Daniel Alan Kerr (born 16 May 1983) is a former
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er who played for the
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...
in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
(AFL). He played 220 games for the club between 2001 and 2013, as a hard-running inside midfielder.
Kerr was born and raised in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. His father
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
also played professional football, while his sister
Samantha
Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain.
Specu ...
plays professional soccer. Kerr was recruited to West Coast with the 18th pick in the
2000 National Draft. He finished runner-up in the
2001 AFL Rising Star, and in 2003, aged 20, won the
Goal of the Year award. Kerr placed in the top three of the
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...
in three consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2007, notably finishing runner-up to teammate
Ben Cousins
Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of ...
in 2005 by a single vote. He played in a premiership
in 2006 (after a
grand final loss the previous year), and was also named in the
2007 All-Australian team. Kerr suffered from injuries later in his career, eventually retiring from AFL football at the end of the
2013 season.
Early life and family
Kerr was born in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, to Roxanne (née Regan) and
Roger Kerr
Roger Lawrence Kerr (17 January 1945 – 28 October 2011), a public policy and business leader, was the executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, a free-market think-tank based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Early life
Kerr gre ...
. His mother was born in Australia, while his father was born to an
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...
family in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
. Roger played professional football in the 1980s, appearing for
East Fremantle
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
in the
WAFL and briefly also for
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
in the
SANFL
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.
Originally formed as the ...
. Kerr's younger sister
Samantha
Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain.
Specu ...
also grew up playing football, but switched to soccer at the age of twelve. Sam grew into one of the world's top players, captaining Australia internationally for
The Matildas and domestically in both the
W-League and the American
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
(NWSL), winning multiple league MVP and Golden Boot titles in both. Kerr and his sister are also more distantly related to two other famous West Australian footballers,
Con Regan
Cornelius John "Con" Regan (30 September 1934 – 11 May 2007) was an Australian rules footballer for the East Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) from 1953 until 1965.
He was the first East Fremantle ...
and
Shaun McManus
Shaun John McManus (born 9 February 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer. He is one of the most popular players to ever represent the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and is often seen as an icon or f ...
.
Kerr attended
Aquinas College, Perth
, motto_translation = Truth ConquersMassam, p. 18
, location = Salter Point, Perth, Western Australia
, country = Australia
, patron = Saint Thomas Aquinas
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = Australia Perth
, pushpin_image ...
, where he met future teammate
Quinten Lynch
Quinten Peter Lynch (born 24 January 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Collingwood Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Grass Patch, a rural farming co ...
and several other future AFL players. He was in the
East Fremantle Football Club
The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle are the ...
's zone as a teenager, although he did not play at senior WAFL level before being drafted. He later played two games for East Fremantle in 2011 and three more in 2013.
Football career
Kerr was selected with the number 18 pick in the
2000 AFL Draft. He won
Goal of the Year in 2003 and was widely known as one of the toughest players in the AFL.
In 2005, Kerr almost provided one of the biggest upsets in
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...
history when he led the count towards the later rounds and finished second to favourite, teammate
Ben Cousins
Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of ...
.
In 2006, he came third in the
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...
count with 22 votes; however, he was ineligible due to a striking charge against Hawthorn's
Sam Mitchell in Round 14. He was also a part of the
Eagles' 2006 premiership side and still managed to receive 20 disposals during the game, despite playing with detached ligaments in his foot.
In August of the same year, the much bigger
Fraser Gehrig
Fraser Gehrig (born 3 March 1976) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL) .
Gehrig was a versatile player during his AFL career, begi ...
, considered to be one of the strongest players in the AFL, tried to palm off a tackle by Kerr, only to have Kerr resist and re-tackle Gehrig, with the result seeing the umpire reward Kerr with a "
holding the ball" decision.
In 2007, Kerr had another great year with the Eagles. He came runner up in the
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...
for a second time in his career, behind
Jimmy Bartel
James Ross Bartel (born 4 December 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, tall and weighing , Bartel contributed as a midfielder, forward, an ...
