NICKNAME/S: Kerley

BIO: Simon Kerle was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the St Kilda basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Simon Kerle made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 17 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

The Brisbane Bullets entered the 1988 NBL season looking to go back-to-back and claim their third title in four years. Head coach Brian Kerle returned with a near-identical roster to the previous year’s championship team, with only two changes—rookies Shane Heal and Simon Kerle replacing James Carr and Paul Webb on the bench.

Simon Kerle (1.3 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.2 assists) saw limited action across six games, gaining valuable experience in his first NBL season. While his on-court contributions were minimal, he was part of a squad stacked with veteran talent and high expectations.

Leroy Loggins (24.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists) continued to lead from the front, earning All-NBL First Team honours and topping the league in free throw percentage. He was supported by Emery Atkinson (16.8 points, 8.4 rebounds), Larry Sengstock (11.1 points, 10.2 rebounds), and Ron Radliff (12.4 points, 3.5 assists), while 17-year-old Shane Heal (15.0 points, 2.2 assists) won Rookie of the Year.

Brisbane finished the regular season 18–6 but dropped to third after a key loss to Canberra and a tie-breaker went against them. In the quarterfinals, they hosted Perth but were upset 98–113, with Loggins pouring in 31 points.

WESTSIDE MELBOURNE
1990
Kerle was not re-signed by the Bullets after his first season in the league and spent 1989 playing in the state competition. In 1990, Kerle signed with Westside Melbourne and averaged 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. The Saints finished the regular season with a dismal 3-23 record.

BRISBANE BULLETS
1991
During the 1991 season Kerle averaged 15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists and helped the Saints finish with a record of 9-17.

1992
During the 1992 season, Kerle averaged 11.2 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists and was a part of the Bullets squad which finished in a seventh place with a record of 12-12.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE MAGIC
1993
Simon Kerle joined the South East Melbourne Magic ahead of the 1993 NBL season, one of two notable offseason additions alongside David Graham. The pair were brought in to cover the loss of Scott Ninnis (to Adelaide) as the club looked to defend its NBL championship from the previous year. With the core of the title-winning roster retained under head coach Brian Goorjian—and stars like Robert Rose, Bruce Bolden, Tony Ronaldson and Darren Lucas all returning—Kerle was expected to provide backcourt depth and scoring punch off the bench.

However, minutes were hard to come by for the 22-year-old guard in a loaded rotation. With Rose delivering one of the greatest statistical seasons in league history (18.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 3.0 steals, 1.2 blocks), and Lucas (14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists) and Graham (10.4 points, 2.5 assists) entrenched in key roles, Kerle struggled to carve out consistent playing time. He appeared in 13 games during the regular season, averaging 2.5 points, 0.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists in short bursts off the bench.

Kerle made his debut in the season opener, a 106–86 win over Canberra, playing less than a minute and not registering a stat. That theme continued for most of the season, as Goorjian leaned heavily on his core rotation—including Sixth Man candidate Andrew Parkinson (11.9 points) and Perry, who returned from ACL rehab in Round 10. Despite limited court time, Kerle’s energy and willingness to shoot gave the Magic an option in short offensive spurts when called upon.

South East Melbourne powered through the regular season, finishing second on the ladder at 20–6, including a 12–1 home record at Melbourne Park. The team was led by the dominant frontcourt play of Bruce Bolden (21.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals), the breakout year of Tony Ronaldson (20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds), and the all-around brilliance of Rose, who would win the NBL MVP and lead the league in steals. The Magic swept Adelaide in the quarter-finals and advanced to a blockbuster semi-final series against the Melbourne Tigers.

Kerle did not appear in the playoffs, with the Magic leaning heavily on their veteran starters and primary reserves. In the semi-final series, Melbourne’s star duo of Mark Bradtke (28 points, 15 rebounds in Game 1) and Lanard Copeland (32 points in Game 2) proved too much, as the Tigers eliminated the Magic in two games. While Kerle’s court time was minimal in the finals, he remained part of a squad that pushed for back-to-back titles and helped bolster the team’s depth during the long regular season.

Though he averaged just 2.5 points per game, Kerle’s 1993 campaign marked a valuable learning experience on one of the league’s premier rosters.

GEELONG SUPERCATS
1994
In 1994, Kerle averaged 11.4 points and 2.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, as the Supercats finished with a 7-19 record.

1995
Kerle averaged 18.1 points and 3.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists during a lacklustre season where the Supercats delivered a lacklustre performance, finishing with a 9-17 record.

1996
In 1996, Kerle averaged 17 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists as the Supercats finished with a record of 6-20.

TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES
1997
Townsville had not reached the playoffs during its first six seasons in the league but In 1997, the team came ‘oh so close’ to removing the monkey from their back. Needing only one win from their final six games to ensure a historic playoff appearance, the Suns went 0–6 after centre Clarence Tyson suffered a season-ending knee injury in Canberra. Kerle would average 16.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists for the season and the team finished in eighth place with a record of 14-16.

