Denan Kemp

Not to be confused with Dean Kemp.

Denan Kemp

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Kemp playing for the Broncos in 2008
Personal information
Nickname	Kempo
Born	(1987-05-11) 11 May 1987 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position	Wing, Fullback, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2007–2008	Brisbane Broncos	28	20	0	0	80
2009	NZ Warriors	10	1	21	0	46
2010	Brisbane Broncos	4	1	0	0	4
2012	St. George Illawarra	1	0	0	0	0
2013	Brisbane Broncos	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	43	22	21	0	130
Source: NRL Stats, RLP

Denan Kemp is a retired Australian professional rugby league player, best known for his stints in the National Rugby League (NRL). Kemp's position of choice was on the wing. He played in the NRL for the Brisbane Broncos twice, the New Zealand Warriors and the St George Illawarra Dragons. He also had a brief stint in rugby union in 2011, playing for Southern Districts in the Shute Shield competition. He is of Turkish and New Zealand descent.

Early years

Originally a soccer player for Gold Coast premier club, Mudgeeraba SC, Kemp was spotted by scouts for the Brisbane Broncos and convinced to convert to rugby league. Kemp attended St Michaels College while pursuing his rugby league dream. Kemp went on to play rugby league with the Brisbane Wests in the Queensland Cup before joining Brisbane Broncos feeder club, the Toowoomba Clydesdales. He then was transferred to the Aspley Broncos in 2007 by the Brisbane Broncos.

Broncos

Denan made his first grade debut for the Broncos in Round 10, 2007 against the Manly Sea Eagles. During the game Kemp scored an individual 75 metre try. This try was voted as the third best of the 2007 season by NRL.com. In 2007 Kemp ran the quickest 40m sprint time in the clubs history recording 4.85sec and hitting speeds up to 34 km/h.

In 2008 Denan Kemp started the season strongly coming up with 4 tries in his first 3 games. He went on to play twenty four games for the club in 2008. In Round 12 he scored 4 tries while playing against the Parramatta Eels, equaling a club record that he now shares with Lote Tuqiri and Steve Renouf. The record came just hours after he had announced that he was joining the New Zealand Warriors for the 2009 season. When not selected for the first grade side, Kemp turned out for the Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup.

Denan was Brisbane's top try-scorer in 2008 and named the club's rookie of the year.

Warriors

On 28 May the New Zealand Warriors announced that they had signed Kemp for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Whilst at the Warriors he took on goal-kicking responsibilities for the club for the first half of the 2009 season.

In Round 2, 2009, Kemp kicked the match winning conversion from the sideline to defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles with 28 seconds left. However, for much of the season Kemp could not break into the first grade side, instead he was assigned to Otahuhu and played for the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup. Near the end of the season he asked for a release so he could return to Queensland to rebuild his National Rugby League career. Kemp played in ten games for the Warriors, scoring 46 points.

Second stint with Brisbane

On 16 September 2009 Kemp announced that he re-signed with the Brisbane Broncos for the 2010 season, after being granted an early release from the final year of his contract with the NZ Warriors. Kemp showed interest in claiming the number one fullback jersey left vacant by the AFL bound Karmichael Hunt, however, injury prevented him from claiming a full time spot on the first grade side. In Round 1 2010 against the North Queensland Cowboys, he scored the final try which won the game for the Broncos 30-24. Unfortunately Kemp suffered a dislocated rib and a collapsed lung from the Knights game and spent the rest of the 2010 season injured. He played for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the 2011 Queensland Cup, before joining the Australian Rugby Union in April 2011.

Rugby Union

In April 2011 Kemp signed a contract with the Australian Rugby Union and was a part of the Australian Sevens squad that traveled to London for the IRB Sevens.

Kemp turned out during the 2011 season for the Southern Districts Rugby Club side in Sydney's Shute Shield.

Dragons

On 20 November 2011, Kemp signed for one year with the St George Illawarra Dragons in 2012. Kemp played only one game in the 2012 NRL season, as he was mainly relegated to the Dragons' NSW Cup side, the Illawarra Cutters.

Third stint with the Broncos

On 18 January 2013 Denan signed a one-year deal to return where his career started again for the third time. However, he failed to play a single game for the Broncos throughout the entire 2013 NRL season and was released in 2014. Following his release, Kemp decided to retire from rugby league.

The Locker Room

Following his retirement from rugby league, Kemp began a talk show on Facebook and YouTube called The Locker Room, where he interviews past and present rugby league personalities about their time in the NRL. The first episode aired on June 9, where he interviewed Beau Ryan about his retirement and current work on The Footy Show.