Kieran Dempsey is an Australian former head coach of

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

who played in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

competition. Dempsey was the last head coach of the club when they were a first grade side.

Coaching career

Dempsey was the assistant coach to North Sydney head coach Peter Louis during the

1999 NRL season The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the joint venture of the S ...

. Midway through 1999, Louis departed the club after 7 seasons in charge and Dempsey was promoted to be the new head coach. At the time of his appointment, Norths were sitting 12th on the table and were enduring one of their toughest seasons. Dempsey's first six games in charge all ended in defeats including a 56–18 loss against Cronulla-Sutherland. Dempsey's first win came in round 25 1999 against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval (Also known as “Bear Park” by North Sydney Bears fans) is a multi-use sporting facility in Miller Street, North Sydney, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is ...

which would also prove to be the club's last first grade game played at the ground. The following week, Dempsey coached Norths in their final game as a first grade side when they faced

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

at the

Willows Sports Complex The Willows Sports Complex (last known as 1300SMILES Stadium due to naming rights) was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Que ...

. North Sydney would win the match 28–18. At the conclusion of 1999, Norths fell victim to the NRL's rationalisation policy and were forced to merge with arch rivals

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

to form the

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by forming a joint venture with the North Sydney Bears and th ...

. In August 2024, Dempsey became North Sydney's NSW Cup head coach once again after their former coach

Pat Weisner Patrick Weisner (born 17 March 1982) is a professional rugby league Coach (sport), coach and a former professional rugby league footballer who played for Ireland national rugby league team, Ireland at international level. Background Weisner wa ...

was deregistered by the NSWRL for betting on matches. On 29 September 2024, Dempsey coached North Sydney in their 2024 NSW Cup Grand Final loss against Newtown.

Post coaching

In 2014, Dempsey was hired as a talent scout for Melbourne. Dempsey later joined the club's recruitment and pathways team.

References

Living people Australian rugby league coaches North Sydney Bears coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub