Candice Warner opens up on Bra Boys drive-by shooting, fear of death and Cricket Australia ‘wiping’ her husband

We all know David Warner was sent home from South Africa for his part in the Sandpapergate saga – but, now, Candice has revealed just what message her husband was given.

Candice Warner has accused Cricket Australia of “wiping” husband David Warner in the wake of the Sandpapergate scandal and trying to freeze him out of representing his country again.

The former Ironwoman champion opened up on The Matty Johns Podcast, revealing she was once at Maroubra Beach at the time of a drive-by shooting, and describing how she could have gone to the 2008 Olympic Games.

Warner has released a new book, Running Strong, in which she also details a traumatic event competing as a 14-year-old at Portsea Beach in Victoria, where she feared for her life and was left scarred by the massive surf for the rest of her career.

In the podcast, Matthew Johns was left stunned by the lack of player welfare Warner says was afforded to her husband, Dave when he was sent home from South Africa for his part in the Sandpapergate fiasco.

“There was no support. Basically from when we left the hotel in South Africa, David was wiped,” Warner said.

“There was no Cricket Australia official helping him. There was nothing. It’s like, ‘basically you fend for yourself now.’

“It was basically fend for yourself, see you later. Thanks for your services … probably, we’re going to do our best for you not to ever come back and play cricket for our country again. We’re going to blame you for everything. And that’s what they did.”

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Candice Warner with husband David

The majority of the podcast focuses on Warner’s own career before she met the cricketing star, as an Ironwoman champion.

Warner reveals how she grew up with the infamous ‘Bra Boys’ gang in the eastern suburbs and considered them ‘brothers.’

Once she was at the beach when a shooting occurred.

“It was really rough, but in saying that, I always felt really safe and really protected. I grew up with most of the Bra Boys. People see them as this gang, but for me, they were just like brothers,” Warner said.

“I was always surfing with them. I was the ultimate Tom Boy. Touch footy on the beach, just hanging out with them.

“I remember there was this one day. I was doing my training and we were running laps of the beach and ‘bang, bang.’ You just heard (the shots) and straight away you just knew. Someone has been shot.

“There was a drive-by shooting and one of our friends had just been shot.

“This is what it was like growing up in Maroubra in the early 90s.”

Warner winning the 2012 Ironwoman series

Warner switched from surf life saving events to swimming in a bid to make the Australian team for the Beijing Olympics.

She fell short of her dream, but Warner has revealed she could have made it to the Olympics – for a different country.

“Prior to (trying to qualify for Australia), I got a letter from the Maltese consulate asking me if I wanted to represent Malta at the Olympics,” Warner said, with her Maltese heritage coming from her father.

“I really considered it. I thought, an opportunity to go to an Olympic Games, how fun. But then I thought, I’d love to represent my own country, or at least give it a crack. So I put that to one side and then things weren’t going great in the Ironwoman Series … so I gave (trying to make the Australian swim team) a really good crack. I trained hard.”

Warner revealed to Johns how Surf Life Saving legend Trevor Hendy helped mentor her during a mentally challenging moment in her career.

She says she was scarred by a scary experience as a 14-year-old in monster surf conditions.

“The waves would have been 10 or 12 foot,” Warner said.

“I actually thought in that moment, ‘this could be it. That’s it. My mum is at the top of the beach. This is the last time she’s going to see her 14-year-old daughter.

“It actually scarred me for the rest of my career.

“At that moment, it was the fear of dying. I was so young.”