair resulted in Carey missing the

2002 AFL season The 2002 AFL season was the 106th 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 sixt ...

and transferring to the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

for the

2003 AFL season The 2003 AFL season was the 107th 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 ...

. In a twist of fate, Stevens took over Carey's role of captain in 2004. The first game played between North Melbourne and Adelaide in 2003 made for gripping viewing, with Archer and Stevens both taunting and making aggressive moves towards Carey. Although tension was at fever pitch, all players involved managed to restrain themselves from doing anything rash. Adelaide went on to win convincingly by 54 points. In August 2022, 20 years after the initial fallout from the affair, Carey and Stevens met again at a function to celebrate the 26th anniversary of their 1996 premiership (which was initially supposed to be a 25th anniversary but was delayed by a year due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

); Carey engaged Stevens in a "verbal stoush" at the function, although the situation was reportedly de-escalated. The ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'' reported there was no potential of violence and that the pair “moved on and shared a beer together” afterwards. Despite both players' marriages being rocked by the public scandal, it took each marriage several years to dissolve. Kelli and Anthony Stevens divorced in 2008, six years after the affair, while Carey's marriage ended in 2006. Carey labelled his affair with Stevens “the biggest regret of my life as an adult” while participating on season three of the reality TV show '' SAS Australia''.

Statistics

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

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 58 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3 , , 41 , , 20 , , 61 , , 8 , , 11 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 10.3 , , 5.0 , , 15.3 , , 2.0 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 46 , , 13 , , 4 , , 6 , , 149 , , 51 , , 200 , , 30 , , 31 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 11.5 , , 3.9 , , 15.4 , , 2.3 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 12 , , 2 , , 2 , , 135 , , 58 , , 193 , , 19 , , 11 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.3 , , 4.8 , , 16.1 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 13 , , 11 , , 10 , , 149 , , 71 , , 220 , , 26 , , 39 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 11.5 , , 5.5 , , 16.9 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 21 , , 9 , , 11 , , 330 , , 118 , , 448 , , 36 , , 66 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 15.7 , , 5.6 , , 21.3 , , 1.7 , , 3.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 24 , , 8 , , 11 , , 341 , , 191 , , 532 , , 64 , , 57 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 14.2 , , 8.0 , , 22.2 , , 2.7 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 10 , , 20 , , 14 , , 8 , , 304 , , 137 , , 441 , , 65 , , 49 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 15.2 , , 6.9 , , 22.1 , , 3.3 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 24 , , 19 , , 15 , , 385 , , 156 , , 541 , , 86 , , 59 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 16.0 , , 6.5 , , 22.5 , , 3.6 , , 2.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 10 , , 7 , , 453 , , 129 , , 582 , , 94 , , 66 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 18.1 , , 5.2 , , 23.3 , , 3.8 , , 2.6 , - ! 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;", , 10 , , 25 , , 8 , , 6 , , 442 , , 101 , , 543 , , 90 , , 74 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 17.7 , , 4.0 , , 21.7 , , 3.6 , , 3.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 12 , , 7 , , 429 , , 117 , , 546 , , 98 , , 72 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 17.2 , , 4.7 , , 21.8 , , 3.9 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 12 , , 4 , , 4 , , 145 , , 63 , , 208 , , 50 , , 32 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 12.1 , , 5.3 , , 17.3 , , 4.2 , , 2.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 15 , , 1 , , 5 , , 238 , , 104 , , 342 , , 68 , , 71 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 15.9 , , 6.9 , , 22.8 , , 4.5 , , 4.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 19 , , 10 , , 6 , , 276 , , 99 , , 375 , , 85 , , 65 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 14.5 , , 5.2 , , 19.7 , , 4.5 , , 3.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 10 , , 8 , , 275 , , 155 , , 430 , , 92 , , 63 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 13.8 , , 7.8 , , 21.5 , , 4.6 , , 3.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 5 , , 3 , , 262 , , 109 , , 371 , , 86 , , 52 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 13.1 , , 5.5 , , 18.6 , , 4.3 , , 2.6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 292 ! 127 ! 112 ! 4354 ! 1679 ! 6033 ! 997 ! 818 ! 0.4 ! 0.4 ! 14.9 ! 5.8 ! 20.7 ! 3.4 ! 2.8

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Anthony 1971 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club Premiership players Syd Barker Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Victorian State of Origin players All-Australians (AFL) Shepparton Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players