. His physical strength was further demonstrated in Round 1 against the
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...
when he was able to successfully tackle and take down the far bigger
Barry Hall
Barry Hall (born 8 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is considered to be one of the be ...
in the goalsquare.
Kerr re-signed with the Eagles after weeks of speculation over his future during the 2009 season. In Round 10 of the same season, after an appeal by the Eagles the decision was upheld by the AFL tribunal, Kerr was suspended for one week for striking Carlton's Marc Murphy,.
In 2010, Kerr seriously injured his hamstring in the West Coast Eagles' Round 4 win over
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
, which ended his season. His absence was felt on the field as the Eagles would win only three more games for the season.
Kerr announced his retirement from AFL football in October 2013. The following month, he hinted that he would like to play football again in the
WAFL. Kerr said if he played in the WAFL the following year, it would likely be at a club much closer to his northern suburbs home. However, he eventually decided against returning to the WAFL, but has played country football.
Statistics
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 34 , , 19 , , 7 , , 6 , , 147 , , 149 , , 296 , , 38 , , 67 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 7.7 , , 7.8 , , 15.6 , , 2.0 , , 3.5
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 23 , , 20 , , 10 , , 208 , , 203 , , 411 , , 43 , , 75 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 9.0 , , 8.8 , , 17.9 , , 1.9 , , 3.3
, - style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 21 , , 17 , , 8 , , 203 , , 202 , , 405 , , 54 , , 74 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 9.7 , , 9.6 , , 19.3 , , 2.6 , , 3.5
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 21 , , 13 , , 8 , , 243 , , 173 , , 416 , , 74 , , 68 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 11.6 , , 8.2 , , 19.8 , , 3.5 , , 3.2
, - style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 22 , , 8 , , 12 , , 264 , , 196 , , 460 , , 81 , , 59 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 12.0 , , 8.9 , , 20.9 , , 3.7 , , 2.7
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 21 , , 11 , , 16 , , 233 , , 249 , , 482 , , 61 , , 67 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 11.1 , , 11.9 , , 23.0 , , 2.9 , , 3.2
, - style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 17 , , 8 , , 11 , , 223 , , 238 , , 461 , , 46 , , 61 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 13.1 , , 14.0 , , 27.1 , , 2.7 , , 3.6
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 11 , , 6 , , 2 , , 131 , , 130 , , 261 , , 24 , , 26 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 11.9 , , 11.8 , , 23.7 , , 2.2 , , 2.4
, - style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 11 , , 7 , , 3 , , 76 , , 138 , , 214 , , 7 , , 30 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 6.9 , , 12.5 , , 19.5 , , 0.6 , , 2.7
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 4 , , 1 , , 1 , , 24 , , 54 , , 78 , , 3 , , 12 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 6.0 , , 13.5 , , 19.5 , , 0.8 , , 3.0
, - style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 16 , , 7 , , 8 , , 174 , , 220 , , 394 , , 35 , , 38 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 10.9 , , 13.8 , , 24.6 , , 2.2 , , 2.4
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 24 , , 13 , , 8 , , 291 , , 261 , , 552 , , 56 , , 53 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 12.1 , , 10.9 , , 23.0 , , 2.3 , , 2.2
, - style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 4 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 95 , , 112 , , 207 , , 17 , , 27 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 9.5 , , 11.2 , , 20.7 , , 1.7 , , 2.7
, - class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3, Career
! 220
! 122
! 93
! 2312
! 2325
! 4637
! 539
! 657
! 0.6
! 0.4
! 10.5
! 10.6
! 21.1
! 2.5
! 3.0
Source:
Personal life
In May 2009, Kerr became engaged to his girlfriend of nearly two years, Natasha Pozo. They were married at Aquinas College, Salter Point in January 2010. In 2011, they welcomed their first child, a daughter. They had their second child, another daughter, in 2012. In January 2014, it was announced that Kerr and Pozo had separated. They are now divorced.
