John Cameron Sheedy (born 28 September 1926) is a former

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 ...

er and coach. He played for and in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) and in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). Sheedy is considered one of the greatest ever footballers from Western Australia, being the first player from that state to play 300 games in elite Australian rules football, and is a member of both the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

and West Australian Football Halls of Fame. Overall, he played 323 senior career matches from 1944 to 1962, kicking 480 senior career goals, These tallies exclude 37 matches and 48 goals in the WAFL's 1942-1944 under-19s competition. and also coached 272 senior career games, with a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of 65%.

Playing career

Early career and naval service

The son of A. F. "Barney" Sheedy, a former East Fremantle player and WAFL interstate representative, Sheedy attended Richmond State School in

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and Fremantle Boys' School in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, captaining both schools' football teams. He also led the school's batting averages at

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, and later played First Grade cricket for the Fremantle Cricket Club in the

Western Australian Grade Cricket WA Premier Cricket in Western Australia refers to the semi-professional cricket league played at a level below the first-class Western Warriors and other state teams. The competition is administered by the Western Australian Cricket Associati ...

competition. After leaving school, he played for Fremantle in the Fremantle Ex-Scholars competition, before making his debut for East Fremantle in the age-restricted WANFL competition in 1942. He won the Lynn Medal as the club's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

in 1943, and played in East Fremantle's premiership win over . He enlisted in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

in March 1944, at only 17 years of age, and was immediately posted to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He was signed by in the

(VFL), where he played six games, kicking seven goals. Sheedy's unit then went to Sydney in, where he played with Sydney Naval, including in their 1944 premiership win in the

New South Wales Australian National Football League AFL Sydney is an Australian rules football League, based in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. The AFL Sydney competition comprises 126 teams from 22 clubs which play across seven senior men's divisions, five women's divisions, a Master's Divis ...

(NSWANFL). He had kicked the winning goal in the preliminary final against Newtown the previous week with less than three minutes remaining in the match. He kicked 12 goals in three rounds in 1946 before he returned to Western Australia.

Return to Western Australia

Sheedy immediately made his senior debut for East Fremantle.

Transfer to East Perth

Sheedy transferred to for the 1956 season, where he was immediately appointed captain-coach of the club.

Post-playing life

Coaching career

Sheedy served as captain-coach of East Perth from 1956 to 1961, and as non-playing coach from 1962 to 1964, with one final season in 1969.

Honours

In 2001 Sheedy was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

. In 2004 he was inducted to the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

and in 2005 he was elevated to Legend Status.

Reputation

Sheedy had a reputation as one of the toughest and most violent players in the WANFL, and was suspended numerous times.

Personal life

Sheedy worked as a clerk at the Fremantle Harbour Trust.Old Easts have unique record
– '' Western Mail''. Published Thursday, 9 September 1954. Retrieved from ''Trove'', 3 October 2011.

References

External links

*
AFL Hall of Fame
*
John Cameron (Jack) Sheedy
player profile page at WAFLFootyFacts {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheedy, Jack 1926 births Living people Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees East Fremantle Football Club coaches East Fremantle Football Club players East Perth Football Club coaches East Perth Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Fremantle Sydney Swans players Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Military personnel from Western Australia