25 Broken Hill sporting icons – Brent Staker
Peter Argent
A SON and a nephew of talented West Broken Hill sportsmen, Brent Staker grew up in the Silver City, being educated at Burke Ward Public School.
During his schooling, Staker was involved in making a time capsule which was opened in 2020.
His father is Allen Staker and uncle is Peter.
A talented all-round sportsman in the district, he made his A Grade football debut in 2000 at age 16 for West Broken Hill, playing in their losing Broken Hill Football League grand final side that year.
He joined the NSW/ACT Rams and was drafted from this program by the West Coast Eagles.
A true tall utility player, Staker was 196cm (6’5”) tall and would fill out into a 100 kg frame.
He was selected at number 37 overall in the 2002 National AFL draft and Staker made his debut at the top level in 2003.
His first game was against Hawthorn in front of over 40,000 Eagles fans at Subiaco in round 17, with the hosts enjoying a big 56-point win.
In round seven of the 2004 campaign, he earned an AFL Rising Star nomination when he kicked three goals against Melbourne.
He was a member of West Coast Eagles side, which lost the 2005 grand final in a low scoring thriller, but after playing 23 games in the ’06 premiership campaign, was left out of the side after one final.
He was the unlucky victim in the infamous Barry Hall incident during Round 4 of the 2008 season.
Brutally attacked without provocation, Staker was punched in the face by Hall, Sydney Swans’ full-forward. Graphic footage from the incident indicated that contact was made with a punch to the jaw and Staker took no further part in the game, remaining off the field for the remainder of the contest.
After 110 games in the Eagles’ blue and gold, at the end of the 2009 season, Staker told the club that he wished to be traded away from Western Australia.
He was traded to the Brisbane Lions with its third-round draft pick (#39 overall) for Bradd Dalziell.
After exactly 50 games with the Lions, 160 AFL matches in total, Staker in August 2015, he announced his retirement from the AFL, effective at the end season.
It wasn’t the playing swansong he was looking for, as prior to what would have been his final match, he injured his hamstring in the warm-up and was a late withdrawal.
The next season, he took a role as the Lions’ defensive coach in the AFL Women’s team working alongside Craig Starcevich.
Staker was a foundational member of the team’s coaching staff since the competition started in 2016; he departed from the role on a high after the winning the 2021 premiership.
The Brisbane Lions defeated the Adelaide Crows by 18 points at Adelaide Oval, in front of 22,000 spectators.
For Staker and the Lions players, this year’s victory was well worth the wait after two previous AFLW grand final losses in 2017 and 2018.
“(It was) third time lucky for me,” Staker said after he finished his time in the AFLW coaching ranks.
“I mean I’ve been in footy for a long time and to get a premiership on the coaching side is great,” he said.
“I’ve never really had one as a player, but to get one as a coach feels amazing and clearly it’s something that I’ll always cherish and look back on.”
It total, Staker had 18 years at the top level of our national Indigenous football code, Australian Rules Football, 13 as a player and a further five as a coach.
Staker’s partner is cook and television presenter Justine Schofield and they have a son, Louis, born in September 2022.
