Shaun John McManus (born 9 February 1976) 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. He is one of the most popular players to ever represent the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...

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) and is often seen as an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

or favourite son of the club. He has been described as the AFL's uphill skiing champion due to his courage, persistence and resilience in overcoming two knee reconstructions. He was the co-captain of Fremantle in 2000 and 2001, the second player to reach 200 games with the club, and his 228 games was the second most games played for Fremantle behind Shane Parker at the time of his retirement. Following the retirement of Peter Bell during the 2008 season, McManus became the last remaining player from Fremantle's inaugural squad to still be playing in the AFL.

Early career

McManus was a highly rated junior player who won the

Larke Medal The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

as the best player at the 1993 National Under-17 AFL Youth Championships. He represented

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, alongside future teammates Peter Bell, Jeff Farmer and Troy Cook. He then won a premiership with

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 fa ...

in the WAFL in 1994,Hope, Shayne
Shaun McManus hangs up boots

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

; 2008-07-28 before being selected by

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 ...

into their initial squad as a pre-draft selection prior to the 1994 AFL Draft.

Introduction to the AFL

McManus made his debut in Round 5 of the

1995 AFL season The 1995 AFL season was the 99th 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 league expanded to s ...

and played all 18 remaining games for the year. He continued his good form into 1996 and, despite missing 6 games with ankle injuries, finished 10th in the Fremantle Best and Fairest award. In Round 3, 1997, he suffered a knee injury in the season's first

Western Derby The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...

and required a full reconstruction. He returned for the start of the

1998 AFL season The 1998 AFL season was the 102nd 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 sixt ...

, but in the Round 6 clash against

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

he suffered a recurrence of the injury and required a second reconstruction.

Return from injury

He returned again in 1999 and played all but five games over the next six seasons. In 2000, his leadership qualities were recognised when he was awarded the co-captaincy of the club alongside

Adrian Fletcher Adrian Fletcher (born 10 October 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer and current assistant coach. He is regarded as one of football's nomads, having played for five Australian Football League clubs in his 13-year career. Fletcher's ...

. During the Round 4 2001

McManus displayed one of the most courageous acts seen in a derby when he ran back with the flight of the ball to take a mark, only to collide heavily with

David Wirrpanda David Selwyn Burralung Merringwuy Galarrwuy Wyal Wirrpanda ( ; born 3 August 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his career with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Born in Melbourne, Wirrpand ...

. His resilience was displayed when he continued to play after the collision and kicked the goal from the resulting free kick. He played his 100th game for

in the second last game of 2001, becoming only the fifth player to do so. In 2005, however, his form fell away and he struggled for selection. Amid calls for his retirement or delisting, he played on and had one of his best ever seasons in 2006, playing all 22 home and away games and all three finals. In 2007, he was one of only five Fremantle players to play in all 22 matches. Despite this, the calls for retirement continued, especially as it became clear that Fremantle's 2008 season would not result in reaching the finals series. He even denied the rumours early in the season before announcing that his final game of AFL football would be in the Round 18 Western Derby at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

McManus played his final game of football on 3 August 2008 against 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 ...

, in which the Dockers won by 33 points. McManus received many tributes before and after the match and celebrated the closure of his career with a lap of honour around the oval before he was chaired from the ground by

Matthew Pavlich Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premi ...

and

Ryan Crowley Ryan Crowley (born 5 March 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played as a midfielder and specialise ...

through an honour guard of past and present Fremantle players.

Family connections

The McManus family is well known in

: comedian

Rove McManus John Henry Michael McManus (born 21 January 1974), better known by the stage name Rove McManus, is an Australian triple Gold Logie award-winning comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the e ...

, inaugural

coach

Gerard Neesham Gerard Joseph Neesham (born 11 December 1954) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the East Fremantle Football Club, Swan Districts Football Club and Claremont ...

, and

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 ...

Daniel Kerr Daniel Alan Kerr (born 16 May 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 220 games for the club between 2001 and 2013, as a hard-running inside midfie ...

are his cousins, he is also related to

Con Regan Cornelius John "Con" Regan (30 September 1934 – 11 May 2007) was an Australian rules footballer for the East Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) from 1953 until 1965. He was the first East Fremantle ...

and

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

–winning

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

J. J. Miller, and he attended Corpus Christi College in

Bateman Bateman may refer to: Places *Bateman, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Australia **Electoral district of Bateman, an electorate of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, centred on the suburb *Batemans Bay, a town and bay in New South W ...

.Clarke, Tim
Derby to be McManus' final game

WAtoday WAtoday is an online newspaper, focusing its coverage on Perth and Western Australia. It was established on 10 June 2008, and is owned by Fairfax Digital (now Nine Publishing, under Nine Entertainment Co). The company employs ten journalists i ...

; 2008-07-31

Post-football career

At the end of the 2008 season, McManus accepted a part-time role as player development coach. He was the second 2008 retiree to join the Dockers football department, with Luke Webster being appointed as a player development manager. McManus is also the coach of the

Junior Football Club, who won the year-10 premiership in 2017. In 2009, McManus joined the on-air personalities Nathan & Nat for breakfast on

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

radio station

Nova 93.7 Nova 93.7 (call sign: 6PER) is a commercial radio station in Perth, Western Australia. Jointly owned by NOVA Entertainment and Australian Radio Network, it was established in the Perth market on 5 December 2002. Nova 93.7 was launched at 3pm b ...

, replacing cricketer

Ryan Campbell Ryan John Campbell (born 7 February 1972) is an Australian former cricketer who represented both Australia and Hong Kong internationally. He is the current head coach of the Dutch national team, having taken on the role in April 2017. Campb ...

. He also is the weekend sports newsreader on ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

'' in Perth.Pepper, Dail
Macca to make his TV newsreading debut
WAToday; 17 December 2008

References

External links

*
WAFL game statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, Shaun East Fremantle Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players Living people Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia People educated at Corpus Christi College, Perth 1976 births Western Australian State of Origin players Fremantle Football Club captains