Damian Cupido (2000 - 2002)

[Grimreepah]

Pick 6 in the 1999 National Draft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_AFL_Draft)

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/4286/damiancupido.jpg

Merrett-Murray Medal results:

2000: =31st (3 votes)
2001: =27th (5 votes)
2002: -

[Grimreepah]

9lAfCFmJN44&feature=youtube_gdata

[Grimreepah]

Bio (http://www.aussierulesinternational.com/home/world/africa/south-africa/damian_cupido)

Born in South Africa in 1982, Cupido grew up in Australia. He showed early promise when drafted by Brisbane but inconsistency saw him traded to Essendon, where he at times was becoming a star as a small forward, peaking in 2003.

But inconsistency returned, along with perceived laziness and injury, and he was de-listed at the end of 2005. In 2006 he played for South Adelaide in the SANFL, then moved to West Adelaide in 2007.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9599/cupido2.jpg

Bio (http://www.essendonfc.com.au/team/player-past.asp?id=1079)

Damian Cupido had outstanding skills and an ability to kick goals, but his AFL career was short-lived.

He represented Victoria at U16 level in 1997 and 1998. The following year he toured Ireland with an AFL/AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) squad and was Victoria's leading goalkicker at the 1999 All-Australian Carnival.

Cupido was Brisbane Lions' first draft pick (6th overall) when he was picked up by them in 1999 and made his debut for the Lions in Round 13, 2000 kicking two goals against Sydney and finishing the season with six games. He played a further seven games in 2001 but injured his shoulder and was unable to find his way back into the classy Brisbane premiership side. His shoulder problems kept him out of AFL action for all of 2002 and after 13 games with Brisbane, Cupido was picked up by Essendon, the team he followed as a boy.

Career statistics (http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players/D/Damian_Cupido.html)

[Grimreepah]

An ode to footy's untamed (http://www.backpagelead.com.au/afl/4679-an-ode-to-footys-untamed)
Murray Middleton
27 July 2011 10:05

Cupido was the first South-African-born person to play in the AFL. He was selected by the Brisbane Lions with the sixth pick in the 1999 national draft. Despite making an eye-catching debut, he was traded to Essendon after playing just 13 games in three seasons.

The Bombers held high hopes for Cupido. He was quick, evasive, possessed clean hands and a deadly left foot. A lack of endurance meant that he was confined to playing in the forward line. His best season came in 2003 when he kicked 36 goals, including five superb goals in the ANZAC day clash. After the match Kevin Sheedy and Peter Jackson hugged him and famously remarked, ‘Welcome to Essendon!’ Cupido’s 2004 season was ruined by a knee injury.

In 2005 he was dropped to the Bendigo Bombers’ reserves. He was delisted at the end of the season. Neither Leigh Matthews nor Kevin Sheedy – two of the game’s most revered coaches – managed to harvest Cupido’s talent. When quizzed about Cupido, Sheedy once remarked, ‘He has wasted Brisbane’s time and he has wasted Essendon’s time and he will waste his own time now.’

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/9599/cupido2.jpg

[Grimreepah]

September 12, 2003 (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/11/1063268514650.html?from=storyrhs)

Brisbane's recruiting manager Kinnear Beatson recalls the "game-busting appeal" and breathtaking skills of a gifted 16-year-old whose precocious ability may not, nevertheless, have worked to his long-term benefit. "I don't think Eastern did him any favours there because they played him as a goalkicking leading forward for probably longer than they should have," Beatson said. "They only played him half-back for about a game-and-a-half, and discovered they couldn't kick goals without him playing forward, which, I think, curtailed his development . . .."

Walls, whose son Daniel also played with the Ranges, was another who watched with interest. "He was an absolute standout as far as talent goes, but the question marks were application, training hard, (dealing) with the disciplines of a footy team," said Walls. "Up in Brisbane, I think there was a feeling that he didn't work hard enough, and that's probably right because he was just a natural talent. I also think that had he been anywhere else, he would have got more games just on his talent. But Brisbane was in that wonderful position where, unless you'd earned a game, you weren't going to get one."

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9599/cupido2.jpg

[Grimreepah]

SALARY CAP FORCES BOMBERS TO TRADE (http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/email-trade.html)
28 October 2002"I had a year to run on my contract so I obviously thought I was going to be in Brisbane but then I heard I was up for trade," Cupido said. "I had barracked for Essendon all my life so I wasn't that unhappy about it. When I head the deal had been done… well, I'm just absolutely stoked."

Cupido headed to Brisbane after the Lions took him with their sixth selection in the 1999 National Draft. He made his AFL debut in 2000 and played six games that year and after seven games in 2001 he looked to be a star in the making.

However a severe shoulder injury sidelined him for eight weeks - he managed to recover in time to play in Brisbane's AFL Queensland premiership side. Another shoulder operation at the beginning of 2002 saw him miss a chunk of last season and he was unable to break into the Brisbane side late in the season.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9599/cupido2.jpg

[Grimreepah]

Talent-to-burn Cupido's career turns to ashes (http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/talenttoburn-cupidos-career-near-extinguished/2005/12/12/1134236003732.html)
By Jake Niall
December 13, 2005

If it seems extraordinary that the system could spurn a young man with such blatant talent, Cupido is not making excuses. In his mind, the fault did not lie with the stars, with Leigh Matthews or Kevin Sheedy the coaching legends who were unable to harness his gifts.

