Corey McKernan

Corey McKernan (born 19 December 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Carlton Blues in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual Premiership player a one time All Australian at North Melbourne and one time club best and fairest winner and leading goal kicker at Carlton, McKernan was, at one time considered to be one of very best players in the country.

McKernan grew up in Melbourne's western suburbs and was recruited to North Melbourne from Westmeadows Football Club in the Essendon District Football League as a 197 cm, 105 kg mobile ruckman, prior to the 1993 AFL season. In his first season at AFL level, he played just one game, a loss to St Kilda in round 17.

The following year, 1994, McKernan had an impressive start to his AFL Career, after being elevated by coach Denis Pagan to the starting line up. He quickly gained a reputation as a mobile and agile ruckman who was a strong over head mark and potent part-time forward. At the end of the season he polled the most votes in the Norwich Rising Star award, but was ineligible to win the award due to a suspension he received earlier in the year.

After another solid season in 1995 in which he continued to improve, McKernan took his game to new level in 1996. Alternating between the ruck and forward line, McKernan was dominant, often turning games with his high leap, ability to regularly take contested marks and long kicking. Not to be overshadowed by his superstar captain Wayne Carey, at season's end the AFL Players Association awarded him with the Most Valuable Player award (now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy). Disappointingly for McKernan however, history repeated itself in 1996 when he polled the equal-most votes in the games highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal, but was ineligible to win the medal due to an earlier suspension that season. North Melbourne went on to win the 1996 AFL Premiership, with McKernan typically magnificent in the Grand Final against Sydney, recording a career high 29 disposals in the Grand Final. To add to his list of honours, McKernan was named as first ruck in the All-Australian team and some experts had him ahead of teammate Carey as the best player in the league.