Anthony Stevens

For other people named Anthony Stevens, see Anthony Stevens (disambiguation).

Anthony Stevens
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Stevo [1]
Date of birth	(1971-07-02) 2 July 1971 (age 52)
Original team(s)	Waaia
Draft	No. 18, 1988 national draft
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	81 kg (179 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1989–2004	North Melbourne	292 (127)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004.
Career highlights
2x North Melbourne Premiership Player: (1996, 1999) All-Australian Team  : (1998) Victorian State of Origin Player: (1998) 2x North Melbourne Best and Fairest: (1997, 1999) Named in the North Melbourne Team of the Century (Ruck Rover) Named as an Australian Football Hall of Fame member (2017)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Anthony Stevens (born 2 July 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Kangaroos. 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 and 1999. In 1998, he was an All-Australian; additionally, in the same year, he represented Victoria at State of Origin football. He was a Best and Fairest 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. ^[2]

In 2002, he was involved in a much-publicised controversy involving Wayne Carey after it was revealed that Carey had been having an extramarital affair with his wife Kelli Stevens. ^[3] 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 got together to play one match for the Caulfield Grammarians Football Club. ^[4] After he retired from the AFL, Stevens accepted an ambassadorship with the VCFL. He played with Benalla in the Goulburn Valley Football League for a number of years.

Wayne Carey's affair with Stevens' wife

In March 2002, Wayne Carey 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 Glenn Archer's house. Carey is quoted as saying Kelli followed him into the toilets in front of a large crowd, including her husband. ^[5] An argument ensued between Carey and Stevens, ^[6] 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. ^[7] Carey's then manager Ricky Nixon famously stated that his client was on "suicide watch" during the aftermath. ^[8] To avoid media attention, Carey fled to Las Vegas, USA. ^[7] Stevens had played groomsman to Carey at his wedding to Sally.

North Melbourne champion and AFL Hall of Famer Brent Harvey said it set the club back "four or five years". ^[9] The aftermath of the affair resulted in Carey missing the 2002 AFL season and transferring to the Adelaide Crows for the 2003 AFL season. 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. ^{[10] [11]}

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); Carey engaged Stevens in a "verbal stoush" at the function, although the situation was reportedly de-escalated. The Herald Sun reported there was no potential of violence and that the pair “moved on and shared a beer together” afterwards. ^[12]

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, ^[13] while Carey's marriage ended in 2006. ^[14]

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 . ^[15]

Statistics

^[16]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1989	North Melbourne	58	4	0	3	41	20	61	8	11	0.0	0.8	10.3	5.0	15.3	2.0	2.8
1990	North Melbourne	46	13	4	6	149	51	200	30	31	0.3	0.5	11.5	3.9	15.4	2.3	2.4
1991	North Melbourne	10	12	2	2	135	58	193	19	11	0.2	0.2	11.3	4.8	16.1	1.6	0.9
1992	North Melbourne	10	13	11	10	149	71	220	26	39	0.8	0.8	11.5	5.5	16.9	2.0	3.0
1993	North Melbourne	10	21	9	11	330	118	448	36	66	0.4	0.5	15.7	5.6	21.3	1.7	3.1
1994	North Melbourne	10	24	8	11	341	191	532	64	57	0.3	0.5	14.2	8.0	22.2	2.7	2.4
1995	North Melbourne	10	20	14	8	304	137	441	65	49	0.7	0.4	15.2	6.9	22.1	3.3	2.5
1996	North Melbourne	10	24	19	15	385	156	541	86	59	0.8	0.6	16.0	6.5	22.5	3.6	2.5
1997	North Melbourne	10	25	10	7	453	129	582	94	66	0.4	0.3	18.1	5.2	23.3	3.8	2.6
1998	North Melbourne	10	25	8	6	442	101	543	90	74	0.3	0.2	17.7	4.0	21.7	3.6	3.0
1999	Kangaroos	10	25	12	7	429	117	546	98	72	0.5	0.3	17.2	4.7	21.8	3.9	2.9
2000	Kangaroos	10	12	4	4	145	63	208	50	32	0.3	0.3	12.1	5.3	17.3	4.2	2.7
2001	Kangaroos	10	15	1	5	238	104	342	68	71	0.1	0.3	15.9	6.9	22.8	4.5	4.7
2002	Kangaroos	10	19	10	6	276	99	375	85	65	0.5	0.3	14.5	5.2	19.7	4.5	3.4
2003	Kangaroos	10	20	10	8	275	155	430	92	63	0.5	0.4	13.8	7.8	21.5	4.6	3.2
2004	Kangaroos	10	20	5	3	262	109	371	86	52	0.3	0.2	13.1	5.5	18.6	4.3	2.6
Career			292	127	112	4354	1679	6033	997	818	0.4	0.4	14.9	5.8	20.7	3.4	2.8

References

1. "Wayne Carey: How the affair began". News.com.au. News Corporation. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
2. Gregory, Peter (1 October 2003). "Stevens sues over injury".
3. McFarlane, Glenn (14 September 2015). "Anthony Stevens breaks silence over Wayne Carey's affair with ex-wife Kelli". Sunday Herald Sun.
4. Sheridan, Nick (1 June 2008). "Retired champions boost amateur ranks". The Age.
5. "Sydney Morning Herald: The Carey affair". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
6. "Wayne Carey quits the Roos". AFANA. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
7. Healey, Kelvin; Balogh, Stefanie (3 February 2008). "Wayne Carey was 'locked up' in the US". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
8. "The people the players turn to". The Age . 30 April 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007.
9. "Wayne Carey responds to fresh claims about Anthony Stevens". au.sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
10. Flashback: 2003 - North Melbourne v Adelaide , retrieved 20 August 2022
11. "AFL Tables - Kangaroos v Adelaide - Fri, 2-May-2003 7:40 PM - Match Stats". afltables.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
12. "Woman at centre of Carey's infamous AFL affair builds new life".
13. "Stevens' marriage over years after Carey affair".
14. "Wayne Carey confirms split with wife". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
15. "Woman at centre of Carey's infamous AFL affair builds new life".
16. Anthony Stevens' player profile at AFL Tables

External links

• "Player History: Anthony Stevens". Archived from the original on 30 September 2009.
• Anthony Stevens's playing statistics from AFL Tables