Matthew Capuano

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. Post playing career Capuano was a development coach at the Carlton Football Club.[1]

Matthew Capuano
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-09-02) 2 September 1975
Original team(s) Creswick / Geelong U18
Debut Round 13, 18 June 1994, North Melbourne
vs. Richmond, at the MCG
Height 198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 99 kg (218 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1994–2000 North Melbourne 082 (24)
2001–2003 St Kilda 025 (13)
Total 107 (37)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2003.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He was most remembered for being sacked by the Saints at the middle of the 2003 season.

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.[2] 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,[3] 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.[4]

Although a number of VFL clubs sought Capuano's services after he was sacked,[5] he did not accept any offers and spent the latter half of 2003 travelling Europe. He also did not nominate for the 2003 AFL Draft[6] and spent 2004 playing for South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League.[7]

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. He remained with Carlton in the development role until the end of the 2017 AFL season.

Playing statistics
[8]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles  H/O  Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
1994 North Melbourne 403103476330.30.01.01.32.32.01.01.0
1995 North Melbourne 1615546863131466880.30.34.54.28.73.10.45.9
1996 North Melbourne 1618608162143411810.30.04.53.47.92.30.14.5
1997 North Melbourne 160————————————————
1998 North Melbourne 1613335926852571210.20.24.52.06.51.90.59.3
1999 Kangaroos 1619441276519263112630.20.26.73.410.13.30.613.8
2000 Kangaroos 16145269198836131290.40.14.91.46.32.60.99.2
2001 St Kilda 1612807026965141190.70.05.82.28.04.30.39.9
2002 St Kilda 16740443781373370.60.06.35.311.65.30.45.3
2003 St Kilda 16610272451217430.20.04.54.08.53.51.27.2
Career 107 37 13 548 326 874 326 55 884 0.3 0.1 5.1 3.0 8.2 3.0 0.5 8.3

References
  1. "2015 Coaching Panel". carltonfc.com.au. Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. Saints sack Capuano, The Age, 26 May 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  3. Walls, R., "Thomas does the hard thing but the right thing", The Age, 30 May 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  4. Connolly, R., "Thrills and spills in 2003", The Age, 30 September 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006
  5. Lyon, K. & Niall, J., "Capuano now a wanted man", The Age, 30 May 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  6. Quayle, E., "No draft for Capuano", The Age, 22 October 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  7. WAFL Online playing statistics
  8. "Matthew Capuano". AFL Tables.
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