Brendan Fevola

Brendan Fevola (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played with the Carlton and Brisbane Lions football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Brendan Fevola
Fevola with the Brisbane Lions in January 2010
Personal information
Full name Brendan Fevola
Nickname(s) Fev, The Shag, Fevalenko, The Fevolution
Date of birth (1981-01-20) 20 January 1981
Original team(s) Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 38, 1998 National Draft, Carlton
Height 191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 100 kg (220 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1999–2009 Carlton 187 (575)
2010 Brisbane Lions 017 0(48)
Total 204 (623)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2008 Victoria 1 (6)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2011.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Fevola is regarded as one of the most effective full-forwards to have played AFL in the 2000s, having won the Coleman Medal for league leading goalkicker in 2006 and 2009 (kicking 84 and 86 goals respectively) as well as All-Australian selection as a forward three times since 2006. His representative honours include playing for Victoria where he was awarded the Allen Aylett Medal for being the state team's best player and leading goalkicker. During his career at Carlton, he was the club's leading goalkicker and key forward from 2003 until 2009. However, throughout his career he has been a controversial figure off the field, which ultimately led to his parting company with both of his AFL clubs.

Early life

Brendan was born to Italian Australian Angelo Fevola, a Victorian state representative in lacrosse, and Karen Ralph in 1981.[1] His parents split when he was eight years old.[1] For a short time he attended a Catholic school.[1]

Fevola began playing football with the Beaconsfield Junior Football Club in the Dandenong & District Junior Football League before playing senior football in the Victorian Country Football League. His ability to kick goals for the Dandenong Stingrays earned him selection in the TAC Cup Team of the Year in 1998[2] and attracted the eye of recruiters and was one of three talented AFL prospects featured in the television documentary "The Draft".

AFL career

Carlton
Fevola at Carlton training, November 2007.

Fevola was recruited to Carlton Football Club with selection No. 38 overall in the 1998 AFL Draft.[3] Early in his career he showed signs of being a brilliant kick of the ball and a prospective key position player at full forward. During a pre-season game on 31 December 1999 against Collingwood (promoted as the "Millennium Match"), he kicked 12 goals.[4]

The promising talent was given the No. 25 guernsey made famous by Carlton legend Alex Jesaulenko.

However Fevola struggled to maintain form over the next few years, playing in 39 games and kicking 66 goals between 2000 and 2002, with noticeably poor body language on-field as well as causing bad publicity through incidents off-field.[4] Carlton coach Wayne Brittain had intended to trade or delist Fevola at the end of the 2002 season; however, after Carlton's poor season (in which it won the wooden spoon) Brittain was himself sacked, and incoming coach Denis Pagan reversed Brittain's decision.[5]

Pagan's arrival had an immediate impact on Fevola's discipline and form. In Round 5, 2003, Fevola kicked 8 goals against the Kangaroos, helping win the game for Carlton and launching himself into the eyes of AFL viewers. Fevola's unkempt dreadlocks and extroverted personality in the media earned him the nickname "The Shag" by fans.

Fevola's early goalkicking inconsistency saw him experiment with unorthodox styles of handling the ball in approach to taking set shots. In 2004, Fevola developed a ritualistic set-shot routine of taking three quick steps to shoot on goal, and this resulted in a significant increase in goalkicking accuracy, particularly from long distance. The duration of his ritual, at times taking longer than a minute, became a point of contention, and was partially responsible for the introduction of a new rule in 2006 (commonly referred to as "the Lloyd Rule" after Essendon's Matthew Lloyd, who had a similarly lengthy set shot ritual), limiting the duration permitted to take a set shot to 30 seconds, before play-on would be called.[6] Fevola's ritual was duly shortened to accommodate the new rule.

In 2006, Fevola capped off a stunning year and his best to that point by kicking 84 goals and winning the Coleman Medal and All-Australian selection. He scored 59 goals in 2007, then followed this up in 2008 with his career best of 99 goals for the season, seeing him finish second behind Lance Franklin in the race for the Coleman Medal.[4] He was selected for Victoria in the once-off AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match in 2008, kicking six goals and winning the Allen Aylett Medal as best on ground.

