Shaun McManus | |||
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Shaun John McManus | ||
Date of birth | 9 February 1976 | ||
Original team(s) | East Fremantle (WAFL) | ||
Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Weight | 81 kg (179 lb) | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1995 – 2008 | Fremantle | 228 (95) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2008. | |||
Career highlights | |||
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Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Shaun John McManus (born 9 February 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer. He is one of the most popular players to ever represent the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and is often seen as an icon or favourite son of the club. [1] [2] He has been described as the AFL's uphill skiing champion [3] due to his courage, persistence and resilience in overcoming two knee reconstructions.
He was the co-captain of Fremantle in 2000 and 2001, the second player to reach 200 games with the club, and his 228 games was the second most games played for Fremantle behind Shane Parker at the time of his retirement. [4] Following the retirement of Peter Bell during the 2008 season, McManus became the last remaining player from Fremantle's inaugural squad to still be playing in the AFL. [5]
McManus was a highly rated junior player who won the Larke Medal as the best player at the 1993 National Under-17 AFL Youth Championships. [6] [7] He represented Western Australia, alongside future teammates Peter Bell, Jeff Farmer and Troy Cook. He then won a premiership with East Fremantle in the WAFL in 1994, [8] before being selected by Fremantle into their initial squad as a pre-draft selection prior to the 1994 AFL Draft.
McManus made his debut in Round 5 of the 1995 AFL season and played all 18 remaining games for the year. He continued his good form into 1996 and, despite missing 6 games with ankle injuries, finished 10th in the Fremantle Best and Fairest award. [6]
In Round 3, 1997, he suffered a knee injury in the season's first Western Derby and required a full reconstruction. He returned for the start of the 1998 AFL season, but in the Round 6 clash against Port Adelaide he suffered a recurrence of the injury and required a second reconstruction.
He returned again in 1999 and played all but five games over the next six seasons. In 2000, his leadership qualities were recognised when he was awarded the co-captaincy of the club alongside Adrian Fletcher. During the Round 4 2001 Western Derby McManus displayed one of the most courageous acts seen in a derby when he ran back with the flight of the ball to take a mark, only to collide heavily with David Wirrpanda. His resilience was displayed when he continued to play after the collision and kicked the goal from the resulting free kick. [9] [10] He played his 100th game for Fremantle in the second last game of 2001, becoming only the fifth player to do so. [11]
In 2005, however, his form fell away and he struggled for selection. Amid calls for his retirement or delisting, [12] he played on and had one of his best ever seasons in 2006, playing all 22 home and away games and all three finals. In 2007, he was one of only five Fremantle players to play in all 22 matches. Despite this, the calls for retirement continued, [13] especially as it became clear that Fremantle's 2008 season would not result in reaching the finals series. [14] He even denied the rumours early in the season [15] before announcing that his final game of AFL football would be in the Round 18 Western Derby at Subiaco Oval. [8]
McManus played his final game of football on 3 August 2008 against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval, in which the Dockers won by 33 points. McManus received many tributes before and after the match and celebrated the closure of his career with a lap of honour around the oval before he was chaired from the ground by Matthew Pavlich and Ryan Crowley through an honour guard of past and present Fremantle players. [16]
The McManus family is well known in Fremantle: comedian Rove McManus, inaugural Fremantle coach Gerard Neesham, and West Coast's Daniel Kerr are his cousins, he is also related to Con Regan and Melbourne Cup–winning jockey J. J. Miller, and he attended Corpus Christi College in Bateman Western Australia. [9]
At the end of the 2008 season, McManus accepted a part-time role as player development coach. He was the second 2008 retiree to join the Dockers football department, with Luke Webster being appointed as a player development manager. McManus is also the coach of the East Fremantle Junior Football Club, who won the year-10 premiership in 2017.
In 2009, McManus joined the on-air personalities Nathan & Nat for breakfast on Perth radio station Nova 93.7, replacing cricketer Ryan Campbell. [17] He also is the weekend sports newsreader on Nine News in Perth. [18]
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fremantle, a stronghold of Australian rules football in Western Australia. The Dockers were the second team from the state to be admitted to the competition, following the West Coast Eagles in 1987. Both Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles are owned by the West Australian Football Commission (WAFC), with a board of directors operating Fremantle on the commission's behalf.
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are navy blue and gold. Formed as the "Cottesloe Beach Football Club" in 1906, the club entering the WAFL in 1925 as the "Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club"', changing its name to the present in 1935. Claremont have won 12 senior men's premierships since entering the competition, including most recently the 2011 and 2012 premierships.
Peter Francis Bell is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. He played as a rover. A former captain of the Fremantle Football Club, Bell was twice named as a member of the All-Australian Team. He was an acclaimed ball-winner and had more than 30 possessions in a game on 39 occasions in his career.
The Western Derby is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, the term "derby" is used to describe the match. It has become one of the most important matches for football in Western Australia, with former South Fremantle and West Coast player, and former West Coast coach John Worsfold claiming that in the week before a derby that it is the main topic in Perth.
It's obviously different to the build-up of any normal game... We don't care what else is happening in the country, which is great."
Matthew Pavlich is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
David Mundy is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played as a half back flanker or midfielder and was the captain of Fremantle during the 2016 AFL season. Mundy sits eighth in the VFL/AFL games records for most games played.
Paul Andrew Hasleby is a former Australian rules footballer. He played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and the East Fremantle and South Fremantle Football Clubs in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He was the winner of the AFL Rising Star award in 2000, and coached South Fremantle from 2012 to 2014.
James Walker is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He mainly played as a midfielder or a small defender.
Fremantle Football Club's drafting and trading history is often cited as a reason for their poor on-field record; the club took eight years to reach a final, and won their first final in 2006. In recent years, however, they have been successful in finding good players with late round and rookie list selections.
Andrew Foster is an Australian rules footballer, who was rookie listed by the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was taken with Fremantle's second round pick in the 2007 Rookie Draft.
Kepler Bradley is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon and Fremantle Football Clubs in the Australian Football League.
Jonathon Griffin is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A ruckman from Western Australia, Griffin played for East Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) before being drafted by Adelaide at the 2005 Rookie draft. Upgraded to the club's senior list for the 2007 season, he debuted the following season, and played 41 games for Adelaide before being traded to Fremantle during the 2010–11 trading period.
Stephen Hill is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Nicholas Suban is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League.
Greg Broughton is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Jay van Berlo is an Australian rules footballer, who formerly played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He currently plays for the West Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
Nathan Fyfe is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Fremantle captain since the 2017 season. Fyfe is a dual Brownlow Medallist, dual Leigh Matthews Trophy recipient, three-time All-Australian and three-time Doig Medallist. He received a nomination for the 2010 AFL Rising Star award in Round 9 of the 2010 season.
Brennan Cox is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Tiah Toth is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's competition.
Stefan Giro is an Australian rules footballer playing for the West Coast Eagles Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for Fremantle.