Full name Adam Heuskes Name Adam Heuskes Years Club | Height/Weight 190cm / 93 kg Place of birth Boronia, Victoria | |
Date of birth (1976-03-20) 20 March 1976 (age 39) Draft 5th overall, 1993 National Draft
Sydney
Zone Selection, 1996 Draft
Port Adelaide Role Australian Rules Footballer | ||
Original team Norwood Football Club | ||
Adam Heuskes (born 20 March 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League most remembered for his on field flamboyance and controversial off-field behaviour, which twice resulted in rape allegations.
Recruited from South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Norwood, Heuskes made his AFL debut in 1994 with the Sydney Swans and immediately attracted attention in the media and the football world for his outrageous hairstylings.
He was traded to Port Adelaide Football Club in 1997, a decision which the Swans later regretted, as Heuskes earned All-Australian selection later that year. Heuskes' attacking flair as a defender set up numerous goals.
For the 1999 AFL season, Heuskes was traded to the Brisbane Lions, where he was a solid contributor during the Lions' 1999 finals campaign. At the end of 2000 his career was over after playing 14 games during the season.
Heuskes later played 31 games for SANFL club North Adelaide before succumbing to an ankle injury in 2005 which forced his retirement from all forms of the game.
Heuskes has a daughter, Tayla, born in 1992, and is married to Nikki Kosmider.
Off-field behaviour and controversy
Heuskes has gained notoriety for incidents involving alcohol, and an inability to maintain self-control. He has twice been accused of raping young women in front of, or with, team mates. Police have been involved in both of these cases, and one woman claims she was paid for her silence. Both women later spoke out in a Four Corners program about sexual assault in AFL
Also known for his flamboyant style, two notable haircuts included the image of the Sydney Opera House shaved into the back of his head, as well as his guernsey number (39). He was also a cross-dresser who appeared on televisions' The Footy Show and Live And Kicking regularly during 1998 and 1999. He once dressed up as Madonna and performed the song Holiday.