In 2009, Fevola won his second Coleman Medal, kicking 86 goals for the season, eight goals clear of the runner up Jonathan Brown.[4] He is the only Carlton player ever to win the League goal-kicking twice, and it was his seventh consecutive season as the club's leading goalkicker; only Stephen Kernahan (11) had won the award more times consecutively.[7]

Carlton announced on 30 September 2009 that it would seek a trade for Fevola during the 2009 trade week due to his off-field behaviour, most specifically due to antics at the 2009 Brownlow Medal Count. On 9 October, he was officially traded to the Brisbane Lions, along with a second round draft pick (#27 overall) in exchange for Brisbane's Lachlan Henderson and a first round draft pick (#12 overall).[8] Additionally, Carlton agreed to pay $100,000 of Fevola's salary for each of the two years remaining on his existing contract.[9] Fevola left Carlton as a life member of the club, after playing 187 senior games for 575 goals – the third most goals by any player in Carlton Football Club history. Despite the circumstances of his departure, Carlton has stated that Fevola's life membership was not affected, and that he remained welcome at the club.[10]

Brisbane Lions

At Brisbane, Fevola was given the Number 5 guernsey.[11] He made his debut for the Lions in the first round of the 2010 season at the Gabba against the West Coast Eagles. He finished the 2010 season with 48 goals in 17 games.

After further off-field controversy over the 2010/11 offseason, Fevola was sacked by the Lions on 20 February 2011.[12]

Post-AFL

On 6 April 2011, Fevola signed to play with the Casey Scorpions in the Victorian Football League in 2011.[13] He kicked 63 goals during the home and away season, with 43 of those coming in the final six games of the season, to finish second behind Port Melbourne's Patrick Rose (67 goals) in the league goalkicking, and he kicked a further six goals in finals.[14][15] His contract with the Scorpions was not renewed for 2012. He played six games for Waratah in the 2011/12 NTFL season, kicking 49 goals.[16][17]

In 2012, Fevola signed to play home matches with Yarrawonga in the Ovens & Murray Football League.[18] Interest in Fevola's presence was a significant financial boon for both Yarrawonga and the O&M in 2012, with an increase in attendances and gate takings across the league compared with previous seasons;[19] such was Fevola's ability to draw a crowd that some rival clubs paid Fevola to play against them in Yarrawonga's away matches.[20] Fevola remained at Yarrawonga for four seasons from 2012 until 2015, kicking 357 goals from 65 matches and being part of back-to-back premierships in 2012 and 2013.[21] He was coach of the O&M's interleague representative team in 2014 and 2015,[22] served as a playing co-coach of Yarrawonga in 2015,[23] and holds the record for most goals in a game at Yarrawonga, kicking 16 goals in a match in late 2014.[24] After this, he played with Deer Park in the Western Region Football League in 2016,[21] Melton South in the Ballarat Football League in 2017 and 2018, Hastings in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League in 2019, and given again for Deer Park in 2021 (having also signed there for the 2020 season which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Throughout his post-AFL career, Fevola also played once-off matches for several local clubs around the country, earning appearance fees which the clubs financed by the large crowds he could draw.[25] Among the clubs was former TANFL club New Norfolk, now in Tasmania's Southern Football League, where in 2012 he drew a record home crowd for the club and kicked eighteen goals to set a new club record;[26] he returned for another game in 2013, this time kicking sixteen goals.[27]

In April 2016, Fevola joined Fox FM to host Fifi, Dave, Fev & Byron with Fifi Box, Dave Thornton and Byron Cooke. Dave Thornton resigned from the show in September 2017 and the show was renamed to Fifi, Fev & Byron. In December 2020, Byron Cooke resigned from the show and was replaced by Nick Cody in January 2021. The show was renamed Fifi, Fev & Nick.

