Daniel Kerr

Roger played professional football in the 1980s, appearing for East Fremantle in the WAFL and briefly also for Port Adelaide in the SANFL.

Kerr's younger sister Samantha also grew up playing football, but switched to soccer at the age of twelve.

Sam grew into one of the world's top players, captaining Australia internationally for The Matildas and domestically in both the W-League and the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), winning multiple league MVP and Golden Boot titles in both.

Kerr and his sister are also more distantly related to two other famous West Australian footballers, Con Regan and Shaun McManus.

Kerr attended Aquinas College, Perth, where he met future teammate Quinten Lynch and several other future AFL players.

He was in the East Fremantle Football Club's zone as a teenager, although he did not play at senior WAFL level before being drafted.

Daniel Alan Kerr (born 16 May 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Kerr was recruited to West Coast with the 18th pick in the 2000 National Draft.

Kerr was selected with the number 18 pick in the 2000 AFL Draft.

He has retrospectively been cited by multiple sources as among the top five players to emerge from the draft.

He played 220 games for the club between 2001 and 2013, as a hard-running inside midfielder.

Kerr was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia.

His father Roger also played professional football, while his sister Samantha plays professional soccer.

He finished runner-up in the 2001 AFL Rising Star, and in 2003, aged 20, won the Goal of the Year award.

He went on to make his senior debut for West Coast against Geelong in round 1 of the 2001 AFL season and played 19 games in total in his debut season.

He was the recipient of the AFL Players Association award for best first-year player.

Kerr won Goal of the Year in 2003, aged 20, for a five-bounce running goal in the Western Derby against Fremantle.

He received a handpass at left half-back before weaving his way through several opponents and converting from 45 metres.

Kerr placed in the top three of the Brownlow Medal in three consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2007, notably finishing runner-up to teammate Ben Cousins in 2005 by a single vote.

Kerr was considered one of the leading members of the West Coast Eagles midfield that led the team to back-to-back grand finals in 2005 and 2006, together with Ben Cousins and Chris Judd.

The shortest member of the trio at 178 cm, he was known for his physical strength and tackling ability.

In 2005, Kerr led the Brownlow Medal count towards the later rounds and ultimately finished runner-up to Cousins.

He played in a premiership in 2006 after a grand final loss the previous year, and was also named in the 2007 All-Australian team.

In 2006, he came third in the Brownlow Medal count with 22 votes; however, he was ineligible due to a striking charge against Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell in Round 14.

He was also a part of the Eagles' 2006 premiership side and still managed to receive 20 disposals during the game, despite playing with detached ligaments in his foot.

He received three votes in the Norm Smith Medal for the best player in the ground.

He was among the best on ground in the team's narrow three-point win in the semi-final against Carlton, the club's first finals win since the 2006 grand final.

During the year he fractured several vertebrae in his spine after a heavy hit from Nathan Lovett-Murray.

During the 2007 season, Kerr again polled in the top two of the Brownlow Medal, although he was again ineligible to win due to a suspension.

He did win the 2007 Geoff Christian Medal as the best player in Western Australia and was also named in the 2007 All-Australian team.

Following the departure of Cousins and Judd at the end of 2007, and the twilight of other veterans like Michael Braun and Chad Fletcher, Kerr was widely acknowledged as the leader of West Coast's midfield.

Signing a contract extension in 2008, he stayed with the club during a period which saw the club miss the finals for three consecutive years for the first time and receive its first wooden spoon.

In 2010, Kerr suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in round four against Essendon.

After his retirement he stated: "I was able to play football to a reasonable level which allowed me to play in the team, but ever since I did my hamstring I was never the same player I was before that"

He later played two games for East Fremantle in 2011 and three more in 2013.

Kerr was cited as a major influence in West Coast's resurgence in 2011, recording career-high averages for contested possessions, clearances and inside-50s despite limited game-time due to injuries.

Kerr suffered from injuries later in his career, eventually retiring from AFL football at the end of the 2013 season.

He has been convicted of a number of criminal offences both during and after his football career, culminating in his imprisonment for arson in 2021.

Kerr was born in Perth, Western Australia, to Roxanne (née Regan) and Roger Kerr.

His mother was born in Australia, while his father was born to an Anglo-Indian family in Calcutta.