Guy Lindsay McKenna (born 11 May 1969) is a retired

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player and the former senior coach of the

Gold Coast Football Club The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). McKenna played 267 games for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

, including the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

premiership wins. He captained the club between

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2000 AFL season The 2000 AFL season was the 104th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured six ...

WAFL career

Educated at

Carine Senior High School Carine Senior High School is a public co-educational high day school, located in the suburb of Carine, approximately north-west of Perth, Western Australia. History Carine Senior High School was established in 1973 and reached senior high sch ...

and originally from Carine Junior Football Club, McKenna was zoned to in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL), where he played 49 games in four seasons from 1985 to 1987 and in 1992, including the Tigers' 1987 premiership.

Playing career

West Coast Eagles

McKenna was recruited by the

for the 1988 season with a pre-draft selection. He played for the Eagles from 1988 until 2000, notching up 267 games and booting 28 goals. He formed one of the most feared backlines in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

, along with

John Worsfold John Richard Worsfold (born 25 September 1968) is a former Australian rules football coach and player. He was the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between October 2015 and September 2020. He pr ...

Ashley McIntosh Ashley McIntosh (born 20 October 1972) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). The son ...

Glen Jakovich Glen Darren Jakovich (born 24 March 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Jakovich was recruited from South Fremantle in the West Australian Football Leag ...

and Michael Brennan and was known for his cool demeanour and reliability. McKenna was also part of the club's

and

premiership sides. He won the Club Champion Award twice, once in 1989 and the other in 1999, finishing in the top three another five times. He was captain from 1998 until his retirement at the end of 2000. He kicked a memorable goal on the final kick of his career in Round 22 2000 which frenzied the crowd at Subiaco Oval. McKenna boasts two unusual on-field distinctions from his career: In Round 20, 1994, he was the first player ever ordered from the ground under the

blood rule A blood rule is a rule used in many sports that generally states that an athlete that receives an open wound, is bleeding, or who has blood on them or their clothes, must immediately leave the playing area to receive medical attention. Though they ...

, which had been introduced to the league that week. Then, in a match against in Round 22, 1999, for the first time since

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

's Jack Clarke in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, McKenna became the third captain in league history to call for a headcount; however, the teams were even.

Coaching career

Early career

After retiring, he coached in the

as senior coach of the

Claremont Football Club 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 na ...

with considerable success before moving to an assistant coaching role with the

Collingwood Football Club assistant coach (2003–2008)

McKenna joined

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

at the end of 2003 as an assistant coach under senior coach

Michael Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, Maltho ...

his former mentor. McKenna left the Collingwood Football Club at the end of the 2008 season.

Gold Coast Suns senior coach (2011–2014)

In 2008, McKenna was appointed the inaugural senior coach of the newly founded Gold Coast Suns Football Club. He oversaw their TAC Cup and VFL campaigns prior to their entrance in the AFL. In the 2011 season, the Gold Coast Suns under McKenna in its inaugural season in the

league, finished in last place on the ladder with three wins and nineteen losses for the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

. In the 2012 season, the Gold Coast suns under McKenna finished in seventeenth position (second-last) on the ladder, yet again with three wins and nineteen losses. In the 2013 season, the Gold Coast Suns under McKenna improved on-field performance when they finished fourteenth on the ladder with eight wins and fourteen losses. In the 2014 season, Gold Coast Suns under McKenna finished in twelve place on the ladder with ten wins and twelve losses. But however after the Suns failed to make the finals in their first four years in the

senior competition league, McKenna was sacked as senior coach of the Gold Coast Suns on 1 October 2014, at the end of the 2014 season. McKenna was then replaced by

Rodney Eade Rodney Eade (born 4 April 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach in the Australian Football League. He is a former coach of the Sydney Swans, the Western Bulldogs and the Gold Coast Football Club. He has, to date, coached 37 ...

as Gold Coast Suns Football Club senior coach. McKenna coached Gold Coast Suns Football Club to a total of 88 games with 24 wins and 64 losses to a winning percentage of 27 percent.

Essendon Football Club assistant coach (2015–2017)

On 9 November 2015, McKenna was appointed as an assistant coach in the position of line coach at under senior coach

, who he previously played with as a former teammate at West Coast Eagles. McKenna left the Essendon Football Club at the end of the 2017 season.

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 18 , , 0 , , 3 , , 169 , , 156 , , 325 , , 73 , , 17 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 9.4 , , 8.7 , , 18.1 , , 4.1 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 20 , , 1 , , 1 , , 184 , , 184 , , 368 , , 113 , , 26 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 9.2 , , 9.2 , , 18.4 , , 5.7 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 26 , , 4 , , 3 , , 252 , , 210 , , 462 , , 97 , , 52 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 9.7 , , 8.1 , , 17.8 , , 3.7 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 26 , , 2 , , 6 , , 259 , , 210 , , 469 , , 80 , , 41 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 10.0 , , 8.1 , , 18.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 12 , , 2 , , 2 , , 91 , , 95 , , 186 , , 37 , , 22 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 7.6 , , 7.9 , , 15.5 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 21 , , 1 , , 1 , , 199 , , 165 , , 364 , , 92 , , 39 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.5 , , 7.9 , , 17.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 25 , , 5 , , 4 , , 227 , , 202 , , 429 , , 103 , , 49 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 9.1 , , 8.1 , , 17.2 , , 4.1 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 23 , , 5 , , 2 , , 155 , , 208 , , 363 , , 81 , , 44 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 6.7 , , 9.0 , , 15.8 , , 3.5 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 22 , , 5 , , 0 , , 204 , , 175 , , 379 , , 118 , , 58 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 9.3 , , 8.0 , , 17.2 , , 5.4 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 20 , , 1 , , 0 , , 177 , , 145 , , 322 , , 89 , , 58 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 8.9 , , 7.3 , , 16.1 , , 4.5 , , 2.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 22 , , 1 , , 1 , , 209 , , 161 , , 370 , , 82 , , 64 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.5 , , 7.3 , , 16.8 , , 3.7 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 23 , , 0 , , 1 , , 216 , , 175 , , 391 , , 113 , , 41 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.4 , , 7.6 , , 17.0 , , 4.9 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 9 , , 1 , , 1 , , 56 , , 63 , , 119 , , 31 , , 12 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 6.2 , , 7.0 , , 13.2 , , 3.4 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 267 ! 28 ! 25 ! 2398 ! 2149 ! 4547 ! 1109 ! 523 ! 0.1 ! 0.1 ! 9.0 ! 8.0 ! 17.0 ! 4.2 ! 2.0

Coaching statistics

:Guy McKenna's coaching profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 3 , , 19 , , 0 , , 13.6% , , 17 , , 17 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 3 , , 19 , , 0 , , 13.6% , , 17 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 8 , , 14 , , 0 , , 36.4% , , 14 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 10 , , 12 , , 0 , , 45.5% , , 12 , , 18 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 88 ! 24 ! 64 ! 0 ! 27.3% ! colspan="2",

References

External links

Official Website of the West Coast Eagles
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Guy 1969 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Claremont Football Club players Claremont Football Club coaches Gold Coast Suns coaches People educated at Carine Senior High School Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees John Worsfold Medal winners West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles Premiership players Western Australian State of Origin players Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players