After gaining some weight following the years after his AFL retirement, he joined Jenny Craig and has become an TV ambassador for the brand as a result of his weight loss efforts.

Personal life

Fevola married Alex Cheatham on 7 October 2005 at St John's Church in Toorak. Fevola has two daughters, Leni and Lulu, and is also step-father to Mia (Cheatham's child from a previous relationship).[28] In May 2018, Fevola announced on Fox FM's Fifi, Fev & Byron that wife Alex was pregnant with their third child.[29]

On 12 December 2006 it was announced that they were separated after 14 months of marriage, amid allegations of Fevola's infidelity with an Australian model Lara Bingle.[30] Cheatham stated in a Woman's Day interview that Fevola had become "disconnected" from her following the birth of Leni. Bingle later confessed to the five-week affair, claiming that being from Sydney, she did not know that Fevola was married until she heard his baby in the background during a phone conversation.[31]

Fevola and Cheatham divorced in 2014, however in 2016 it was announced that they were again engaged.[28]

Fevola opened a restaurant, Fellini, in 2007 on Toorak Road, South Yarra.[32] He sold the restaurant in 2010.[33]

Fevola has been noted as studying criminology via correspondence at Griffith University and says that becoming a police officer is a possible career after football.[34][35][36][37][38][39][40]

Fevola has been diagnosed with depression, and underwent 51 days of extensive rehabilitation in 2011; both his agent and manager have associated many of Fevola's antics with his depression.[41]

"When Fevola plumbed the depths, there were some who suggested it was like watching a train wreck. Yes, but a train designed by Norman Bel Geddes, a wreck choreographed by Merce Cunningham, and filmed by Guillermo del Toro."

— Chris McAuliffe[42]

In 2001, he was involved in an attempted theft of jackets from a drycleaners in North Melbourne; he was fined $8000 by Carlton for the incident.[4] On 8 March 2004, he was involved in an incident at Crown Casino; no charges were laid, but he was suspended by Carlton for a week.[43] In 2006 Fevola assaulted a barman during a tour of Ireland in 2006 with the Australian International Rules team, and was sent back to Australia.[44] In March 2008, Fevola was fined $10,000 by the club and stood down from the leadership group after urinating on a window outside a Melbourne nightclub. After this incident, Carlton did not suspend or delist Fevola, saying that taking such action would not assist Fevola in addressing his problems, but he was put on his final warning.[45]

In September 2009, Fevola was fined $10,000 and banned from appearing on the Grand Final Footy Show after behaving inappropriately at the 2009 Brownlow Medal count. Fevola withdrew from the traditional lap of honour by the Coleman Medallist at the 2009 AFL Grand Final and did not attend Carlton's award night.[46] As a result of the incident, he was traded to the Brisbane Lions, and did not return as a panellist on The Footy Show in 2010.

On 2 March 2010, Lara Bingle started proceedings to sue Fevola for breach of privacy, defamation and misuse of her image for the release of a nude photo in Woman's Day released on 1 March 2010;[47] but on 9 April, Fevola was cleared of the charges against him. In September 2010 it was announced that Queensland police had launched a formal investigation into claims that Fevola had flashed a woman at a Brisbane park during a football clinic, but again there were no charges laid;[48] the Brisbane Lions also suspended him independently while it conducted its own investigation into the event.[49]

Early on 1 January 2011, New Year's Day, Fevola was arrested in Brisbane on charges of public nuisance and obstructing police. He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court on 18 January. The Brisbane Lions granted him indefinite leave,[50] before terminating his contract after receiving medical advice.[51]

Gambling issues

In 2010, it became public that Fevola was addicted to gambling, mostly playing poker and punting on horses. He accumulated significant debts from gambling.[52] In a paid interview with the Footy Show in early 2011, Fevola further discussed his addiction, revealing that he spent 65 days in rehabilitation, had lost almost a million dollars gambling, including $365,000 in one day of horse punting, and that his addiction almost drove him to suicide during Christmas 2010.[53]

