Not to be confused with Denan Kemp

Denan Kemp

Denan Kemp is an Australian professional rugby footballer who currently plays rugby league for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League . A speedy winger, he has previously played in the NRL for the Brisbane Broncos and the New Zealand Warriors before a brief stint in rugby...

.

Dean Kemp (born 17 February 1969 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

) is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played for the West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

 in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

.

Recruited from Subiaco

Subiaco Football Club

The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...

 in the Western Australian Football League, Kemp made his AFL debut in Round 1 of the 1990 AFL season

1990 AFL season

Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1990.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 154...

 in a 46-point win at Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...

 against eventual premiers Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

. He played 23 games (including all four finals) and won West Coast's Rookie of the Year Award.

In 1992 he played in West Coast's Premiership team and earned All-Australian selection as well as West Coast's best and fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

 award.
In 1994 he played in the side's second premiership team and won the Norm Smith Medal

Norm Smith Medal

The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match.-History:The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach, Norm Smith...

 for best on ground.

He was selected in the 1996 Team of the Decade for the Eagles. In 2001 he was made co-captain with Ben Cousins

Ben Cousins

Benjamin Luke "Ben" Cousins is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his 270-game career with and in the Australian Football League ....

, but retired later that season. Kemp suffered numerous concussions during his career, including one resulting from a savage hit from Mark Ricciuto

Mark Ricciuto

Mark Anthony Ricciuto is a former Australian rules football player, who played for the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League...

, and his career was ultimately shortened somewhat by the effects of these numerous concussions.

Kemp was an outstanding midfielder who surprisingly never polled well in the Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 count, polling only 53 career votes, with a season best of 13 in 2000. A reason put forward for this is that Kemp was not a flashy ball carrier type player. Rather, on gaining possession of the ball, would quickly and effectively dispose of it to a teammate.

He was also particularly good playing in the wet, rarely fumbling the greasy ball. He enjoyed a successful career after he was drafted at number 117 in the 1989 draft. The lateness of his selection in the draft is frequently highlighted to argue that late draft picks can still prove themselves to be star players.

Kemp was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame

Australian Football Hall of Fame

The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...

 in 2007.

External links

• Career statistics at AFL Tables