Geelong didn’t know how good their choice was when they called out “Corey Enright” as pick number 47 in the 1999 AFL draft.
Key points:
- Corey Enright is the first Eyre Peninsula footballer to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame
- Four other South Australians were inducted: Mark Williams, Michael Aish, Tom Leahy, and Bruce McAvaney
- Enright thanked his junior coach Danny Horgan among the people who helped him with his AFL career
Kimba kid, Corey “Boris” Enright was inducted into the Australian Football League Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, surrounded by other leaders of the game.
He’s the first Eyre Peninsula footballer to be given the honour.
Enright is known as having been one of the best defenders of all time, and he’s got one of the best-looking football CVs going around.
Three AFL premierships, 332 games, 66 goals, six-time All Australian selection, and a Geelong Hall of Fame award are all on his AFL achievements shelf.
Enright hung up his boots at Geelong in 2016, but stayed on with the Cats as their assistant coach. He was there until 2021, before moving to St Kilda in 2022 where he is now assistant coach.
His very proud sister, Marni Enright flew into Melbourne for the Australian Hall of Fame event on Tuesday night.
“We’re always very proud of him, his achievements, but also who he is as a person as well,” she said.
“To see how much people respect him and enjoyed hearing him talk, it was amazing.
At the event, Enright delivered a thank you speech, where Eyre Peninsula’s football royalty was not forgotten.
“He talked a lot about the people who helped him along the journey, his childhood coach Danny Horgan, what it’s meant to have the success he’s had, and the work he’s put in.”
Enright left Eyre Peninsula to pursue football at just 17, leaving behind the Kimba community where kids played safely in the streets until dark.
In his honour, the community named their local footy ground the Corey Enright Oval to remind local children that if you work hard, a Kimba kid can go all the way.
Enright was playing senior football in the local competition from the age of 15, and went on to represent Eastern Eyre Peninsula, and then Eyre Peninsula at junior levels.
Matthew “Gadget” Lienert has been one of Enright’s best friends since childhood and said he did not let fame change him.
“From the mid-teenage years, Boris was always very loyal, and when it came to football he applied himself better than some,” he said.
“He’s just a modest bloke. We’d go over, as his country friends from Kimba, and we would be treated like the big occasion — that his mates were over visiting, not the fact that it happened to be his 300th game.”
Mr Lienert recalls the evening of the first Geelong premiership that Enright played.
“Four of us were over for the game and that night after the Grand Final he rang me and said ‘Keep it together tonight lads, I’ve got something special planned for you,’ and he used his special family invites to take us along to their players’ and partners’ afterparty,” he said.
Of the seven new inductees into the AFL Hall of Fame, five were from South Australia.
Enright was honoured at a gala ceremony in Melbourne, along with Port Adelaide premiership coach and player Mark Williams, Norwood premiership great Michael Aish, Magarey Medallist Tom Leahy, and broadcasting legend Bruce McAvaney.
”SANFL and the SA Football Commission are delighted to see five South Australian greats receive this richly deserved honour of being inducted in the Australian Football Hall of Fame,” SA Football Commission chairman Rob Kerin said.
Posted , updated
