Beau Waters (born 30 March 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and vice-captain of the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from the

Happy Valley Football Club The Happy Valley Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the Southern Football League. History The club first formed in 1952 playing in the former Hills Central Football League. In 1964, Happy Valley transferred ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, he played for the

West Adelaide Football Club West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Commonly known as The Bloods and Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (currently known as Hisense Stadium und ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

(SANFL) before being recruited to West Coast with the 11th pick overall in the 2003 National Draft. Waters made his senior debut in 2004, and has played a total of 120 games for the club, mainly as a defender, including the 2006 premiership. He was also in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of 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-performed players during the season, led b ...

in 2012, on a half-back flank. Waters' career has been plagued by injury.

Early life

Waters grew up in

Happy Valley, South Australia Happy Valley is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide. Within the suburb is the Happy Valley Reservoir accompanied by South Australia's largest water trea ...

, playing for the

in the Southern Football League. He was a member of the 2002 AIS/AFL program intake. He made his senior debut in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

for West Adelaide at the age of 17 in 2003, and was also named in the 2003 Under-18 All-Australian team.

AFL career

Waters was recruited as the Eagles' first-round draft pick in the 2003 National Draft with pick 11. Eagles recruiting manager Trevor Woodhouse described him as ready to immediately step into the Eagles' team: "''Beau Waters, we rate him pretty high, he's a skilled left-footer. We're looking for him to step into the fore reasonably quickly, but there's no pressure on him to play next year.''" He made his debut for the Eagles against at the

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and w ...

in Round 3 of the 2004 AFL season, gathering ten possessions and four marks in a game the Eagles lost by six points. He played nine more games in his debut season, gathering 25 possessions and eight marks as the youngest player in an Eagles win against the in

Round 18 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

. Waters did not play a game in the 2005 season after being ruled out with

osteitis pubis Osteitis pubis is a noninfectious inflammation of the pubis symphysis (also known as the pubic symphysis, symphysis pubis, or symphysis pubica), causing varying degrees of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. Osteitis pubis was first described in pa ...

. A week after he had recovered from the injury, he was hit by a taxi he was trying to flag down after a night out in Subiaco. Rushed to

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia. Opened in 1958 as the Perth Chest Hospital and later named in honour of Sir Charles Gairdner, governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, it is pa ...

, it was initially thought no damage had been done, but it was later revealed he had injured his lateral ligament, ruling him out for six weeks during the pre-season. Waters returned to the side in 2006 as a key part of the squad, playing 23 matches throughout the season. He scored his first AFL goal in

Round 3 ''Round 3'' is Kim Hyun-joong's third Korean mini-album, which was released on July 22, 2013. Background and development Two days after the "2013 KHJ Show - Party People" fanmeeting in Seoul, Korea, KeyEast stated that Kim would be releasing hi ...

against Richmond. He gained his first Brownlow votes in

against St Kilda for a 34-possession game. Waters played in every one of the Eagles' finals matches. He gathered 26 possessions and took ten marks as the youngest member of the Eagles' premiership side in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

win over , in the process gaining a vote in the 2006 Norm Smith Medal. Waters played 20 games in 2007 and eight games in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. He resumed full-training in May of 2009 but then re-injured the same elbow, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2009 season. Waters was awarded the Chris Mainwaring Award for Best Clubman in 2009 for his work for the club while off injured. Waters made a long-awaited return in the 2010 season, after one-and-a-half years out due to injury. He was one of the Eagles best players in a year where the club finished last, averaging 21 possessions and seven marks in a 20-game season. Waters also captained the club for a number of games after regular captain

Darren Glass Darren Glass (born 14 May 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a full-back for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Northam, Western Australia, he attended Carine Senior High Sc ...

was ruled out for the season with a knee injury. Waters gathered two Brownlow votes for a 33-possession game in a loss against in

Round 11 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

, and finished third overall in the West Coast Eagles Best & Fairest. Waters was named the Eagles sole vice-captain for the

2011 AFL season The 2011 AFL season was the 115th 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 sev ...

. He retired in February 2015 due to ongoing injury. On 19 October 2020 he was awarded life membership of the West Coast Eagles

Community work

In 2014, Waters won the

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become ...

Community Leadership Award for his work for the Cancer Council Western Australia.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 22 , , 10 , , 0 , , 3 , , 81 , , 57 , , 138 , , 46 , , 17 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 8.1 , , 5.7 , , 13.8 , , 4.6 , , 1.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2005 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 23 , , 8 , , 8 , , 213 , , 177 , , 390 , , 120 , , 58 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 9.3 , , 7.7 , , 17.0 , , 5.2 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 20 , , 1 , , 0 , , 207 , , 206 , , 413 , , 131 , , 50 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 10.4 , , 10.3 , , 20.7 , , 6.6 , , 2.5 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 8 , , 4 , , 1 , , 86 , , 44 , , 130 , , 36 , , 24 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 10.8 , , 5.5 , , 16.3 , , 4.5 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2009 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2010 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 21 , , 4 , , 5 , , 259 , , 182 , , 441 , , 146 , , 69 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 12.3 , , 8.7 , , 21.0 , , 7.0 , , 3.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2011 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 129 , , 69 , , 198 , , 53 , , 34 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.7 , , 6.3 , , 18.0 , , 4.8 , , 3.1 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 20 , , 8 , , 4 , , 279 , , 143 , , 422 , , 146 , , 48 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 14.0 , , 7.2 , , 21.1 , , 7.3 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 7 , , 0 , , 0 , , 104 , , 39 , , 143 , , 50 , , 19 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 14.9 , , 5.6 , , 20.4 , , 7.1 , , 2.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2015 , style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 120 ! 25 ! 21 ! 1358 ! 917 ! 2275 ! 728 ! 319 ! 0.2 ! 0.2 ! 11.3 ! 7.6 ! 19.0 ! 6.1 ! 2.7

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Beau 1986 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from South Australia Claremont Football Club players West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles Premiership players West Adelaide Football Club players Happy Valley Football Club players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players