| Beau Waters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Beau Waters | ||
| Date of birth | (1986-03-30)30 March 1986 (age 39) | ||
| Original team(s) | West Adelaide (SANFL) | ||
| Draft | 11th overall,2003 National Draft(West Coast) | ||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2004–2015 | West Coast | 120 (25) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2015. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Beau Waters (born 30 March 1986) is a former professionalAustralian rules footballer and vice-captain of theWest Coast Eagles in theAustralian Football League (AFL). Originally from theHappy Valley Football Club,South Australia, he played for theWest Adelaide Football Club in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL) before being recruited to West Coast with the 11th pick overall in the2003 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 the2006 premiership. He was also in theAll-Australian team in 2012, on a half-back flank. Waters' career was plagued by injury but he is viewed as a cult hero among West Coast Eagles supporters due to his hard work ethic and “tough as nails” play style. Beau is married to Belle Waters and has two children, Elijah and Levi.
Waters grew up inHappy Valley, South Australia, playing for theHappy Valley Football Club in theSouthern Football League. He was a member of the 2002AIS/AFL program intake.[1] He made his senior debut in theSANFL forWest Adelaide at the age of 17 in 2003, and was also named in the 2003 Under-18 All-Australian team.
Waters was recruited as the Eagles' first-round draft pick in the2003 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."[2]
He made his debut for the Eagles againstEssendon at theTelstra Dome inRound 3 of the 2004 AFL season, gathering ten possessions and four marks in a game the Eagles lost by six points.[3] He played nine more games in his debut season, gathering 25 possessions and eight marks as the youngest player in an Eagles win against theWestern Bulldogs inRound 18.[4]
Waters did not play a game in the2005 season after being ruled out withosteitis pubis. 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 inSubiaco. Rushed toSir Charles Gairdner Hospital, it was initially thought no damage had been done, but it was later revealed he had injured hislateral ligament, ruling him out for six weeks during the pre-season.[5]
Waters returned to the side in2006 as a key part of the squad, playing 23 matches throughout the season. He scored his first AFL goal inRound 3 againstRichmond.[6] He gained his firstBrownlow votes inRound 18 againstSt Kilda for a 34-possession game.[7] 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 theGrand Final win overSydney, in the process gaining a vote in the2006 Norm Smith Medal.[8][9]
Waters played 20 games in2007 and eight games in2008 before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. He resumed full-training in May of2009 but then re-injured the same elbow, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2009 season.[10][11] 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 the2010 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 captainDarren Glass was ruled out for the season with a knee injury. Waters gathered two Brownlow votes for a 33-possession game in a loss againstGeelong inRound 11, and finished third overall in theWest Coast Eagles Best & Fairest.
Waters was named the Eagles sole vice-captain for the2011 AFL season.[12]
He retired in February 2015 due to ongoing injury.[13]
On 19 October 2020 he was awarded life membership of the West Coast Eagles
In 2014, Waters won theJim Stynes Community Leadership Award for his work for theCancer Council Western Australia.[14]
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 | ||||
| 2004 | 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 |
| 2005 | West Coast | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2006 | 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 |
| 2007 | 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 |
| 2008 | 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 |
| 2009 | West Coast | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | 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 |
| 2011 | 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 |
| 2012 | 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 |
| 2013 | 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 |
| 2014 | West Coast | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015 | West Coast | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 120 | 25 | 21 | 1358 | 917 | 2275 | 728 | 319 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 11.3 | 7.6 | 19.0 | 6.1 | 2.7 | ||
