Shannon Donato (born 3 April 1975) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Penrith Panthers. He also played for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. His position of choice was at .

Background

Shannon Donato was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia

South Sydney

Donato was a

Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are ...

junior and made his first grade debut in Round One, 1995. He went on to play in 19 games for the Rabbitohs over the next three seasons.

Cronulla-Sutherland

In 1998 Donato moved to the Sharks, seeking to become established as a starting hooker. However he only made one appearance for the club in 1998, starting in Round 21, after joining the Club mid season. His 1999 season was more successful as he played in 14 games. At the end of the 1999 season Donato represented

in the first

Mediterranean Cup On 11 July 1998 the first ever 13 a side rugby league match was played between Italia and Lebanon, which took place at Leichhardt Oval - Sydney - Australia, the match was known as 'The Mediterranean Cup'. A crowd of almost 10,000 watched as these ...

. Over the next two seasons Donato played in 19 more games.

Penrith

Donato moved to the Panthers in 2002, one of several players who followed coach John Lang from Cronulla. He played in 25 games for the club over four seasons, his career's later years being marred by injury. In particular his 2003 season was only 80 minutes long after breaking his hand ten minutes into a semi-final appearance. This injury ruined his 2004 season and he did not play a game. He retired at the end of the 2005 season.

Life after League

After retiring Donato moved into the back office for the Panthers. He worked as the Panthers Marketing & Chief Commercial Officer. Donato returned to his first club, the South Sydney Rabbitohs as Chief Commercial Officer and in February 2016 he became the Acting Chief Executive Officer.

References

External links

Shannon Donato bio at Yesterday's HeroShannon Donato bio at Sharks ForeverShannon Donato bio at rugbyleague.co.nz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donato, Shannon 1975 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Italian descent South Sydney Rabbitohs players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Penrith Panthers players Italy national rugby league team captains Italy national rugby league team players Italian rugby league players Italian people of Australian descent Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney