Dean Kemp
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Dean Kemp (born February 17, 1969) was one of the star players of the league when West Coast was the powerhouse of the league in the early 1990's. He made his debut in 1990 and won Rookie of the year for West Coast. In 1992 he played in West Coast's Premiership team and earned All-Australian selection as well as West Coast's best and fairest award. In 1994 he played in the sides second premiership team and won the Norm Smith Medal 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 former captain Ben Cousins and retired later that Season. Kemp suffered numerous concussions during his career, including one resulting from a particularly cowardly but savage hit from Mark Ricciuto. Kemp's career was ultimately shortened somewhat by the effects of thesenumerous concussions.
Dean Kemp was a stellar midfielder who surprisingly never polled well in the Brownlow medal. A reason put forward fo 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 from Kalgoorlie. 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 now owns the Mitre 10 Hardware Franchise in Margaret River, Western Australia.
| Preceded by: Craig Turley |
West Coast Eagles Best and Fairest winner 1992 |
Succeeded by: Don Pyke, Glen Jakovich |
| Preceded by: Michael Long |
Norm Smith Medallist 1994 |
Succeeded by: Greg Williams |
