Kyal Horsley (born 2 September 1987) is an

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 formerly played for the

Gold Coast Football Club The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

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). Originally from

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, he previously also played with the

Kalgoorlie City Football Club Kalgoorlie City Football Club is an Australian rules football club competing in the Goldfields Football League. The club is based at Sir Richard Moore Sports Complex in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated ...

in the

Goldfields Football League The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Australi ...

(GFL) and the

Subiaco Football Club The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions and known before 1973 as the ''Maroons'', is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAF ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL), where he finished runner-up in the 2011

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

Luke Blackwell Luke Blackwell (born 9 November 1986 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian rules footballer. He formerly played for Carlton in the Australian Football League (AFL), and for Claremont in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) where he ...

. Horsley was drafted by Gold Coast with the second pick in the 2012 Rookie draft, and made his debut for the club in round five of the 2012 season. He was delisted by the club at the end of the 2013 season, after 14 games. Horsley returned to the

in 2014 to captain the WAFL side for the 2014 season. Horsley had a powerful return to the WAFL finishing third in the

count after leading the Lions to their 12th premiership.

Football career

Horsley was born and raised in

, in the

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

region of

. He excelled in a number of sports at junior level, playing A-grade

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, representing Western Australia at hockey at under-15 and under-16 level. Horsley made his debut for the

in 2003, at the age of 16, and won the Mitchell Medal as the best player in the

(GFL) in 2006. Despite wishing to remain in Kalgoorlie, he was recruited to the

in the

(WAFL) in 2007. Horsley made his debut against in round 16 of the 2007 season, kicking two goals and recording 21 disposals, and played a total of 10 reserves games and seven senior games during the season. The following season, he played 21 games mainly as an inside midfielder, winning the '' Football Budgets award for the Best First Year Player, and tying with

Adam Cockie Adam Cockie (born 18 April 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2009 to 2010. Football career Cockie made his senior football debut for ...

for Subiaco's Rookie of the Year award. Horsley made his state debut for

in 2008 against Queensland in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, and also played in the interstate game in 2010. In 2011, he played 23 games, including the grand final loss to , and won the Tom Outridge Medal as Subiaco's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player, as well as finishing runner-up in the

as the best player in the league. Speculated as a likely selection in either the 2011 National draft or the 2012 Rookie draft, Horsley was eventually taken by with the second pick in the Rookie Draft. He had previously been invited to train with , prior to the start of the 2008 season, but was not drafted. Horsley spent the first few rounds of the season with Gold Coast's reserves team in the

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural co ...

(NEAFL), but was elevated from the

rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Rookie listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unless they are e ...

to the senior list after Jarrod Harbrow received a long-term injury. He made his debut the following week against at

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

, replacing the injured Gary Ablett, and recorded 19 disposals and eight tackles. Overall, Horsley played 13 games in his first year, and was considered one of the club's better players throughout the latter half of the season, with ''

The Gold Coast Bulletin The ''Gold Coast Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper serving Australia's Gold Coast region. It is published as ''The Gold Coast Bulletin'' on weekdays and the ''Weekend Bulletin'' at weekends. It is owned by News Corp Australia. History The ...

'' noting that he provided "that dash of maturity so needed in a young club". At the club's Club Champion Awards held at the end of the season, Horsley received both the "Most Professional" award and the "Iron Man" award. He was upgraded to Gold Coast's senior list for the 2013 season in October 2012, during the 2012–13 off-season. Horsley played only senior game during the 2013 season, after rupturing his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL) midway through the season. He was delisted by the Suns at the end of the season, and returned to Perth at the end of the season. Horsley returned to the WAFL with the

where he was announced captain in the pre-season. Horsley recovered from his anterior cruciate ligament injury for Round Four against Peel; kicking the first goal in a 17-point win over the Thunder. He amassed 499 disposals from 19 games on the season as well as leading Subiaco to their 12th WAFL premiership over the East Perth Royals.

References

External links

* *
Kyal Horsley's WAFL statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsley, Kyal 1987 births Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Gold Coast Football Club players Kalgoorlie City Football Club players Living people People from Kalgoorlie Subiaco Football Club players