Roger Alan Kerr (born 18 December 1960) 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 ...

player and coach. He played senior football for and in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), including the 1985 premiership with East Fremantle, and 24 games with in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), including the 1988 premiership. He later coached WAFL side .

Early life

Kerr was born in Calcutta in 1960 to Coral Beryl and Denzil Mowbray Kerr. His Anglo-Indian parents were also born in Calcutta. His father was a metallurgist and represented Bengal as a featherweight boxer, while his mother played basketball. The family immigrated to Australia in 1969, settling in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Western Australia.

Playing career

Kerr made his senior debut for East Fremantle during the 1981 WAFL season. He was a "quick, lively rover with good skills and keen goal sense", although he suffered from injuries and was occasionally inconsistent. Kerr had a breakout season in 1984, kicking 31 goals from 23 games and playing in the grand final loss to

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

. He played only five games the following year, but this included the grand final victory against Subiaco, a game he started on the interchange bench. In 1987, Kerr kicked 36 goals from 23 games and placed fourth in the Sandover Medal, only two votes behind the winner Mark Watson. He recorded the fifth-highest disposal count during the season. In 1988, Kerr moved to the SANFL to play for Port Adelaide, kicking 23 goals from 24 games and playing in the grand final victory over Glenelg, his second premiership. He again began the game on the interchange bench. Kerr returned to the WAFL in 1989, playing four further games with East Fremantle to bring his total to 85 senior WAFL games with the club. He also played one game against Richmond in the 1985 AFC Night Series. He finished his career with Perth, kicking 19 goals from 16 games across 1990 and 1991.

Coaching career

Kerr coached the colts (under-19) team for three years from 2002 to 2004, which included two premierships, before being appointed senior coach of for the

2008 WAFL season The 2008 WAFL season was the 124th season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League, and was completely dominated by Subiaco, who not only recorded their first hat-trick of premierships but achieved a dominance over the r ...

. He was sacked after round six of the 2009 season after Claremont lost their first five games.

Family

His daughter, Sam Kerr, has represented the

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

(the Australian women's soccer team), was named MVP of the

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 ...

in the USA in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and was the Young Australian of the Year in 2018. His son, Daniel Kerr, played football for the West Coast Eagles 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).

References

External links

WAFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Roger 1960 births Australian people of Anglo-Indian descent Australian sportspeople of Indian descent Australian people of English descent Claremont Football Club coaches East Fremantle Football Club players Living people Sportspeople from Kolkata Anglo-Indian people Sportsmen from Western Australia Port Adelaide Football Club administrators Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia