Steven John Koops (born 24 July 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fr ...

and

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Originally from the

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

based

Southern Districts Football Club The Southern Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Crocs, is an Australian rules football club established in 1981. The club plays in the Northern Territory Football League at semi-professional level and represent the rural area of Litchfie ...

in the NTFL, Koops was drafted from the

West Perth Football Club The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest e ...

in the WAFL. He represented the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

at the 1994 and 1996 Under 18 Championships and won the Hunter Harrison Medal in 1995 as the best player in Division 2.

AFL career

In his first four seasons at Fremantle he only played 16 games and in total only played 78 games in eight seasons before being traded to the

for pick 19 in the 2003 draft. He made his debut in

Round 5 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 numbe ...

of the 1996 AFL season at the age of 17 years and 277 days, the youngest ever to debut for Fremantle. In 1999 he suffered a knee injury and was drug tested the day after surgery, returning a positive test for

pethidine Pethidine, also known as meperidine and sold under the brand name Demerol among others, is a synthetic opioid pain medication of the phenylpiperidine class. Synthesized in 1938 as a potential anticholinergic agent by the German chemist Otto Ei ...

, a banned substance. Upon advice from the club, he pleaded guilty to the charge, but no penalty was imposed. However, due to the guilty finding, his name was entered onto the Australian Sports Drug Agency register, even after the AFL overturned the guilty finding and cleared Koops' name. Fremantle Football Club was fined $5000 for not notifying the AFL of the operation.Tribunal: Koops pleads guilty of taking pethidine, Verdict: no penalty on player
; Footystats 1999 Review His first year at the Bulldogs continued his injury woes, with a thigh strain, broken jaw and punctured lung restricting him to just 11 games in

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 60 ...

. Shoulder injuries and family reasons forced him to retire in 2005 at only 26 years of age, managing a total of only 89 AFL games over 10 seasons.

External links

*
WAFL Player Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koops, Steven Western Bulldogs players Fremantle Football Club players Living people 1979 births Australian sportspeople in doping cases Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Doping cases in Australian rules football West Perth Football Club players Southern Districts Football Club players North Adelaide Football Club players Australian rules footballers from the Northern Territory