PRIOR, Michael

Michael Prior came to Essendon from East Perth in WA. He was selected by Essendon with pick 3 in the 1992 National Draft, a pick received from Sydney for Ed Considine and Michael Werner.

He was a tough and reliable defender whose best years were in 1996 and 1997. His first game was against Collingwood in 1994 at the MCG. A knee injury ruined his 1998 season, but he returned in 1999 to play a further 15 games.

Prior played two State of Origin games for Western Australia.

He found it difficult to establish a permanent place in the strong Essendon side of 2000, and although he was selected in 11 games, he spent a lot of time on the interchange bench.

He requested a trade to the West Coast Eagles at the end of the 2000 season and Essendon recieved pick 27 which was used to draft Ted Richards. Prior only played seven games before seriously injuring his knee. He managed two more games and retired from League football at the end of the 2002 season.

After recovering from his knee injury, he returned to his original club, East Perth, when not required by West Coast and played in their 2002 premiership before retiring for good at the end of the 2003 season.

Prior was appointed senior coach of the West Coast AFLW team in 2022.