"I'm disappointed in myself, not the system," Cupido said last night. "It's a cut-throat system. I know I haven't made the correct sacrifices to be on an AFL list."

It transpired that the one physical gift Cupido was denied, endurance, happened to be the trait that required the hardest yakka. "I've never been a so-called endurance athlete," Cupido explained, adding that it took a "massive amount of work" to get his fitness to the required level.

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/5227/cupido.jpg

[Grimreepah]

Link (http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/local/news/news-features/damian-cupido-on-football-gambling-and-that-anzac-day/1811990.aspx) ....

WHEN Damian Cupido remembers his five years and 53 games as an AFL footballer, he speaks of an intoxicating time full of money, fame and adrenalin.
“The AFL system is an unrealistic world totally unlike how things work for average people in their day-to-day lives,” Cupido says.
“You live in a bubble where people are employed to make your life as easy as possible so you can play the best footy you can.
“You’re young with more money than you know what to do with and you feel on top of the world.
“And then, suddenly, it can all be gone.”

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/7241/cupido2p.jpg

[Grimreepah]

Emma Quayle (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/07/1038950234383.html)
December 08 2002

Having moved north as a 17-year-old who loved football but had no particular care for the thought of playing it so far from his family, the Croydon boy struggled to settle in, and estimated he moved five times in the past two years.

"I used to think, when I moved to Brisbane, that I'd be up there for three or four years and try to come back. You don't live your life up there like that, but it was something that I probably had sitting in the back of my mind all the time," he said.

"I probably didn't handle it all that well. What was hard was when the club was doing so well and you're in rehab, and you have to keep the happy smile on your face," Cupido said. "You have to pretend to be bubbly and act like you're enjoying yourself, when really it is tearing you to bits.

"I would have liked to have got a spot in the side up there just to prove that I can do it, but with the way it works out I'm here now and it will be good for me to completely start over again. It's not about me coming here and proving Brisbane wrong, it's coming here to prove that Essendon's right."

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9599/cupido2.jpg

[Jubair]

I wonder if he is still playing with West Adelaide these days? I think recent years draftees appreciate the chance they are given to play AFL football a lot more compared to the draftees of that era. There were a lot of top talent who just didnt make it because they didnt have the work ethic required. The draftees coming in these days, most are better prepared then 10 or 15 years ago.

I think Sheeds summed it up beautifully when he said that he wasted our time, he wasted Essendon's time and now he is wasting his own time.

[jackess]

He struggled in the SANFL, put on weight and had a gambling addiction. As far as I'm aware he's playing country footy in Victoria.

I played cricket against him a few seasons ago. A handy swing bowler and lower order batsmen.

[Pancho Gonzales]

Last I knew he was trying to come back to Melbourne to play in the Eastern Football League, but wasn't able to get clearance from his country team.

[windyhill]

I`ve watched football since 1973- and have never seen a bigger talent wasted. So disappointed in Cupes, just a magnificent footballer.

[Bobby Beecroft]

I`ve watched football since 1973- and have never seen a bigger talent wasted. So disappointed in Cupes, just a magnificent footballer.

Completely agree, such a shame.
Even at local level at Croydon this year, the last 6 games he really did light it up. Given your locality WH did you happen to see him at all in 2011?

[Grimreepah]

I was losing $1K a week on races, Damian Cupido reveals (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/i-was-losing-1k-a-week-on-races-damian-cupido-reveals/story-e6frf9jf-1225759369087)

David Hastie
From: Sunday Herald Sun
August 09, 2009 12:00AM

He said leaving Adelaide, where he had been playing football in the SANFL, was the only way to "be healthy again".He arrived in Melbourne on Monday and is staying with his parents at their Croydon home.
Cupido said he began punting 2 1/2 years ago after moving to Adelaide to continue his football career.
"Two-and-a-half years ago, I didn't know how to put a bet on," Cupido said. "I didn't know what to back, didn't have a clue, didn't want to go into a TAB.
"I just got into it. I forgot how, I just did. Now it's got to a stage where I'm up over my head and I can't continue living the lifestyle that I have been because it's going down a path that I don't want to go down."

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2464/cupidot.jpg

[Lace Out]

Took the best one-handed mark I've ever seen.

[Donkson]

I loved this guy, showed some awesome glimpses.

[Paul D]

Completely agree, such a shame.
Even at local level at Croydon this year, the last 6 games he really did light it up. Given your locality WH did you happen to see him at all in 2011?

He certainly did, goal stats here (http://www.sportingpulse.com/team_info.cgi?action=PSTATS&client=1-722-12984-153576-14693671&pID=192573280&pname=Damian%20Cupido&news_task=DETAIL).

[vast]

What a talent he was, I remember him kicking 50 meter bombs on either side. Had a good year in 2003 and then fell away so quickly.