Neil Kerley
| Neil Kerley | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Donald Neil Kerley | ||
| Nickname(s) | Knuckles King Kerley Kerls |
||
| Date of birth | 20 February 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Barmera, South Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Barmera | ||
| Height / weight | 182 cm / 90 kg | ||
| Position(s) | Ruckman, Utility | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1952–63 | West Adelaide | 155 (87) | |
| 1964–66 | South Adelaide | 56 (0) | |
| 1967–69 | Glenelg | 55 (36) | |
| Total | 265 (123) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| South Australia | 32 (?) | ||
| International team honours | |||
| 1968 | Australia | ||
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1961–62 1981–84 1992–93 1964–66 1967–76 1977–80 1988–90 1967, 1970–1972 1975, 1977–1980 1984 |
West Adelaide South Adelaide Glenelg West Torrens Central District Representative South Australia |
182 (97–84–1) 66 (48–18–0) 223 (142–81–0) 89 (42–46–1) 68 (36–31–1) |
|
| Total | 628 (365–260–3) | ||
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1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1969.
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| Career highlights | |||
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SANFL
Representative
Overall Coaching
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SANFL
Representative
Overall
Coaching
Donald Neil Kerley OAM (born 20 February 1934 in Barmera, South Australia) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. Known to his mates as either Neil or Knuckles and to South Australian football fans as King Kerley or simply "Kerls", he is best known for taking three clubs to four South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premierships over three decades as both a player and coach and for playing 32 state games for South Australia. Despite his first name being Donald, it was his mother Lillian's strong dislike of shortening Christian names that led everyone calling him Neil and not Don or Donald from an early age.
Kerley, who started his senior footballing career with Barmera in the Riverland Football League in 1948 at the age of 14, played mostly in the SANFL between 1952-1969. A Norwood supporter as a young boy growing up on a fruit block in Barmera in South Australia's Riverland, Kerley left home less than a year later and headed north on his motorbike for two years, working as a Jackeroo on cattle stations.
When he turned 18 in 1952 Kerley was called up for National Service where he was based at the Woodside Barracks in the Adelaide Hills. While there he was invited by a friend to attend a Norwood game. The Redlegs, as Norwood has been known since 1878, had heard of Kerley's football skills but Neil was not impressed with the reception he received from the club and when West Adelaide approached him a week later he agreed to play for the club.
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