Media career

Fevola was a regular panellist on The Footy Show on the Nine Network, and was noted for his larrikin persona. His tenure as a panellist ended after his behaviour at the 2009 Brownlow Medal Count, the same event which led to the end of his time at Carlton.[54]

Fevola starred in the second season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, which he won and was crowned King of the Jungle. The prize for taking out the title was $100,000 to be donated to his chosen charity. Felova decided to split the winnings evenly between his chosen charity, Shane Warne Foundation, and series runner-up Paul Harragon's chosen charity, Mark Hughes Foundation.

Best career games

Fevola's best goalkicking haul in an AFL match was nine goals, scored for Carlton against Richmond in 2009. Prior to this, he had scored eight goals on eight separate occasions. In his one season with the Brisbane Lions, Fevola's highest tally was 5.2 (32).

RoundYearTeamOpponentGoalsBehinds
Round 152009CarltonRichmond91
Round 122008CarltonCollingwood86
Round 132004CarltonRichmond85
Round 32008CarltonEssendon84
Round 62009CarltonHawthorn84
Round 192006CarltonHawthorn83
Round 112009CarltonBrisbane83
Round 32007CarltonEssendon82
Round 52003CarltonNorth Melbourne82

In AFL matches outside the premiership season, Fevola's best effort was a haul of twelve goals, scored for Carlton against Collingwood in the 2000 pre-season match known as the Millennium Match; and, he had two other eight-goal hauls in pre-season matches: the 2005 Wizard Cup grand final against West Coast, earning him the Michael Tuck Medal, and in the semi-final of the 2007 NAB Cup against North Melbourne. He scored hauls of eleven and ten goals in matches for Casey during the 2011 VFL season, against Frankston and the Northern Bullants respectively.[14]

Statistics
[55]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Led the league for the season only
Led the league after finals only
Led the league after season and finals
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1999 Carlton 25200022010.00.00.01.01.00.00.5
2000 Carlton 25142629842611054131.92.16.01.97.93.90.9
2001 Carlton 251627251112914062171.71.66.91.88.83.91.1
2002 Carlton 259131159177632101.41.26.61.98.43.61.1
2003 Carlton 2522634521047257112312.92.09.52.111.75.11.4
2004 Carlton 2520664118548233107163.32.19.32.411.75.40.8
2005 Carlton 251949251643319789382.61.38.61.810.44.72.0
2006 Carlton 2521845222640266139234.02.510.81.912.76.61.1
2007 Carlton 2519594116048208100293.12.28.42.510.95.31.5
2008 Carlton 2522995121444258129384.52.39.72.011.75.91.7
2009 Carlton 2523895725146297148503.92.510.92.012.96.42.2
2010 Brisbane Lions 51748251252515058282.81.57.41.58.83.41.6
Career 204 623 402 1789 405 2194 1030 294 3.1 2.0 8.8 2.0 10.8 5.0 1.4

Playing honours

See also
  • List of VFL/AFL players by ethnicity

References
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  2. http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=0-3020-0-0-0&sID=107190
  3. AFL DRAFT 1998 Archived 20 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Noakes, C., and Holmesby, L., The Fevola file Archived 8 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 21 February 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  5. Lyon, K., The Age, "Fevola, Waite lift Blue mood by signing two-year deals", 21 August 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  6. Sydney Morning Herald, "Lloyd Rule to speed up goalkicking", 26 November 2005. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  7. AFL Tables, Carlton Leading Goalkicker. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  8. "Fevola joins Lions' pride". ABC Sport. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  9. Ralph, Jon (8 September 2011). "The real story behind why Brendan Fevola won't be back at Carlton". Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  10. "Blues excited by new-look forward line". Carlton Football Club. 9 October 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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  12. Denham, Greg (20 February 2011). "Troubled Brendan Fevola sacked by the Brisbane Lions". The Australian. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
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  55. Brendan Fevola's player profile at AFL Tables
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