In 2017 Kerr and partner Michelle McAtackney welcomed their first child together. This is the first child for McAtackney and third for Kerr.
Off-field controversies
In September 2002, Kerr was involved in a brawl with teammate
Ben Cousins
Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of ...
at a Perth nightclub during the club's end of season celebrations. Later the same night, after Cousins had previously punched Kerr in the face, Kerr then pushed Cousins down a flight of stairs, breaking his arm.
In 2004, Kerr was charged with
forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...
a
prescription. He was given the blank prescription by a person at a party and went to a 24-hour chemist to buy 50
valium
Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, a ...
tablets. The court fined him a total of $400 and made a spent conviction order. He was also fined $5,000 by the club and was required to complete community service throughout the football season.
In mid-2005, Kerr and teammate
Michael Gardiner
Michael Strickland Gardiner (born 5 July 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Albany, Western Australia.
Ga ...
were observed behaving erratically in a nightclub by members of an opposition team following a match. They believed the two had taken illicit drugs while in the toilets.
[https://images.bigfootymedia.com/clubs/west-coast/afl-wce-misconduct-report.pdf ]
In January 2007, Kerr and his father were charged with assault following a party in Perth. Kerr is understood to have been at a farewell party for his sister's friend in
Attadale before trouble erupted shortly after midnight. Reports suggested that Kerr's sister complained about being touched inappropriately by another partygoer and a fight erupted soon after on the street. An 18-year-old man suffered a broken nose and broken tooth. Kerr was charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and was fined $2000 over the attack. His father was also fined after being found guilty of assault.
In February 2007, Kerr was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after an altercation with a
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
driver. He was later arrested again while at a training session, and further charged with
assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
occasioning bodily harm and willful damage. Police prosecutor Gary Flynn told the court Kerr saw the taxi and jumped screaming and shouting onto the boot. The taxi driver got out of his car and was attacked by Kerr, Sgt Flynn said. Kerr's lawyer John Prior said his client had gone out to dinner, "consumed too much alcohol" and "made a crucial bad judgement call". Kerr pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined.
In March 2007, information was released that implicated Kerr and former Eagle
Aaron Edwards
Aaron Edwards (born 2 March 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles, North Melbourne Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Edwards also pla ...
in drug dealing over the phone. His conversations with convicted drug dealer Shane Waters relating to a "big bag of horse chaff" were recorded by police phone taps in 2003.
In September 2007, Kerr was alleged to have abused staff at a Melbourne hotel on the day of the AFLPA awards. His club were informed of the incident, and when they came to check on Kerr at 2pm, he was still in bed. They observed he was hungover and blamed the incident on alcohol rather than drugs.
The West Coast Eagles forced Kerr to start seeing a clinical psychologist at the beginning of 2008, in an attempt to combat his anger management issues and alcoholism.
In April 2010, Kerr was ordered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal to pay $13,125 to teenager Troy Luies, after Luies filed a claim for the injuries he suffered at the Kerr's hands on 14 January 2007. Assessor William Millar awarded Luies compensation for the assault by Kerr, as payment for his hospital bills, lost pay and for trauma suffered.
In November 2014, Kerr was arrested and charged with endangering the lives of two people after he allegedly started a small fire at a house in
Glendalough
Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. ...
. He spent five nights at
Hakea Prison before being released on
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
when his parents paid the $5000 surety.
Kerr was charged with aggravated stalking and breaching a violence restraining order on 19 August 2020. On 16 September 2020 he was charged with historical domestic violence charges. On 17 February 2021 Kerr was charged with criminal damage by fire after a fire damaged the rear of his
Kardinya house. He denied responsibility for the fire, but as he was already on
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
for the previous charges, his bail was revoked.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Daniel
1983 births
Living people
All-Australians (AFL)
Australian people of Anglo-Indian descent
Australian sportspeople of Indian descent
Anglo-Indian people
East Fremantle Football Club players
People educated at Aquinas College, Perth
Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia
West Coast Eagles players
West Coast Eagles Premiership players
Australia international rules football team players
One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players