Earlier this year, North Melbourne announced its top 150 players of all time, as the club celebrates its 150th anniversary.
In the coming weeks, North Media will be profiling members of the top 150; from the most recent generation, featuring Brent Harvey, Ben Cunnington and Scott Thompson, right back to the very early days of the club, and the likes of Johnny Lewis, Charlie Cameron and Jim Adamson.
This Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of North’s 1999 premiership, so it’s only fitting we profile one of the stars of the era, Corey McKernan.
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197 centimetres, 105 kilograms; they’re numbers that probably trigger memories of your traditional lumbering ruckman, struggling from contest to contest and simply trying to compete for hit-outs.
Corey McKernan, however, was like no other.
Blessed with a unique mix of strength, mobility and speed, with elite marking, kicking and nous around the goals, McKernan is still remembered as one of the most athletic big men to play the game.
He retired following 196 games for North and 41 for Carlton, with two premierships, an AFLPA MVP, an All-Australian nod and a Rising Star nomination.
And of course, if not for a minor indiscretion, McKernan would be a Brownlow Medalist.
But where did it all begin?
Well, the Westmeadows product arrived at North in 1993 and made an impact from the very start.
He played just the one game in ’93, but by 1994 made 21 appearances in a side that went on to play in a Preliminary Final.
14 disposals, 5 marks, 9 hit-outs and a goal; they’re pretty impressive averages for a player in his first real season of footy, let alone a developing ruckman.
McKernan was actually the leader in the Rising Star voting in ’94, but was ruled ineligible due to suspension.
He continued his development in 1995, playing all 25 games, but it was 1996, the AFL’s centenary year, where he really came into his own.
There were times some judges labelled McKernan ‘better than Carey’, as he won the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the AFL Players’ MVP, was named in the ruck in the All-Australian team and played a key role in the club’s third premiership.
Now, keep in mind McKernan alternated between the ruck and forward line and these stats are quite outstanding; averages of 18 disposals, 12 hit-outs, 6 marks and one and a half goals a game. It’s little wonder he led the Brownlow Medal voting at the end of the home and away season.
Of course, a suspension ultimately cost him the medal, but there’s no doubting just how good he was in his prime.
Five days after the Brownlow count, McKernan had a career-high 29 disposals in the Grand Final victory against Sydney, all while fighting through a serious PCL injury.
He went on to have solid seasons in 1997 and ’98, but as North strived for the ultimate success again in ’99, he returned to his very best.
McKernan booted 34 goals and received 13 Brownlow votes in the last season of the 20th century, as the club won its fourth flag.
40 goals in 2000 and 38 in 2001 illustrated his versatility in more of a permanent role forward, before he moved to Carlton.
He won a best and fairest at the Blues and spent two years at the club, before fittingly returning to where it all started.
After one last season at North, in 2004, he announced his retirement.
