Paul Sharkey (born 8 June 1974) 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 who played with Collingwood 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) during the 1990s. Sharkey was only 16 when he came to Collingwood from

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, after being secured with the 22nd pick of the

1990 AFL draft The 1990 AFL draft was the 5th annual draft of Australian rules footballers to the 14 clubs in the Australian Football League. It consisted of the national draft held at the end of the 1990 season, the pre-season draft held before the 1991 AFL ...

. He didn't make his league debut until 1994 and made ten appearances in total for the season, including a qualifying final against

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. A tall defender, he played just once in 1995 but added another ten games in 1996. He was traded to

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

prior to the 1998 season, in exchange for

Shannon Gibson Shannon Gibson (born 7 November 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn and Collingwood in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. Gibson was recruited by Hawthorn with the 23rd pick of the 1993 ...

. Sharkey however wouldn't play another AFL game and saw out the decade at the

Bendigo Bombers The Bendigo Gold Football Club was an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1998 until 2014, under the nicknames Diggers, Bombers and Gold at different ti ...

. Appeared on an episode of ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

'' alongside his wife, mother and daughter in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharkey, Paul 1974 births Collingwood Football Club players Bendigo Football Club players Sandhurst Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Bendigo Living people