Michael Prior (footballer)

Michael Prior (born 6 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the former senior coach of West Coast in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition.

Drafted third overall in the 1992 AFL draft, he made the unusual choice at the time to remain with his original club, East Perth, for the 1993 AFL season, Essendon's famous 'Baby Bombers' premiership-winning year, as he felt that playing regular league football in the WAFL would be better for his development. Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy disagreed with this theory but allowed him to do so.

He played 81 games for the Bombers between 1994 and 2000. After the 2000 season, he was dropped by the Bombers and then picked up by West Coast. He spent two seasons with the Eagles and played just nine games for them due to a devastating knee injury suffered in round 7, 2001; he recovered and continued his tally of games with East Perth in the WAFL when not required and was a member of their 2002 premiership side.

After retiring from the AFL, he continued to play with East Perth until the end of the 2003 season. In total he played 69 games for the Royals.

He was colorfully referred to by 3AW commentator Rex Hunt as "prior conviction".

His son Jaxon has played for the Brisbane Lions since 2020 but was delisted in 2024 and signed by Essendon for 2025.