1998
The 1998 season saw Kerle average 18.4 points, 3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists and play a key role in helping the Crocodiles to a ninth place finish in the regular season with a 12-18 record.

1998/99
The 1998/99 season saw the NBL shift to summer, and with it, Townsville underwent a brand change, switching from the ‘Suns’ to the ‘Crocodiles’ after a dispute with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, who held the ‘Suns’ trademark in Australia. Faced with the prospect of paying Phoenix royalties on merchandise sales, the team changed its name to the Townsville Crocodiles.

The change to the Crocodiles was apt for many a reason. Besides being synonymous with the Queensland region, it was also the team name of Australia’s gold medal winning 22-and-under junior team in 1997, which featured coach Ian Stacker and Sam Mackinnon. At the time, it was viewed that the outgoing Stacker, a assistant to Brian Goorjian of the South East Melbourne Magic, had ‘stolen’ Mackinnon to headline his new squad, which gained national media attention.

Stacker was also quick to grab outgoing Canberra import Robert Rose and revamped the rest of the team with only Simon Kerle, Brad Davidson, David Pennisi and Jason Cameron returning from last season’s roster.

Prior to the 1998/99 season, the aforementioned Magic also underwent a brand change when they merged with the North Melbourne Giants, resulting in a number of players being without a team. Import James Harper (via South Florida University) and Andrew Goodwin (via North Melbourne), coming off two of his best NBL seasons, filled the remaining spots in the Crocodiles’ starting line-up..

The team was led in most categories by the 33-year-old Rose (21.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.3 steals) leading the team in points, assists and collecting the second highest rebounds and steals while leading the team in minutes played (47.2 minutes per game). 22-year-old Mackinnon (16.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks) led the team in rebounds and steals after seeing a boost in minutes, as they jumped from 39 to 44 per game after moving to Townsville.

Kerle added 13.4 points, 2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists Over the course of the season, as the team showed flashes of brilliance, especially at home, where they compiled a 9-4 record. The team struggled to win on the road, however, with a ‘paper thin’ roster that relied on eight players every night. In their first year as the Crocodile’s, the team finished with a 12-14 record and in seventh place, missing the playoffs.

BRISBANE BULLETS
1998/99
The team were unable to retain imports Chuck Kornegay (Spain) and Steve Woodberry (Sydney), who both left for high-paying deals, and by the 1999/00 season, Leroy Loggins (16.0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal per game) was finally showing signs of slowing down. By now, his numbers had dropped to career lows across the board, and the Bullets began to plan for life after Leroy.

Head coach Brian Kerle signed his son Simon Kerle and Jason Cameron (both via Townsville) as well as Brendan Mann (via Canberra) to build a local core to build around, adding them to existing young talent, Phil Doherty and Mark Nash. Rod Johnson (via Newcastle) was also added for some veteran leadership, and import signings Kelvin Price and Sheldon Quarles rounded out the roster.

Amazingly, Loggins (15.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steals) was still a vital cog in the Bullets’ offence and continued to clock 29 minutes of playing time each game despite being 42 years old. Kerle (14.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) did what he could, while Price (12.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) and Quarles (11.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) underperformed, to say the least. The Bullets didn’t quite have the talent they did the previous year and finished 7-21, causing Loggins to miss the playoffs for only the third time in his 20 seasons in the NBL.

2000/01
The 2000/01 season was especially disappointing for the Bullets, as they managed to win only four games new coach Richard Orlick. The team relying offensively on Simon Kerle (24.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists), Randy Rutherford (19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals) and a 43-year-old Leroy Loggins (16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 2.0 steals) which didn’t have what it took to compete against the league’s best team’s.

After the Bullets last game, Loggins would retire after 21 seasons but even during his final run, he was still starting and averaging 36 minutes per game for the Bullets. a indication of both his greatness and the weakness of the Bullets roster at the time.

Brisbane finished the season second last (4-24), one game above the Canberra Cannons (3-25).

Simon Kerle thought he had sent it to OT. but CJ single handedly dismantled the D and hit the game winner!! @NBL @nblhistory pic.twitter.com/bavjukBB4s

— RANDOM HOOPS (@HoopsRandom) March 18, 2023

2001/02
In 2001/02, Kerle averaged 15.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists as the Bullets finished in seventh place with a record of 14-16.

2002/03
In 2002/03, Kerle averaged 9.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists as the Bullets finished in first place with a record of 6-24.

2004/05
After a year spent out of the league, Kerle returned to the Bullets roster in 2004. Kerle averaged 12.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists as the Bullets finished in fifth place finish with a 17-15 record.

Simon Kerle played sixteen seasons in the NBL. He averaged 14 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 381 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 41st in total points
– 28th in total assists

Dan Boyce (836 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.