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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-07-06 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Kerley, Mr D.N.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:20): The Riverland is again saddened by the recent loss of another football great—first Russell Ebert and now Donald Neil Kerley. Neil was a great South Australian who left us with a lasting legacy. He will continue to inspire many.

Having met Neil many times, he showed how one person's determination could succeed in all elements of one's chosen sport. Neil, the second child of six, grew up on a fruit block in Loveday and started his footballing career with Barmera in the RFL at the age of 14 in the late forties. His father worked as a guard at the Loveday internment camp. Most recently, with his wife, Barbara, he returned to the club last year for its centenary celebration and had the big crowd in stitches with tales of his footballing days.

His 275-game SANFL playing career began with West Adelaide, and he played his first game of league football for West Adelaide at the age of 19 in 1953. Within three years, he was the club captain, having already won the first of four West Adelaide Best and Fairest awards. He established himself as a key member of the South Australian interstate team. He was captain from 1959 until 1962, and then was coach in 1961, when he went on to take home the 1961 premiership. From there, Neil went to South Adelaide, taking them from the bottom of the table to a premiership win in just over one year.

Amongst his other numerous achievements, Neil was also appointed as the South Australian State of Origin coach in 1979, 1980 and 1984. He was inducted into the South Australian Hall of Fame in 2002 and the South Australian Sport Hall of Fame in 2019. Some say that what Ted Whitten was to footy in Victoria, Neil Kerley was to football in South Australia. Growing up, I remember him coaching at Glenelg and leading the club into the 1973 premiership.

As a junior footballer, I had a lasting impression at training one evening. I listened to his advice, and it is something that has stuck with me forever. His advice was, 'You've got to be out in front and then you've got control of the football.' I remember him pointing to one of my schoolmates, saying, 'You're a star in the making, young fellow,' and he was right. That person was Stephen Kernaghan. On a personal note, I have caught up with Stephen over a number of social outings and we laugh about the incident over many, many glasses of wine.

Neil Kerley was an icon of South Australia and recognised across the country. I have always looked up to him as a footballer and I continue to admire him as a community leader. As a constituent, I met with Neil many times, particularly at his beloved Swan Reach Golf Club. His passion for the community was as strong as ever.

More recently—as a bit of a story—they would talk about 'Kerls's corner', and that Kerls's corner was established at the first hole of the Swan Reach Golf Club, where he fell over cutting down a tree. He broke his hip and was still giving orders on the stretcher. He played golf there on almost a daily basis. As he said: it is always nice to finish a round with a glass of red.

I must say that Neil continued to display great leadership and great iconic establishment of being one of the great people of Walker Flat. He was considered by many of the locals at Walker Flat on the river as the mayor. Many of those local people have said that Neil's influence and his gruff voice will be missed. My condolences to both Barb and his family during this difficult time. Vale, Neil Kerley.

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