56 Facts About Wayne Carey

Wayne Francis Carey was born on 27 May 1971 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Wayne Carey is known for a string of legal problems, which include domestic violence charges and assault convictions.

From 2014, Wayne Carey has worked as a Friday night football commentator and Talking Footy panelist with Channel Seven.

Wayne Carey has written as a columnist for The Age and is a regular fixture on Triple M's The Rush Hour segment called "The Midweek Rub", which has since been spun off as its own podcast.

Wayne Carey had previously worked for 3AW and Channel 9 before being fired for a glassing incident in Miami.

Wayne Carey worked at Channel 7, Triple M and The Age until 2022 when he was sacked from all three roles due to an alleged incident at the Perth Casino.

Wayne Carey then started his own podcast in 2023 called The Truth Hurts; the original co-host was Ayrton Woolley in 2023 and then Tony Sheahan from 2024.

Wayne Francis Carey was born on born 27 May 1971, the son of Kevin and Lynne Carey.

Wayne Carey was one of five children, and he spent his early years in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.

Wayne Carey played rugby league as a junior, and he began playing Australian rules football at the age of eight.

At the age of thirteen, Wayne Carey returned to Adelaide, where he attended The Heights School and played junior football for North Adelaide.

In 1987, Wayne Carey was recruited by North Melbourne after their CEO, Greg Miller, met with the Sydney Swans' football department to discuss the transfer to North Melbourne of John Longmire, a highly regarded junior key-position player.

Wayne Carey made a token offer of $10,000 as a transfer fee, to which the Swans surprisingly agreed.

Wayne Carey was promoted to the senior list prior to the 1989 season and, after recovering from dislocating his left shoulder in a practice match early in the year, made his first appearance for the seniors as an 18-year-old in round 11 of 1989 against Fitzroy.

Wayne Carey had a relatively short but successful State of Origin career, and what he describes as a significant period in his career.

Wayne Carey first played at the game's highest level in 1990 for New South Wales, in a famous win over Victoria, in the side's third-ever win against the state; Wayne Carey scored one goal.

In 1992, playing for South Australia against Victoria, Wayne Carey played an outstanding game, dominating at centre half-forward and kicking two goals, including the match-winner from 55 metres out in the dying moments.

Wayne Carey had four opponents in the game, dominating them all, including Chris Langford, Danny Frawley and Garry Lyon.

Wayne Carey has described this game as the moment he knew he belonged at AFL level, as State of Origin at that time was considered to be the most challenging level of the game.

The 1990s was a decade dominated by forwards, and Wayne Carey dominated his role at centre half-forward more than perhaps any other player in his position before or since.

Wayne Carey was surprisingly quick, both over the ground, and in terms of his decision making and use of the ball.

Wayne Carey won the first of his four North Melbourne best and fairest awards in 1992, and the following year was appointed captain.

In March 2002, Wayne Carey had an extramarital affair with the wife of North Melbourne stalwart and Vice Captain Anthony Stevens, Kelli.

Wayne Carey is quoted as saying Kelli followed him into the toilets in front of a large crowd, including her husband.

In February 2022,20 years after the initial fallout from the affair, Wayne 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.

Wayne Carey's marriage ended in 2006, four years after the incident, while Kelli and Anthony Stevens divorced in 2008, six years after the affair.

Wayne Carey was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2010.

Wayne Carey has been named by many media commentators as the greatest footballer to play the game.

In 1999, Leigh Matthews, who was voted the greatest player of the 20th century, honoured Wayne Carey by saying that he was the best player he had ever seen.

In 2008, Wayne Carey was named as Australian Football's greatest-ever player as part of a list of the top 50 players of all time, published in the book The Australian Game of Football, and he placed third in a similar list put together by a panel of football legends in The Age newspaper the same year.

In 2011, the Herald Sun polled 21 past and present AFL greats, including Wayne Carey, to find the players' opinion as to the greatest player of the AFL era.

Wayne Carey topped the list, polling 85 of a possible 100 votes, 26 votes ahead of second-placed Gary Ablett Sr.

In early 2005, Wayne Carey agreed to assist former coach and mentor Denis Pagan at the Carlton Football Club, acting voluntarily as a part-time skills coach.

Wayne Carey worked as a commentator and host of shows on the Fox Footy Channel throughout the 2006 season.

In 2009, Wayne Carey was approached in a confidential meeting with influential North Melbourne board member Ron Joseph to return to the club as coach in a succession plan which involved Malcolm Blight.

Wayne Carey confirmed this when queried by noted football journalist Damian Barrett in May 2021.

Wayne Carey has had a string of scandals besides the aforementioned extramarital affair with Anthony Stevens' wife.

In 1997, Wayne Carey pleaded guilty to indecent assault after grabbing a passing woman's breast on a Melbourne city street after 12 hours of drinking with teammates.

Wayne Carey allegedly told her, "Why don't you get a bigger pair of tits".

Wayne Carey later settled out of court when the woman filed a civil suit against him.

In 2000, Wayne Carey provided character evidence for Jason Moran, an infamous gangster who was murdered in Melbourne's gang war.

In 2004, while holidaying with his then wife, Wayne Carey was subject to arrest for a misdemeanour battery report while holidaying in Las Vegas.

Wayne Carey was placed in custody for one night then released.

Wayne Carey again became the subject of public comment in February 2006 when he announced he was leaving his pregnant wife Sally for model Kate Neilson.

Subsequently, US security guard Kyle Banks told the Nine Network's A Current Affair he saw Wayne Carey attacking Neilson while working at the exclusive W Hotel in New York City in October 2006.

On 27 January 2008, Wayne Carey was arrested after reports of a disturbance at his Port Melbourne apartment.

Wayne Carey faced up to fifteen years in jail and 30,000 fines.

Additionally, Wayne Carey was fired from commentary jobs at 3AW and the Nine Network following the coverage of the two arrests.

Ultimately Wayne Carey pleaded guilty to assaulting and resisting Miami police.

In March 2008, Wayne Carey publicly revealed he was, for a long period, an abuser of alcohol and cocaine.

Wayne Carey was interviewed by Andrew Denton on Enough Rope, where he talked candidly about his life and recent controversies.

Wayne Carey was attempting to visit Barwon Prison in February 2012 to speak to indigenous inmates as part of a mentoring program; however, he was found to have traces of cocaine on his clothing following a routine drug scan.

Wayne Carey was informed that he could enter the prison if he submitted to a strip search.

On 1 September 2022, according to numerous sources, including The Herald Sun and The Age, Wayne Carey was gambling when a Ziploc bag of white powder fell onto a gaming table.

Wayne Carey denied the substance was illegal, claiming it was a "crushed-up anti-inflammatory".

Wayne Carey was issued with a "withdrawal of license" notice, which means he cannot attend Crown properties for two years.