Warwick Capper rubs his hands together and laughs maniacally, flashing a mouth full of new, luminous teeth.
“This is gonna be the best day of your lives,” the inimitable Capper declares to the AFL Record crew.
The flamboyant former Sydney Swans star can’t contain his child-like excitement because we’re taking him back to Waverley Park for the first time in over 30 years. The first time since the 1987 qualifying final against Hawthorn, when Capper achieved his two greatest individual highlights: becoming a century goalkicker, and taking his self-proclaimed “Mark of the Universe”.
Earlier, we’d met Capper at the multi-million dollar home he shares with his longtime partner, fiancée Lisa. We were led down into Capper’s man cave – a shrine to his football career and celebrity – where Capper set the tone with a barrage of one-liners.
Our shamelessly vain host held aloft a bottle of Capper-brand shiraz and announced: “I’m ageing better than this fine wine.”
Capper’s vintage is 1963, making him 56. “But I only look 36,” he says. He openly admits to having minor facial work especially for our photoshoot, explaining: “People expect ‘The Wiz’ to look good – and I haven’t let them down yet.”
Capper thinks of himself as both the greatest marking and marketing machine in footy history. And he isn’t done yet. He’s the face of a gym, eateries including Capper’s Big and Tasty Food Diners, an accounting firm, a butcher’s shop ...
