Michael Prior (born 6 September 1973) 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

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

and the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

. He is the former senior coach of the in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

competition. Drafted third overall in the

1992 AFL Draft The 1992 AFL draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. It consisted of the main national draft, the pre-season draft an ...

, he made the unusual choice at the time to remain with his original club, East Perth, for the 1993 season, Essendon's famous 'Baby Bombers' premiership winning year, as he felt that playing regular league football in the WAFL would be better for his development. Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy disagreed with this theory but allowed him to do so. He played 81 games for the Bombers between

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. After the 2000 season, he was dropped by the Bombers and then picked up by West Coast. He spent two seasons with the Eagles and played just nine games for them due to a devastating knee injury suffered in Round 7 2001, he recovered and continued his tally of games with East Perth in the WAFL when not required and was a member of their 2002 premiership side. After retiring from AFL football, he continued to play with East Perth until the end of the 2003 season. In total he played 69 games for the Royals. He was colorfully referred to by 3AW commentator

Rex Hunt Rex James Hunt (born 7 March 1949) is an Australian television and radio personality. A former Australian rules footballer, he became a commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames for players. He has also been known around th ...

as "

prior conviction Antecedents are the life history and previous convictions of a defendant in a criminal case. They are colloquially known as "previous convictions" (or simply "previous") in the United Kingdom and "prior convictions" in the United States and Austral ...

". His son Jaxon has played for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

since 2020 but was delisted in 2024 and signed by Essendon for 2025. Prior coached the

in the AFL Women’s competition from season six (2022) until season eight (2023). On 25 October 2023 Prior announced his departure from the Eagles after round 8 of the 2023 season (season 8). He was later replaced by

Daisy Pearce Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club#AFL Women's team, Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and is the current AFLW senior coach of the West Coast Eagle ...

as senior coach.

References

Essendon Football Club Official Website - Draft History
, retrieved 10 June 2006.

External links

* * * — 1973 births Living people East Perth Football Club players Essendon Football Club players West Coast Eagles players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Western Australian State of Origin players AFL Women's coaches 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1970s-stub