James Gordon Krakouer (born 13 October 1958) is a former
Australian rules footballer who played in the 1980s and '90s for
North Melbourne
North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...
and
St Kilda in the
VFL and
Claremont in the
WAFL. He is the father of former
Richmond and
Collingwood AFL player
Andrew Krakouer
Andrew James Krakouer (born 4 February 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Early life
Krakouer is the son of Jim Kr ...
and is renowned for his quickness, skill, courageous play, and his ability to pass to his brother
Phil
Phil may refer to:
* Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names
* Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil"
* Phil, Kentucky, United States
* ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film
* -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root ter ...
from seemingly almost any position. His career, however, has been overshadowed by his extensive criminal history.
Early life in Mount Barker
Krakouer made his senior football debut for North Mount Barker in 1974 at the age of 15, kicking five goals. In September 1974, Jim and a cousin were charged with rape, and despite claiming that the sex was consensual, they were convinced by their lawyer to plead guilty and were sentenced to two years imprisonment, with a six-month minimum. They were incarcerated in a juvenile prison 300 kilometres from Mount Barker in
Bunbury. Upon his release, Krakouer returned to Mount Barker and, despite having missed a third of the football season, won the league's
best and fairest award by five votes. The following year, only three weeks after gaining his
driver's licence
A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public r ...
, he crashed his car into a road worker and was found guilty of dangerous driving causing death and sentenced to 18 months in jail. While in prison, this time near Mount Barker, he was once allowed to play football for North Mount Barker on day release, but this caused outrage in the Albany community.
Claremont career
Krakouer moved to Perth to play for
Claremont in the
WAFL in 1977. At first, he played in the junior Colts team, but by July the league team's poor form had prompted the club president Wal Maskiell to ask that Krakouer be given a game in the league team. He performed well and maintained his position in the side for the rest of the season. In 1978, his brother Phillip joined him at Claremont, and they both had a successful season. Jim was named in the state squad, and Phil scored more goals than any other debutant. Jim made his interstate debut in 1979, a year before Phil. They played their first state game together in 1981, in an 87-point win over South Australia, with Jim and
Gary Buckenara sharing the
Simpson Medal
The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945.
Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players:
*The best pl ...
as best players.
In October 1981, in Jim and Phil's last game for Claremont, they were part of Claremont's WAFL Premiership side, beating the 1980 premiers
South Fremantle.
North Melbourne career
After being pursued by Geelong and North Melbourne, the Krakouer brothers signed with North Melbourne on a three-year contract worth a total of $750,000 ($2,788,132 in 2021 terms). The main reasons for choosing the Kangaroos over Geelong were due to Western Australian football legend
Barry Cable
Barry Thomas Cable MBE (born 22 September 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Considered one of the greatest rovers in the sport's history, he played in 379 premiership games in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL ...
being the North Melbourne coach and the contract payments being guaranteed rather than performance-based.
In their second season in the VFL, Jim and Phil both kicked 44 goals and shared the leading goalkicker award at North Melbourne. Jim was awarded the
Syd Barker Medal for club best and fairest in 1986 and topped the goalkicking again in 1986 and 1988. Phil was the leading goalkicker in 1985 and 1987.
The Krakouer brothers were praised for their highly skilful play and the manner in which they often passed to each other from almost any position. In one match report in 1986, they were referred to as the "
Pelé and
Maradona of the VFL".
Jim Krakouer was named in the
Indigenous Team of the Century
The Indigenous Team of the Century (Australian rules football) was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in the sport. It was announced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first senior-level game played by an indig ...
in 2005.
Criminal convictions
In 1974, Krakouer, at the age of 16, was convicted of rape in Albany Court; despite maintaining the sex was consensual, his lawyer advised him to plead guilty. He was convicted in the same court of driving causing death in 1976.
In 1985, Krakouer was convicted of 26 counts of sexual penetration of a minor, assault, abduction and unlawful imprisonment. Despite being very well paid during his career, Krakouer was a
problem gambler
Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...
and frittered away all of his money. Consequently, Krakouer turned to crime to get by. In 1996, Krakouer was convicted and imprisoned for 16 years for his part in a drug-trafficking scheme transporting
amphetamines
Substituted amphetamines are a class of compounds based upon the amphetamine structure; it includes all derivative compounds which are formed by replacing, or substituting, one or more hydrogen atoms in the amphetamine core structure with sub ...
from Melbourne to Perth. Having served nine years of his sentence, he was released on work release in August 2004. He has also had restraining orders held against him due to his violent behaviour.
[Toohey, Paul (19 May 2004)]
Jim Krakouer: The magic and the mayhem
The Bulletin
See also
*
List of Australian rules football families
Notes
References
*Gorman, Sean (2005); ''Brotherboys: the story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer''; Allan & Unwin
A good case for a Krakouer reunion– The Age, 20 May 2004
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krakouer, Jim
St Kilda Football Club players
North Melbourne Football Club players
Australian people of Polish descent
Syd Barker Medal winners
Australian drug traffickers
Western Australian State of Origin players
1958 births
Living people
Claremont Football Club players
Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football
Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
People from Mount Barker, Western Australia
Australian people convicted of rape
People convicted of manslaughter