What do Australians mean when they say 'He came a gutsa'?

What does it mean to 'Come a gutsa'? I think I may have the Australian spelling right.

Solution 1:

The term gutser (variously spelled gutzer, gutsa) is documented by Eric Partridge in The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: A-I.

A gutser is Australian slang for a heavy fall, or figuratively any abject failure. Partridge attests it at least as long ago as 1918. He provides several literary examples:

• That slacked the chain. Prindy took a flying leap over the edge. He probably wouldn’t have heard Coon-Coon yell, ‘You treacherous little bastard!’ With both chains tautening, what began as a dive ended with a gutser.
  —Xavier Herbert, Poor Fellow My Country, p. 978, 1975

• Anyhow, if the little tart what gave me the info about Annie’s place connects me with any reprisal against her bludger, then all our plans will have come a gutzer!
  —Lance Peters, The Dirty Half-Mile, p. 289, 1979

• If you’re planning to spring any sort of gutzer here tonight, your missus’ll be the first to get it!
  —[ibid., p. 151]

• Patrick said that if they come a gutsa, the money is there to render assistance, and if no one is injured the money jackpots.
  —Roy Slaven (John Doyle), Five South Coast Seasons, p. 68, 1992

• He thinks the horse is doped. But after the race we’ll see what a good judge he is. Christ I hope he comes a gutser.
  —Clive Galea, Slipper, p. 212, 1988

[emphasis added]

Perhaps the older term come a cropper influenced the coining of the one in question. Come a cropper is an older UK term that made the leap to Australia at least by 1927 according to Partridge. It has nearly same meaning: to fall or fail badly. The word cropper apparently derives from the equestrian term crupper, the horse’s hindquarters, and come a cropper originally meant to fall off the back of the horse.

It is also worth noting that gutser is also attested as New Zealand slang for a heavy eater (also from Partridge), i.e., someone with a big gut. It’s natural to wonder whether the NZ slang is related. After all, we refer to a person’s heavy fall or abject failure using the figurative language falling on his face (or ass). Falling on one’s gut is equally evocative, and gutser may have developed in an analogous way to face-plant.