Shannon Jay McDonnell (born 5 August 1987) is a former

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

international

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 last played for St Helens in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He had previously played for

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

clubs the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

and the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

, and in the

for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

and

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

. He primarily played as a and as a .

Background

McDonnell was born in

Camden, New South Wales Camden is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, located 65 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Camden was the administrative centre for the local government area of Camden Council until July/August ...

, Australia. McDonnell is of Irish descent and attended Mount Carmel High School and

Westfields Sports High School , motto_translation = Courage and Valour , established = , location = 406A Hamilton Road, Fairfield West, Western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , type = Government-funded co-educational comprehensive a ...

, while playing his junior football for All Saints Liverpool. He was then signed by the

. He is the son of Wests Tigers Recruitment Manager Warren McDonnell.

Playing career

Early career

In 2004, McDonnell played for the

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 ...

Under-17s team. The next season, he played for the New South Wales Under-19s team and made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

début for the

against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

in Round 26 of the 2005 NRL season.

Wests Tigers

Having played one game for Tigers in 2005, McDonnell was named as the probable replacement for winger

Pat Richards Pat Richards (born 27 February 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer. An Ireland international er, he played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs the Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers, with whom he won the 2005 NRL ...

, if he was unable to overcome an ankle injury, to take his place in the 2005 NRL Grand Final team. In 2006, McDonnell played on the in the Tigers' 30–10 loss to

champions

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

in the 2006 World Club Challenge, and also played for the New South Wales Under-19s team and

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

In 2008, McDonnell made himself available for

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

campaign. Although named in the Ireland training squad for the World Cup, he was forced to withdraw through injury.

Newcastle Knights

On 7 May 2009, McDonnell joined the

mid-season for the remainder of the year, after being released from his Tigers contract. At the conclusion of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL ...

, McDonnell joined Hull KR in the English Super League.

Hull Kingston Rovers

At the beginning of 2012, McDonnell joined the

in the

on a 1-year contract, following his former Knights assistant coach

Craig Sandercock Craig Sandercock is an Australian rugby league coach who is the head coach for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs women's team. He was previously assistant coach to the Bulldogs men's NRL team and the head coach of Super League team Hull Kingsto ...

. In June 2012, McDonnell played for the Exiles.

Hull F.C.

On 26 October 2012, McDonnell signed a 2-year contract with Hull KR's cross city rival team in

, starting in 2013. In his first year at the club, he helped the team to the

2013 Challenge Cup The 2013 Challenge Cup (also known as the Tetley's Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 112th staging of the most competitive European rugby league tournament at club level and was open to teams from England, Wales, Scotland and France. ...

Final against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

where they were defeated 16–0.

St Helens

On 3 July 2014, McDonnell joined St Helens mid-season for the remainder of the year, after resigning from his Hull F.C. contract. In October and November 2014, McDonnell played for Ireland in the

2014 European Cup The 2014 European Cup was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place in England, Wales, France, Ireland and Scotland between 17 October and 2 November. It was announced beforehand that the winner of the tournamen ...

. He scored two tries on début as Ireland beat

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

22–12 in their European Cup opener. On 5 January 2015, McDonnell signed a train and trial contract to return to his first club

, in the hope of impressing for a second-tier contract. On 30 April 2015, McDonnell rejoined St Helens effective immediately on a 2-year contract. In 2016, he was called up to the Ireland squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup European Pool B qualifiers.

Camden Rams

McDonnell played for the

Camden Rams The Camden Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Camden, New South Wales, formed in 1910. They currently play in the Group 6 Rugby League competition. In the 1920s the club competed in the Southern Dis ...

in 2017. In October 2017, Shannon was called up to the Ireland squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
*(archived by web.archive.org
Newcastle Knights profileNRL.com profile2017 RLWC profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Shannon 1987 births Living people Australian people of Irish descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian rugby league players Central Coast Centurions players Exiles rugby league team players Hull F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers players Ireland national rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers St Helens R.F.C. players Wests Tigers NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players