Shaun Higgins (born 4 March 1988) is a former professional

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 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). Higgins played for the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

from 2006 to 2014, the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

from 2015 to 2020 and the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

from 2021 to 2022. Higgins is a dual Syd Barker Medallist and was selected in the 2018 All-Australian team. He received a nomination for the 2007 AFL Rising Star award in round 8 of the 2007 season.

Early life

Higgins was raised in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and attended St Joseph's College. He played junior football for

Newtown & Chilwell Football Club Newtown & Chilwell Sporting Club, nicknamed the ''Eagles'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the inner western suburb of Newtown, Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the regional Geelong Football Netball Lea ...

and was a supporter. His father Mick played reserves football for Geelong. His sister

Danielle Danielle is a modern French female variant of the male name Daniel, meaning "God is my judge" in the Hebrew language. Variants *Dana – Czech, German, Romanian Polish *Danette – English *Daniela – Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Germ ...

played netball for the Geelong Cougars in the

Victorian Netball League The Victorian Netball League is a state netball league featuring teams from Victoria, Australia. The league is organised by Netball Victoria. The modern league was first played for during the 2009 season. It replaced an earlier state league as th ...

and played football for in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

(AFLW). Higgins was the Geelong Falcons' best onballer and was projected to be a top-ten selection in the 2005 AFL draft, but fell to pick 11, the 's first selection.

AFL career

Western Bulldogs (2006–2014)

He managed to make his debut in his first season, against Collingwood. He played mostly as a small forward then but suffered a season-ending elbow injury in round 13 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 ...

, ruling him out of that year's finals campaign. Before his injury he showed flashes of brilliance in front of goals. But his fitness levels were not quite up. But even at that stage he was a standout with his accurate kicking and awareness of what was around him. With the frustration of missing his first season, This was Higgins' breakout year after coming off a season ending elbow injury. He proved a handy Goal Kicker up forward that could take a good mark and set up players for a Goal. This was the year where the doubters got off his back and found out just how good he really was, and proved what kind of prospect he is. The game most notable was against the team he made his debut against, Collingwood where he kicked the Winning Goal. He was the Round 8 nominee for the 2007

NAB Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

award. With a great win against Adelaide to open the season Higgins played a vital role in the win. His Season was cut short in round 2 with a Broken Ankle against Melbourne when he landed on it coming down from a Marking contest. It was only supposed to keep him our for a few weeks but the injury was worse than first thought. But came back to play in the Finals. Higgins learned a valuable lesson that year and it has made him a better Footballer. When he was injured he was always in the Bulldogs rooms encouraging his team mates and this was the first sign of Leadership that he shown and he later was voted by his peers as a leader. In the preliminary Final against , Higgins was playing on Darren Milburn, Higgins went on to kick two goals on him and set one up and Milburn got taken off the ground.Cresswell, Joel (4 September 2009
Geelong boy plans Cats' demise
/ref> Although he is primarily a forward, Higgins has been used sometimes in the midfield. In 2009 Higgins was promoted into the Leadership group. And he received the famous number 7 that was worn by Scott West and Doug Hawkins before him. Higgins had a brilliant pre-season that was up there with Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd in the time trials. He is touted as being a potential captain of the Club. He had a solid 2009 season but had hamstring troubles that put a damper on his performance. He has the ability of kicking both feet and has great speed. His most notable goal was against Geelong. He is a very fit onballer that can run all day. He signed a contract extension midway through the season.

North Melbourne (2015–2020)

On 3 October 2014, Higgins signed with the North Melbourne Football Club as a restricted free agent after the Western Bulldogs decided not to match the Kangaroos' offer. Higgins had a stellar first season with North Melbourne, playing 24 games and kicking 39 goals. Higgins was also one of their most consistent players all year playing as a high half forward. The 2016 season however, was not one to remember for Higgins as he injured himself in round 7, thus ruling him out for three months. Higgins returned in round 23 and played in the losing elimination final. Higgins played every match for the 2017 season apart from the round five match against to go on and win his first

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 ...

, the Syd Barker Medal. At the end of the 2019 season, Higgins signed a one-year contract extension, turning his back on interest from Geelong.

Geelong (2021–2022)

At the conclusion of the 2020 season, Higgins was asked to look elsewhere by North Melbourne to secure his future and accepted a two-year deal at Geelong; he was traded for pick 30 in that year's draft.

