Steven Da Rui is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 in the Victorian/Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL/AFL).

Da Rui, the son of Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 immigrants, played his early football at St Marks before joining WAFL

West Australian Football League

The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...

 club East Perth

East Perth Football Club

The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...

. Although used mainly as a half back flanker, he had perhaps his best season in 1986 when he played as a ruck-rover.

He was picked up by Carlton for the 1987 season but didn't feature in the seniors, instead spending the year in the reserves and winning a premiership. Da Rui became a regular in Carlton's VFL team in 1988 and participated in 20 games, including three finals. In the preliminary final

Preliminary finals

Preliminary final is an Australian term referring to a game in a knockout tournament or bracket whose winner progresses to the final or championship game...

, he was involved in an incident with Steven O'Dwyer

Steven O'Dwyer

Steven O'Dwyer is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the VFL/AFL.A redheaded lanky ruckman, O'Dwyer won the 1988 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal for Melbourne's best and fairest player, helping the club reach their first Grand Final since 1964...

 which saw the Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

 player miss the grand final

AFL Grand Final

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...

 through suspension. He represented Western Australia in their 1990 State of Origin

Interstate matches in Australian rules football

Australian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition and international matches meant that football games between state representative teams were...

match against Victoria.