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ABC News
ABC News
National

Neil Kerley's family accepts offer of state funeral for South Australian football legend

Neil Kerley was known as "Knuckles" and the king of South Australian football. (ABC News)

The family of South Australian football legend Neil Kerley has accepted the offer of a state funeral.

Premier Peter Malinauskas says more details will be announced in coming days.

Kerley, 88, died on Wednesday when his car left a road near his house in Walker Flat and crashed into a paddock.

Kerley was known as the king of South Australian football and had been inducted into the South Australian and Australian football halls of fame.

He played 275 games in the SANFL, coached for another 628 and represented South Australia in state football 32 times.

Mr Malinauskas said he called Kerley's wife Barb with the offer last night. 

He said plans would be worked through with her and the family in coming days. 

"We want to make sure that this state funeral is done in such a way that it is utterly in conjunction with the family's wishes," he said.

"They of course know Neil best and how best to celebrate his life, but she accepts that he was a great South Australian and wants to celebrate his contribution in a way that I think is a bit more accessible to the South Australian public.

"I think that's incredibly generous of her and we'll be working over coming days to put those arrangements in place and we'll have more to say on that in due course."

A tribute to Neil Kerley on the scoreboard at Adelaide Oval yesterday. (ABC News: Patrick Martin)

The most recent state funeral was held for fellow SANFL legend Russell Ebert in November.  

Mr Malinauskas said it was not certain if Kerley's state funeral would be open to the public.

"I'm really keen to make sure that we're guided by Barb and the family but Barb … said that she had been very overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotion from so many South Australians and had been deeply moved by it  — I'd imagine it would be hard not to be — but she said she was humbled by it," he said.

"But for everybody else, we're watching knowing full well that the accolades Neil is receiving are more than appropriate — so a state funeral is a significant honour and I think Neil Kerley very much deserves it."

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