Anthony Stevens (born 2 July 1971) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er 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 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. 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 In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

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. 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. 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. After he retired from the AFL, Stevens accepted an ambassadorship with the VCFL. He played with

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

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. An argument ensued between Carey and Stevens, 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. Carey's then manager

Ricky Nixon Ricky Lee Nixon (born 3 April 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL and a former sports agent. At the height of his career, he was one of the most high-profile sports agents in Australia, and a powerful figure in the AFL ...

famously stated that his client was on " suicide watch" during the aftermath. To avoid media attention, Carey fled to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, USA. 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". 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 2002. 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. 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 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

); Carey engaged Stevens in a "verbal stoush" at the function, although the situation was reportedly de-escalated. The ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' reported there was no potential of violence and that the pair "moved on and shared a beer together" afterwards. 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, while Carey's marriage ended in 2006. 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''.

Personal life

Stevens' son, River Stevens, was drafted by North Melbourne in November 2024.

Statistics

:Anthony Stevens' player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1989 , style="text-align:center;", , 58 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3 , , 41 , , 20 , , 61 , , 8 , , 11 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 10.3 , , 5.0 , , 15.3 , , 2.0 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1990 , style="text-align:center;", , 46 , , 13 , , 4 , , 6 , , 149 , , 51 , , 200 , , 30 , , 31 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 11.5 , , 3.9 , , 15.4 , , 2.3 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1991 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 12 , , 2 , , 2 , , 135 , , 58 , , 193 , , 19 , , 11 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.3 , , 4.8 , , 16.1 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 13 , , 11 , , 10 , , 149 , , 71 , , 220 , , 26 , , 39 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 11.5 , , 5.5 , , 16.9 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1993 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 21 , , 9 , , 11 , , 330 , , 118 , , 448 , , 36 , , 66 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 15.7 , , 5.6 , , 21.3 , , 1.7 , , 3.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 24 , , 8 , , 11 , , 341 , , 191 , , 532 , , 64 , , 57 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 14.2 , , 8.0 , , 22.2 , , 2.7 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1995 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 14 , , 8 , , 304 , , 137 , , 441 , , 65 , , 49 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 15.2 , , 6.9 , , 22.1 , , 3.3 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 24 , , 19 , , 15 , , 385 , , 156 , , 541 , , 86 , , 59 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 16.0 , , 6.5 , , 22.5 , , 3.6 , , 2.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1997 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 10 , , 7 , , 453 , , 129 , , 582 , , 94 , , 66 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 18.1 , , 5.2 , , 23.3 , , 3.8 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1998 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 8 , , 6 , , 442 , , 101 , , 543 , , 90 , , 74 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 17.7 , , 4.0 , , 21.7 , , 3.6 , , 3.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 12 , , 7 , , 429 , , 117 , , 546 , , 98 , , 72 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 17.2 , , 4.7 , , 21.8 , , 3.9 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 12 , , 4 , , 4 , , 145 , , 63 , , 208 , , 50 , , 32 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 12.1 , , 5.3 , , 17.3 , , 4.2 , , 2.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 15 , , 1 , , 5 , , 238 , , 104 , , 342 , , 68 , , 71 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 15.9 , , 6.9 , , 22.8 , , 4.5 , , 4.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2002 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 19 , , 10 , , 6 , , 276 , , 99 , , 375 , , 85 , , 65 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 14.5 , , 5.2 , , 19.7 , , 4.5 , , 3.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 10 , , 8 , , 275 , , 155 , , 430 , , 92 , , 63 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 13.8 , , 7.8 , , 21.5 , , 4.6 , , 3.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 5 , , 3 , , 262 , , 109 , , 371 , , 86 , , 52 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 13.1 , , 5.5 , , 18.6 , , 4.3 , , 2.6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 292 ! 127 ! 112 ! 4354 ! 1679 ! 6033 ! 997 ! 818 ! 0.4 ! 0.4 ! 14.9 ! 5.8 ! 20.7 ! 3.4 ! 2.8

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Anthony 1971 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club premiership players Syd Barker Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Victorian State of Origin players Caulfield Grammarians Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) Shepparton Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players VFL/AFL premiership players