I visited Andrew Krakouer in prison. This is what I learnt

It was his smile and the glint in his eye that drew you to him. And his name, of course. For those of us who grew up watching his dad and uncle in the ’80s, to have a Krakouer in our midst was quite exciting.

In the late ’90s and early 2000s, Richmond had some recruiting misses, but this one felt like a win from the start. Andrew Krakouer was taken by the Tigers with pick 41 in the 2000 national draft. We’d been shown some VHS highlights by our recruiting team, and they were pretty special.

Andrew Krakouer died from a suspected heart attack at the age of 42. Credit: Pat Scala

He was unique, though, in that he was a goalsneak … who wasn’t quick! His crumbing was elite, his skills fine, but he lacked speed. He would need to be very good at other parts of his game to make it. And so he worked hard. At this craft and on his fitness. And he had a step to die for, which compensated somewhat for this lack of speed.

His first goal in his first game showed what he could do. The ball was in congestion, there were four Essendon players circling. “Krak” grabbed the ball like it had a handle on it and put it through from an angle. This was to be repeated many times. If the game of football was played in a phone booth, higher honours would have come Krak’s way.

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