Statistics

, - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, , , , 19 , 5 , , 3 , , 3 , , 36 , , 24 , , 60 , , 14 , , 9 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 7.2 , , 4.8 , , 12.0 , , 2.8 , , 1.8 , , 0 , - ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, , , , 19 , 20 , , 26 , , 10 , , 127 , , 120 , , 247 , , 74 , , 38 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 6.4 , , 6.0 , , 12.4 , , 3.7 , , 1.9 , , 1 , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , , , 19 , 7 , , 4 , , 6 , , 45 , , 52 , , 97 , , 20 , , 18 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 6.4 , , 7.4 , , 13.9 , , 2.9 , , 2.6 , , 0 , - ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , , , 7 , 20 , , 32 , , 18 , , 231 , , 191 , , 422 , , 105 , , 52 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , , 11.6 , , 9.6 , , 21.1 , , 5.3 , , 2.6 , , 11 , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , , , 7 , 17 , , 17 , , 8 , , 185 , , 158 , , 343 , , 63 , , 52 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 10.9 , , 9.3 , , 20.2 , , 3.7 , , 3.1 , , 1 , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , , , 7 , 18 , , 12 , , 16 , , 205 , , 173 , , 378 , , 80 , , 70 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , , 11.4 , , 9.6 , , 21.0 , , 4.4 , , 3.9 , , 1 , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, , , , 7 , 19 , , 22 , , 16 , , 195 , , 146 , , 341 , , 81 , , 57 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 10.3 , , 7.7 , , 17.9 , , 4.3 , , 3.0 , , 0 , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, , , , 7 , 3 , , 3 , , 4 , , 30 , , 11 , , 41 , , 17 , , 10 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 10.0 , , 3.7 , , 13.7 , , 5.7 , , 3.3 , , 0 , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , , , 7 , 20 , , 9 , , 4 , , 212 , , 196 , , 408 , , 72 , , 64 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 10.6 , , 9.8 , , 20.4 , , 3.6 , , 3.2 , , 2 , - ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, , , , 4 , 24 , , 39 , , 26 , , 233 , , 236 , , 469 , , 104 , , 90 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , 9.7 , , 9.8 , , 19.5 , , 4.3 , , 3.8 , , 8 , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, , , , 4 , 9 , , 11 , , 5 , , 67 , , 83 , , 150 , , 34 , , 31 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 7.4 , , 9.2 , , 16.7 , , 3.8 , , 3.4 , , 1 , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, , , , 4 , 21 , , 18 , , 25 , , 269 , , 224 , , 493 , , 77 , , 106 , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 12.8 , , 10.7 , , 23.5 , , 3.7 , , 5.0 , , 9 , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, , , , 4 , 20 , , 14 , , 16 , , 281 , , 267 , , 548 , , 66 , , 58 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 14.1 , , 13.4 , , 27.4 , , 3.3 , , 2.9 , , 15 , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 4 , 17 , , 10 , , 11 , , 222 , , 261 , , 483 , , 64 , , 49 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 13.1 , , 15.4 , , 28.4 , , 3.8 , , 2.9 , , 18 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , , , 4 , 17 , , 4 , , 1 , , 186 , , 177 , , 363 , , 63 , , 50 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 10.9 , , 10.4 , , 21.4 , , 3.7 , , 2.9 , , 2 , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , , , 4 , 18 , , 4 , , 12 , , 157 , , 177 , , 334 , , 80 , , 49 , , 0.2 , , 0.7 , , 8.7 , , 9.8 , , 18.6 , , 4.4 , , 2.7 , , 1 , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, , , , 4 , 5 , , 1 , , 1 , , 41 , , 42 , , 83 , , 15 , , 19 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 8.2 , , 8.4 , , 16.6 , , 3.0 , , 3.8 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 260 !! 229 !! 182 !! 2722 !! 2538 !! 5260 !! 1029 !! 822 !! 0.9 !! 0.7 !! 10.5 !! 9.8 !! 20.2 !! 4.0 !! 3.2 !! 70 Notes

Personal life

In November 2015, Higgins married partner Heidi Greig. They have a daughter named Rosie who was born in April 2018. In February 2021, the couple welcomed twins, a daughter named Emmeline and a son named Harry.

Honours and achievements

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

* Syd Barker Medal: 2017, 2018 * Australia representative honours in

International Rules Football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

* Victoria representative honours in

State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match The State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match was a one-off all-star game between two representative sides organised by the Australian Football League to raise funds for recovery efforts following the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. The ...

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

nominee:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Shaun 1988 births Living people Western Bulldogs players North Melbourne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Geelong Falcons players St Joseph's Football Club players Syd Barker Medal winners Australia international rules football team players All-Australians (AFL) Geelong Football Club players