Beau Waters (born 30 March 1986) is a former professional

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 and vice-captain of the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Originally from the

Happy Valley Football Club The Happy Valley Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the Southern Football League. History The club first formed in 1952 playing in the former Hills Central Football League. In 1964, Happy Valley transferred to ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, he played for the

West Adelaide Football Club West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Nicknamed the Bloods and commonly known as the Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (currently known as Hisens ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL) before being recruited to West Coast with the 11th pick overall in the 2003 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 the 2006 premiership. He was also in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

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.

Early life

Waters grew up in

Happy Valley, South Australia Happy Valley is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide. Within the suburb is the Happy Valley Reservoir accompanied by South Australia's largest water trea ...

, playing for the

in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

. He was a member of the 2002 AIS/AFL program intake. He made his senior debut in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

for West Adelaide at the age of 17 in 2003, and was also named in the 2003 Under-18 All-Australian team.

AFL career

Waters was recruited as the Eagles' first-round draft pick in the 2003 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.''" He made his debut for the Eagles against at the

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the suburb of Docklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was completed ...

in Round 3 of the 2004 AFL season, gathering ten possessions and four marks in a game the Eagles lost by six points. He played nine more games in his debut season, gathering 25 possessions and eight marks as the youngest player in an Eagles win against the in Round 18. Waters did not play a game in the 2005 season after being ruled out with

osteitis pubis Osteitis pubis is a noninfectious inflammation of the pubic symphysis (also known as the pubis symphysis, symphysis pubis, or symphysis pubica), causing varying degrees of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. Osteitis pubis was first described in pat ...

. 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 in Subiaco. Rushed to

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia. Opened in 1958 as the Perth Chest Hospital and later named in honour of Sir Charles Gairdner, governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, it is p ...

, it was initially thought no damage had been done, but it was later revealed he had injured his lateral ligament, ruling him out for six weeks during the pre-season. Waters returned to the side in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

as a key part of the squad, playing 23 matches throughout the season. He scored his first AFL goal in

Round 3 ''Round 3'' is Kim Hyun-joong's third Korean mini-album, which was released on July 22, 2013. Background and development Two days after the "2013 KHJ Show - Party People" fanmeeting in Seoul, Korea, KeyEast stated that Kim would be releasing hi ...

against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. He gained his first Brownlow votes in Round 18 against St Kilda for a 34-possession game. 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 the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

win over , in the process gaining a vote in the 2006 Norm Smith Medal. Waters played 20 games in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and eight games in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. He resumed full-training in May of

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

but then re-injured the same elbow, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2009 season. 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 the 2010 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 captain

Darren Glass Darren Glass (born 14 May 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a full-back for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Northam, Western Australia, he attended Carine Senior High S ...

was ruled out for the season with a knee injury. Waters gathered two Brownlow votes for a 33-possession game in a loss against in Round 11, and finished third overall in the West Coast Eagles Best & Fairest. Waters was named the Eagles sole vice-captain for the

2011 AFL season The 2011 AFL season was the 115th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sev ...

. He retired in February 2015 due to ongoing injury. On 19 October 2020 he was awarded life membership of the West Coast Eagles

Community work

In 2014, Waters won the

Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football and the first international player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003. P ...

for his work for the Cancer Council Western Australia.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", 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 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:center;", 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 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, style="text-align:center;", West Coast , 8 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 120 ! 25 ! 21 ! 1358 ! 917 ! 2275 ! 728 ! 319 ! 0.2 ! 0.2 ! 11.3 ! 7.6 ! 19.0 ! 6.1 ! 2.7

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Beau 1986 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from South Australia Claremont Football Club players West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles premiership players West Adelaide Football Club players Happy Valley Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players 21st-century Australian sportsmen