Brent Guerra

Player Stats

Biography

Brent Guerra (born 29 May 1982) is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for Hawthorn in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for Port Adelaide and St Kilda.

Beginning his career at Port Adelaide in 2000, he was seen as a potentially dangerous winger or forward. Brent Guerra also won three SANFL Premierships with Central District. However, at the end of 2003 he was traded from the club due to Guerra wanting to return to Victoria and the Saints picked him up for pick 39, who was the unsuccessful Robert Forster-Knight.

The Saints looked like they might have picked up an extraordinary deal when Guerra was a key figure for a period during the Saints' early season run in 2004 when St Kilda won the 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup and the first 10 games on the trot. He booted 20 goals in a period of 6 games, including one bag of seven. However, from there, his form tapered and he finished with only nine more goals from the remaining 12 games. Not only was his performance as a damaging forward prominent early in the year, but his toughness was as well. Appropriate considering guerra is Italian, Spanish and Portuguese for "War". He was noted for a number of incidents where he shirtfronted players, including once before the opening bounce of a game (for which he was suspended).

In 2005 he had another average year and people began to question his form as a "Front-runner" who does not perform when the pressure is really on. At the end of the season, while most acknowledged he had an average year, the Saints surprisingly delisted Guerra, who was only 23 years of age at the time.

Fortunately, the Hawthorn Football Club picked him up with pick #3 in the 2005 AFL Pre-season draft. Guerra had a connection with Hawk Coach Alistair Clarkson from Clarkson's time as an Assistant Coach at Port Adelaide. Guerra was re-invented at Hawthorn as a strong-bodied half back flanker and added experience to a very young Hawks lineup in 2006. His hard-nosed approach has at times attracted the attention of umpires, but Guerra has flourished under the attacking and accountable game style of Hawthorn. In both 2007 and 2008 he averaged in excess of 20 possessions per game, displaying a consistency that was lacking earlier in his career up forward. As a part of Hawthorn's 2008 Premiership side, Guerra collected 25 possessions in a reliable display. After twice seeming destined for an early end to his AFL career, Guerra has found his place and has many seasons still ahead of him. His first Premiership coming after several preliminary final failures playing for both the Saints and Power.

Guerra experienced male pattern balding at a young age, and made headlines in late 2005 when he underwent a hair transplant cosmetic surgery procedure. He has said that the operation gave him confidence both on and off the field.