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Kepler Bradley (born 13 November 1985) is a former
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who played for the
Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...
and
Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...
s in the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
.


Early career

Bradley played junior football with the Kingsley Junior Football Club and in 2003 he made his senior football debut for West Perth in the
West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...
(WAFL), playing five league games including the Grand Final which West Perth won. In that year he also represented Western Australia at the 2003
AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...
, winning the
Larke Medal The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...
as the best player at the championships. He also won the Jack Clarke Medal as the best player in the WAFL colts competition.


Essendon career

Bradley was drafted early in the
2003 AFL Draft The 2003 AFL draft was the 2003 instance of the AFL draft, the annual draft (sports), draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. The 2003 d ...
, with Essendon's first selection at number 6 overall. He made his AFL debut in the first game of the 2004 season – Essendon's 96-point loss to Port Adelaide – and finished with 5 games in his debut year. A very tall and agile player, Bradley has played as a forward, defender, wingman, ruckman and even ruck rover. 2005 saw Bradley mainly used in key defensive positions by coach Kevin Sheedy and he became a more permanent fixture in the side. In 2006 he was selected for all but one game. However, the first half of 2007 saw Bradley's opportunities limited to just two appearances, largely due to the recruiting of former
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
fullback
Mal Michael Malcolm Robert Michael (born 24 June 1977) is a Papua New Guinean-born former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional career in the Australian Football League. In a career spanning 238 games and three clubs ...
and the meteoric rise of young
Paddy Ryder Patrick Ryder (born 14 March 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the , and St Kilda Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ryder was noted for his speed, agility and leap for someone of his size and i ...
, both playing key roles in the Essendon defence alongside veteran
Dustin Fletcher Dustin Andrew Fletcher (born 7 May 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire 23-season career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is widely acknowledged as one of th ...
, leaving little room for another tall player in the backline. Bradley's fall from grace was put down by many to his crucial mistakes in the
Anzac Day clash The Anzac Day match is an annual Australian rules football match between Collingwood and Essendon, two clubs in the Australian Football League, held on Anzac Day (25 April) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). History of Australian rules f ...
, where a risky kick across goal was intercepted by
Tarkyn Lockyer Tarkyn Lockyer (born 30 October 1979) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Upon his retirement at the end of the 2010 season, he served a ...
, costing the Bombers a goal. After this match, his disposal skills were put under increased scrutiny and he only played two more games for Essendon. Nevertheless, as a versatile player, he was prominent as a forward for the
Bendigo Bombers Bendigo Gold was an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria. The club debuted in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1998 as the Bendigo Diggers Football Club, which remained its legal name for the duration of the club's exis ...
, winning their
best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...
award and being their leading goal kicker.


Fremantle career

At the end of the 2007 season Bradley was one of four players delisted after a deal to trade him to
Fremantle Dockers The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...
was not able to be made during trade week. He then returned to Western Australia and began training with the Dockers, who selected him with their 5th round selection (69th overall) in the
National Draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL). History W ...
. He made his debut for Fremantle in Round 8 of 2008 in the Dockers 3-point loss to the
Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...
at
Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco, Western Australia, Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood, ...
, where he collected 21 possessions and a goal. Kepler went on to become the club's leading goalscorer for the 2011 season, kicking 25 goals and eventually tying with
Chris Mayne Christopher Mayne (born 2 November 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He attended Kent Street Senior H ...
In round 5 of the
2013 AFL season The 2013 AFL season was the 117th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eig ...
, Bradley was one of three AFL players to rupture the
anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...
in their knee. Bradley's incident was unusual in that he was kicking the ball at the time and an opponent fell into his elevated leg, rather than the more usual twisting or landing incidents. He underwent a
knee reconstruction Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...
and would miss the remainder of the season. In August 2014, Bradley announced he would retire at the end of the 2014 season.


Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, , 16 , , 5 , , 1 , , 0 , , 23 , , 33 , , 56 , , 11 , , 9 , , 1 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 4.6 , , 6.6 , , 11.2 , , 2.2 , , 1.8 , , 0.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, , 16 , , 19 , , 4 , , 4 , , 137 , , 127 , , 264 , , 99 , , 18 , , 29 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 7.2 , , 6.7 , , 13.9 , , 5.2 , , 0.9 , , 1.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, , 16 , , 21 , , 8 , , 3 , , 164 , , 104 , , 268 , , 103 , , 17 , , 14 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 7.8 , , 5.0 , , 12.8 , , 4.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, , 16 , , 4 , , 1 , , 1 , , 23 , , 28 , , 51 , , 18 , , 0 , , 1 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 5.8 , , 7.0 , , 12.8 , , 4.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, , 26 , , 9 , , 12 , , 2 , , 84 , , 59 , , 143 , , 45 , , 3 , , 25 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 9.3 , , 6.6 , , 15.9 , , 5.0 , , 0.3 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, , 26 , , 15 , , 9 , , 7 , , 107 , , 112 , , 219 , , 74 , , 21 , , 75 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 7.1 , , 7.5 , , 14.6 , , 4.9 , , 1.4 , , 5.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, , 26 , , 12 , , 14 , , 8 , , 94 , , 122 , , 216 , , 66 , , 15 , , 73 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 7.8 , , 10.2 , , 18.0 , , 5.5 , , 1.3 , , 6.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, , 26 , , 15 , , 25 , , 12 , , 112 , , 94 , , 206 , , 64 , , 16 , , 46 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 7.5 , , 6.3 , , 13.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.1 , , 3.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, , 26 , , 12 , , 6 , , 13 , , 94 , , 79 , , 173 , , 52 , , 16 , , 64 , , 0.5 , , 1.1 , , 7.8 , , 6.6 , , 14.4 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , 5.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, , 26 , , 5 , , 7 , , 2 , , 33 , , 18 , , 51 , , 13 , , 5 , , 21 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , 6.6 , , 3.6 , , 10.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , 4.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
, , 26 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 117 ! 87 ! 52 ! 871 ! 776 ! 1647 ! 545 ! 120 ! 349 ! 0.7 ! 0.4 ! 7.4 ! 6.6 ! 14.1 ! 4.7 ! 1.0 ! 3.0


References


External links

* * *
WAFL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Kepler 1985 births Living people Essendon Football Club players West Perth Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Claremont Football Club players Australia international rules football team players Peel Thunder Football Club players Bendigo Football Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen