Kouta calls it a day

AndrewG23

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Kouta calls it a day

News
Kouta: a man who changed the game
Tue, Jul 31, 07 CARLTON champion Anthony Koutoufides has announced his retirement, ending a celebrated 278-game career.

Koutoufides, 34, said he had planned to retire at the end of the season, but a degenerative hip injury, aggravated in the 10-point loss to St Kilda on Saturday, forced him to retire early.

"It came as a shock to me, I wanted to play the last five games and to enjoy myself," Koutoufides said.

"It's been a very emotional two days, I didn't sleep very much last night.

"The last five years have obviously been the toughest in my footy career."

Koutoufides has battled injuries since earning Brownlow Medal favouritism in 2000, considered by many to be his finest year.

He won Carlton’s best and fairest award in 2001 but underwent a knee reconstruction at the end of that season and missed most of the following year.

Back and hamstring injuries wrecked the first half of his 2004 season, and he has missed six of 17 games this year.

Koutoufides retires as Carlton’s most celebrated son of the past 12 years. He starred in the Blues’ last premiership side in 1995 and captained the club after collecting the armband from current caretaker coach Brett Ratten and Andrew McKay in 2004 before handing over to Lance Whitnall this year.

He was Carlton’s best and fairest winner in 2001 and 2005, an All-Australian player in 1995 and 2000, and the club’s leading goalkicker in 1997.

Carlton vice-president and former teammate Stephen Kernahan called Koutoufides “one of the finest players of his era”.

“Those 14 games (in mid-2000), I've never seen any other player in my time do the things Kouta did in those games,” Kernahan said.

"He's a giant of this footy club and a giant of the AFL.

"Everyone loves him, he's a fantastic humble champion."

In a Carlton FC statement Koutoufides said the club had been “a second home to me for most of my life”.

“I want to thank the club, the players and all the Carlton people for the wonderful support they have given me during my career,” he said. “I have been very lucky to have been a part of this great club.”

The club said it would retire Koutoufides’ No.43 guernsey for the 2008 season and honour him with a lap of honour before Saturday’s round-18 clash with Collingwood.

Carlton CEO Greg Swann said the entire club was disappointed that Koutoufides’ career had been cut short.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Anthony this year and he is an outstanding person,” Swann said.

“Like everyone involved in football I have known how good a player he has been for many years and we can only imagine how his career may have been if he had not been cruelly cut down by injuries when he was in his prime.”

Koutoufides originally considered a career in athletics before turning to football and working his way through Carlton's under-19s side.


He played for Carlton in the pre-season Foster's Cup in 1991 and made his senior debut the following year at the age of 19.


He was a state under-16 high jump champion, recording a better height at that level than Australian Olympic star Tim Forsyth.
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another star leaves the game.....
 
It's sad to see him go, in his prime he was so awesome to watch... but he has definitely made the right decision and I applaud him for that.
 
An AWESOME player, it will be sad to see him go and it's sad he didn't make AFL life membership (300 AFL games).
 
Richo said:
An AWESOME player, it will be sad to see him go and it's sad he didn't make AFL life membership (300 AFL games).
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surely he would have played enough preseason games to get that - AFL Membership for life is 300 total games preseaosn included :)
 
Kouta wasnt loved by many who didnt support the Navy Blue, but the way he played during 2000, not many players wouldnt havent taken that year... after that injuries really took away his bite and he really struggled through this year. A great Blue over a decade, and he will be missed by their supporters.

The last 1995 Premiership player for the Blues still playing for them as well (Campo is still playing but he is a Bomber now...)
 
come on guys, stop with the immature gay comments :rolleyes:

Kouta was a star in his prime, and SHOULD have won the 2000 Brownlow, Woewodin is the most underserving winner ever..Kouta was easily the best player in the league that year, so whats with this he was average at best?
 
mattyj said:
come on guys, stop with the immature gay comments :rolleyes:

Kouta was a star in his prime, and SHOULD have won the 2000 Brownlow, Woewodin is the most underserving winner ever..Kouta was easily the best player in the league that year, so whats with this he was average at best?
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I agree Matty; about the gay comments, not Woewodin being the most undeserving winner ever.

Over his career Kouta was pretty inconsistent at the start; this was hidden by Carlton's big names of Kernahan, Williams, Madden, Hanna and Ratten, but when the times got harder, Kouta stood up and simply dominated in 2000. I remember watching the game he injured his knee and feeling so sad for him. After that he was still a good player, but that zip that made him a superstar was gone.
 
mattyj said:
come on guys, stop with the immature gay comments :rolleyes:

Kouta was a star in his prime, and SHOULD have won the 2000 Brownlow, Woewodin is the most underserving winner ever..Kouta was easily the best player in the league that year, so whats with this he was average at best?
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I know I'm a Mlebourne supporter, but trust me, I am the biggest critic of Woewoedin there is! But, he was not underserving THAT year. That year he got something like 23 possies a game, lead from the front and was the hardest of our players at the ball. Head always over it and did it all.

Alas every year after that for Melbourne and for Collingwood, he couldn't handle the extra tagging and the extra rough stuff that he recieved because of being a 'Brownlow medallist' and became the pansy assed wanker picking up all the soft footy and being the reciever he finished his career as.

This aside, Kouta, well done on making the most out of your spurts of glitz and cashing in on it ;)
 
Kouta wasnt a bad player. could you imagine if hes knee didnt get injured? but, things happen, hes still a champion to every carlton supporter im sure.

i idled kouta from the first game i saw him play. the number 43 has been on the back of every carlton blues jumper i have owned.
 
i will miss you kouta what a champion player so humble and loyal to carlton

andrewg23 are you going to the game i have to know.
 
steve-o said:
i will miss you kouta what a champion player so humble and loyal to carlton

andrewg23 are you going to the game i have to know.
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the pies V blues? im not sure yet, i have to ask my coach if i can miss my seniors match. hoping i go, should be good.
 
mattyj said:
come on guys, stop with the immature gay comments :rolleyes:

Kouta was a star in his prime, and SHOULD have won the 2000 Brownlow, Woewodin is the most underserving winner ever..Kouta was easily the best player in the league that year, so whats with this he was average at best?
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If you find me calling someone gay an insult then maybe you are homophobic and i find that offensive. :thumbsup:
 
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