Denan Kemp

Denan Kemp
Personal information
Born (1987-05-11) 11 May 1987
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position Wing, Fullback, Centre

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–08 Brisbane Broncos 28 20 0 0 80
2009 New Zealand Warriors 10 1 21 0 46
2010 Brisbane Broncos 4 1 0 0 4
Total 42 22 21 0 130
Source: [1][2]

Denan Kemp is an Australian former professional rugby league player, best known for his stints in the National Rugby League (NRL). Kemp's position of choice was on the wing. He played in the NRL for the Brisbane Broncos, the New Zealand Warriors and the St George Illawarra Dragons. He also had a brief stint in rugby union in 2011, playing for Southern Districts in the Shute Shield competition.

Early years

Originally a soccer player for Gold Coast premier club, Mudgeeraba SC, and a part of the Brisbane Roar system which played in the A League, Kemp was spotted by scouts for the Brisbane Broncos and convinced to convert to rugby league, while also being lured by an offer from AFL team Brisbane Lions. Kemp attended St Michaels College. Kemp went on to play rugby league with the Brisbane Wests in the Queensland Cup before joining Brisbane Broncos feeder club, the Toowoomba Clydesdales. He then was transferred to the Aspley Broncos in 2007 by the Brisbane Broncos.

He is of Turkish and New Zealand descent.[3][4]

Broncos

Denan made his first grade debut for the Broncos in round 10 of the 2007 NRL season, against the Manly Sea Eagles. During the game Kemp scored an individual 75 metre try. This try was voted as the third best of the 2007 season by NRL.com. In 2007 Kemp ran the quickest 40m sprint time in the clubs history recording 4.85sec and hitting speeds up to 34 km/h.

In 2008, Kemp started the season strongly coming up with 4 tries in his first 3 games. He went on to play twenty four games for the club in 2008. In round 12 he scored 4 tries while playing against the Parramatta Eels, equaling a club record set by Lote Tuqiri and Steve Renouf. The record came just hours after he had announced that he was joining the New Zealand Warriors for the 2009 season. When not selected for the first grade side, Kemp turned out for the Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup.[5]

Denan was Brisbane's top try-scorer in 2008 and was named the club's rookie of the year.[6]

Warriors

On 28 May 2008, the New Zealand Warriors announced that they had signed Kemp for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.[7][8] Whilst at the Warriors he took on goal-kicking responsibilities for the club for the first half of the 2009 season.

In round 2 of the 2009 season, Kemp kicked the match winning conversion from the sideline to defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles with 28 seconds left. However, for much of the season Kemp could not break into the first grade side, instead he was assigned to Otahuhu and played for the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup. Near the end of the season he asked for a release so he could return to Queensland to rebuild his National Rugby League career.[9][10] Kemp played in ten games for the Warriors, scoring 46 points.

Second stint with Brisbane

On 16 September 2009, Kemp announced that he re-signed with the Brisbane Broncos for the 2010 season, after being granted an early release from the final year of his contract with the Warriors. Kemp showed interest in claiming the number one fullback jersey left vacant by the AFL bound Karmichael Hunt,[11] however, injury prevented him from claiming a full-time spot in the first grade side. In round 1 2010, against the North Queensland Cowboys, he scored the final try which won the game for the Broncos 30-24. Unfortunately Kemp suffered a dislocated rib and a collapsed lung in the Knights game and spent the rest of the 2010 season injured. He played for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the 2011 Queensland Cup, before joining the Australian Rugby Union in April 2011.[12][13]

Rugby union

In April 2011 Kemp signed a contract with the Australian Rugby Union and was a part of the Australian Sevens squad that traveled to London for the IRB Sevens.

Kemp turned out during the 2011 season for the Southern Districts Rugby Club side in Sydney's Shute Shield.[13]

Dragons

On 20 November 2011, Kemp signed for one year with the St George Illawarra Dragons in 2012.[13] Kemp played in the 2012 Charity Shield game for the Dragons, but never took the field in a first-grade game, as he was mainly relegated to the Dragons' NSW Cup side, the Illawarra Cutters.

Third stint with the Broncos

On 18 January 2013, Kemp signed a one-year deal to return to the Broncos in hopes of another revival of his career. However, he failed to play a single game for the Broncos throughout the entire 2013 NRL season, and was released at the season's end. Following his release, Kemp decided to retire from rugby league.[14]

Post retirement

Following his retirement from rugby league, Kemp began a talk show on Facebook and YouTube called The Locker Room, where he interviewed past and present rugby league personalities about their time in the NRL. The first episode aired on June 9, 2015, where he interviewed Beau Ryan about his retirement and current work on The Footy Show.[15]

Kemp currently owns and operates a sports bar in Broadbeach called Bloke in a Bar.[15]

References

  1. ↑ http://203.166.101.37/NRL08/playercareer.asp?lplayer=70078%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  2. ↑ http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/Denan_Kemp.html
  3. ↑ "With Aussie accent, Horo says he's a Kiwi at heart". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 August 2010.
  4. ↑ http://everythingturkish.com.au/turkish-sports/rugby-and-turks/
  5. ↑ QLD Cup preview Archived 14 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine. globalrugbyleague.com, 14 March 2008
  6. ↑ Thaiday wins Paul Morgan Medal Archived 11 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. rleague.com, 16 October 2008
  7. ↑ Vodafone Warriors Sign Brisbane Speedster Kemp For Two Years Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. warriors.co.nz
  8. ↑ "Warriors sign flying Kemp". Television New Zealand. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Warriors release winger Kemp nrl.com, 24 August 2009
  10. ↑ "Warriors: Kemp given release". The New Zealand Herald. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Kemp coming home to Broncos nrl.com, 16 September 2009
  12. ↑ Round 1 Queensland Intrust Super Cup Preview Archived 3 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. rleague.com, 18 March 2011
  13. 1 2 3 "Kemp Joins Dragons for 2012". www.dragons.com.au. 20 November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  14. ↑ http://commentaryboxsports.com/australian/nrl/cbs-sounding-the-siren-no-1-denan-kemp.html
  15. 1 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPV83K80m1k
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