Stephen Kernahan - Glenelg

Glenelg

Stephen Kernahan is the son of Glenelg footballer and general manager Harry Kernahan, and the older brother of former Glenelg and Carlton player David Kernahan. He began his senior career with Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in 1981 and played 136 games, kicking 290 goals, winning 3 straight best and fairest awards. Under the coaching of 1961 Magarey Medallist John Halbert, Kernahan was a member of Glenelg's losing Grand Final teams to Port Adelaide in 1981 and Norwood in 1982.

In 1983 he topped the voting in the Magarey Medal with a then record 44 votes, made all the more remarkable as Glenelg only won 9 of 22 games for the season (after losing their first 8 games), half the number won by premiers West Adelaide. Unfortunately he was ineligible due to being reported for an incident with Norwood's Garry McIntosh in Round 4 and was suspended for Round 5. Due to the rules of the SANFL, any player who receives a suspension during a season is ineligible to with the Medal and the award was won by North Adelaide's Tony Antrobus who polled 35 votes. Kernahan was also twice leading goal kicker for The Bays, in 1983 and 1984 and in 1985 he was awarded the Jack Oatey Medal as best on ground in the club's premiership win over North Adelaide.

In his days with Glenelg, Kernahan was mostly used as a ruckman / forward due to his 6'5" (196 cm) height and his strong marking and leading ability. He played mostly in the forwards and was the Tigers second ruckman behind Bays legend Peter Carey. This would lead him to being Glenelg's leading goal kicker in both 1983 and 1984. His height and his slight build led to the nickname "Sticks".

Kernahan was signed by Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1981 but he didn't move to the club until 1986, mostly due to his slight build and the fear he wouldn't stand up to the physical play in the VFL. These fears were put to rest by Kernahan when he played State of Origin for South Australia when his outstanding play saw those in Victoria take notice. Often playing at full forward for the Croweaters, his height and strong marking saw him kick 10 goals in a losing side against Victoria at Football Park in Adelaide in 1984. His standout effort for South Australia saw Kernahan win the Fos Williams Medal in 1984 as SA's player of the match.

In 1983 Stephen Kernahan was a member of the South Australian side which defeated Victoria in Adelaide for the first time in 18 years. After the Croweaters 26.16 (172) to 17.14 (116) win, Kernahan commented that it was nice to play in a winning side. This was in reference to his club side Glenelg who, despite being little changed from the grand finalists of the previous two seasons other than new coach Graham Campbell (John Halbert had returned to Sturt) and Graham Cornes who had moved to play with South Adelaide, were yet to win a game one-third of the way into the 1983 season.