Matthew Capuano

Matthew Capuano
Personal information
Birth 2 September 1975 (1975-09-02) (age 36)
Recruited from Creswick/Geelong U18
Height and weight 198cm / 99kg
Playing career¹
Debut Round 13, 18 June 1994, North Melbourne v.
Richmond, at MCG
Team(s)

Kangaroos (1994-2000)

82 games, 24 goals

St Kilda (2001-2003)

25 games, 13 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2003 season
Career highlights

Matthew Capuano (born 2 September 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who spent his AFL career with the North Melbourne Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Capuano is currently a development coach at the Carlton Football Club. He was most remembered for being sacked by the Saints at the middle of the 2003 season.

Contents

Kangaroos career

Capuano made his AFL debut for North Melbourne in the 1994 season. He played a total of 82 games for the Kangaroos, and was a member of the club's 1996 and 1999 premiership side.

St Kilda career

Capuano's career with the Saints was plagued by shoulder and knee injuries. He played 25 games in his three seasons for the Saints. Although making his 100th AFL appearance in Round 8, 2002, he underwent a knee surgery after Round 9 and missed all remaining AFL games that season.

Mid-season sacking

After making six appearances in the first nine rounds of the 2003 season, Capuano was sacked by the Saints.[1] The coach, Grant Thomas, explained that Capuano's poor form lead to his sacking. While it is suggested that the young and rising Saints did not need Capuano's service anymore,[2] the Saints were also criticised for axing Capuano at the wrong time as Trent Knobel and Barry Brooks, their other two ruckmen, were both injured at the time.[3]

Although a number of VFL clubs sought Capuano’s servicea after he was sacked,[4] he did not accept any offers and spent the latter half of 2003 travelling Europe. He was also not nominated for the 2003 AFL Draft.[5]

Coaching

Capuano signed with the Carlton Football Club in 2009 to coach their ruckmen on a part-time basis. The following season, the Blues made Capuano a full-time development coach and a direct ruck coach.

References

  1. ^ Saints sack Capuano, The Age, 26 May 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  2. ^ Walls, R., "Thomas does the hard thing but the right thing", The Age, 30 May 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  3. ^ Connolly, R., "Thrills and spills in 2003", The Age, 30 September 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006
  4. ^ Lyon, K. & Niall, J., "Capuano now a wanted man", The Age, 30 May 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  5. ^ Quayle, E., "No draft for Capuano", The Age, 22 October 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.

External links