Darren Crocker

Darren Crocker (born 26 March 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who is currently the coach of the North Melbourne AFL Women's team.^[2] He formerly played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Darren Crocker
Crocker in 2007 as an assistant coach
Personal information
Full name	Darren Crocker
Date of birth	(1967-03-26) 26 March 1967 (age 58)
Original team(s)	Belgrave[1]
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s)	Half-forward/Forward pocket
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1985–1998	North Melbourne	165 (119)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2009; 2015; 2016	North Melbourne	15 (6–8–1)
2021–	North Melbourne (W)	47 (30–16–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1998. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2023.
Career highlights
AFL premiership player: 1996 AFLW premiership coach: 2024
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

Crocker played in the 1996 AFL Grand Final against the Sydney Swans.

Coaching career

On 16 June 2009, he was appointed caretaker senior coach of the North Melbourne Football Club after the resignation of Dani Laidley. On 17 August 2009 the North Melbourne Football Club appointed Brad Scott as their senior coach, thus Crocker was not retained as North Melbourne coach for the 2010 season. However, he remained as assistant coach at North Melbourne Football Club. In 2015, Crocker again served as acting coach when Scott underwent back surgery,^[3] and again for one match in 2016 when Scott was ill.^[4]

On 4 June 2020, Crocker was appointed as coach of the North Melbourne AFL Women's side, following the departure of inaugural coach Scott Gowans.^[2]

On 27 November 2024, Crocker was named AFLW Coach's Association Coach of the Year.^[5]

On 30 November 2024, Crocker was head coach of the North Melbourne AFL Women's side that won the 2024 AFLW Grand Final against the Brisbane Lions AFL Women's side.

Personal life

He is married with four children.

Statistics

Playing statistics

^[6]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1985	North Melbourne	49	13	8	6	111	62	173	49	—	0.6	0.5	8.5	4.8	13.3	3.8	—	0
1986	North Melbourne	14	11	8	4	94	45	139	43	—	0.7	0.4	8.5	4.1	12.6	3.9	—	0
1987	North Melbourne	27	15	11	5	177	74	251	59	29	0.7	0.3	11.8	4.9	16.7	3.9	1.9	7
1988	North Melbourne	27	4	0	2	36	14	50	11	2	0.0	0.5	9.0	3.5	12.5	2.8	0.5	0
1989	North Melbourne	27	9	12	5	75	34	109	37	14	1.3	0.6	8.3	3.8	12.1	4.1	1.6	0
1990	North Melbourne	27	14	5	11	154	60	214	43	18	0.4	0.8	11.0	4.3	15.3	3.1	1.3	8
1991	North Melbourne	27	15	4	3	147	73	220	56	10	0.3	0.2	9.8	4.9	14.7	3.7	0.7	2
1992	North Melbourne	27	22	16	15	290	141	431	82	32	0.7	0.7	13.2	6.4	19.6	3.7	1.5	3
1993	North Melbourne	27	14	10	10	152	61	213	47	26	0.7	0.7	10.9	4.4	15.2	3.4	2.3	0
1994	North Melbourne	27	14	7	3	128	98	226	50	15	0.5	0.2	9.1	7.0	16.1	3.6	1.1	4
1995	North Melbourne	27	3	5	1	17	10	27	9	4	1.7	0.3	5.7	3.3	9.0	3.0	1.3	0
1996†	North Melbourne	27	15	20	15	94	29	123	42	15	1.3	1.0	6.3	1.9	8.2	2.8	1.0	4
1997	North Melbourne	27	9	10	4	25	14	39	6	4	1.1	0.4	3.1	2.9	6.0	1.1	0.7	0
Career			165	119	90	1522	735	2257	542	174	0.7	0.5	9.2	4.5	13.7	3.3	1.2	28

Coaching statistics

^[7]

Legend
W	Wins	L	Losses	D	Draws	W%	Winning percentage	LP	Ladder position	LT	League teams

Season	Team	Games	W	L	D	W %	LP	LT
2009	North Melbourne	10	3	6	1	35.0%	13	16
2015	North Melbourne	4	2	2	0	50.0%	—	—
2016	North Melbourne	1	1	0	0	100.0%	—	—
2021	North Melbourne	10	6	4	0	60.0%	6	14
2022	North Melbourne	11	7	4	0	57.1%	4	14
2022 (S7)	North Melbourne	13	8	4	1	61.5%	8	18
2023	North Melbourne	13	9	4	0	69.2%	3	18
2024	North Melbourne	14	13	0	1	92.8%	1	18
2025	North Melbourne	1	1	0	0	100.0%	—	18
Career totals		77	50	24	3	64.9%