KICKETT, Derek

Derek Kickett was an exciting players with marvellous skills and the ability to do the unpredictable. He was also a handy goalkicker with his long left-footed torpedoes a feature of his game.

He polled 46 votes in Western Australia's Sandover Medal while playing with Claremont to lead the WAFL's best player award by 16 votes, but was ruled ineligible owing to a suspension that year. He then moved to Central Districts for one season then to North Melbourne for another season before being delisted by them.

Kickett was picked up at Essendon in 1990 and played 16 games that year kicking a handy 24 goals and appeared in the losing Grand Final against Collingwood.

He missed 10 games in the middle of 1991 through injury but bounced back in 1992 playing every game and kicking 23 goals, third highest that year behind Paul Salmon and Darren Bewick. His best return for the year was five goals in a loss to Geelong.

He won the Leon Larkin Medal as the best Western Australian in the 1992 WA v Victoria game and the Graham Moss Medal as the best Western Australian in the 1996 WA v SA game.

In 1993 Kickett played in every game of the year, kicking 38 goals including a bag of eight against Footscray, but was then unexpectedly dropped for the Grand Final. He was devastated at missing this chance to play in a winning grand and quit the Club immediately. He did not watch the game and was not reconciled with coach Kevin Sheedy for more than 20 years.

He was then drafted by the Sydney Swans where he played from 1994 to1996. He played in the 1996 losing Grand Final against North Melbourne.

There is a strong network of Kicketts in the Australian Rules football world. Derek is the uncle of Lance "Buddy" Franklin (Hawthorn and Sydney), Dale Kickett (Essendon, West Coast, St Kilda and Fremantle), Byron Pickett (North Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Melbourne) and Jarrod Garlett (Gold Coast and Carlton), and the cousin of Nicky Winmar (St Kilda).