Shannon Hurn

Shannon Hurn
Hurn playing for West Coast in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Shannon William Hurn
Nickname(s) Bunga
Date of birth (1987-09-04) 4 September 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Angaston, South Australia
Original team(s) Central District (SANFL)
Draft 13th overall, 2005 national draft (West Coast)
Height 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2006–2023 West Coast 333 (50)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2023 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Shannon William Hurn (born 4 September 1987) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). From South Australia, he excelled at both cricket and football at junior level, and at one stage had a rookie contract with the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA). Prior to being drafted by West Coast, Hurn played for Central District in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), playing in premiership sides in 2004 and 2005. At West Coast, he debuted during the 2006 season, and played 333 games for the club. Generally playing as a half-back flanker, Hurn had one of the most penetrating kicks in the AFL. He served as West Coast captain for five seasons. On 1 August 2023 he announced he would retire at the end of the 2023 AFL season.

Early life

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Hurn hails from a sporting family; his father William played 135 games with Central District, and his grandfather Brian was a member of South Australia's 1963-64 Sheffield Shield-winning team.[1] Hurn was born in Angaston, South Australia in the Barossa Valley and attended Angaston Primary and Nuriootpa High School. Hurn was heavily involved in school and local sporting clubs, allowing him to excel in his favourite sports: cricket and Australian rules football.

Hurn’s more professional career began whilst playing his two favourite sports simultaneously. He took on a rookie contract with SACA (South Australian Cricket Association) in 2004, turning down a second one in 2005 to focus on his football. Hurn played football for Central District, making it to two premierships in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, Hurn was picked to captain the U-18 South Australian side and also picked in the U-18 All-Australian selection in football.

Hurn was picked 13th in the first round in the 2005 draft to West Coast Eagles.

AFL career

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Hurn made his debut for West Coast in round 5, 2006 against the Brisbane Lions. After playing 6 games in his debut season he solidified his spot in the team, playing every game in 2007. He was nominated for the 2007 AFL Rising Star for his 19 possession performance in round 11 against Essendon.

Hurn played just six games in 2008 because of injury, in what was a poor year for the Eagles, but he rebounded to play 22 games in 2009, and 15 in 2010.[2] In 2011, he truly established himself as an elite kick and a highly damaging player off of the half back line. He was crucial to the Eagles' success, as they rebounded from the wooden spoon the previous year to a top-four team the next. Hurn played every game, including the three finals, including 15 disposals and a goal in the nail biting semi-final win over Carlton.

In 2012, Hurn continued his strong form, playing all 24 games, including an 18 disposal and one goal effort in the Elimination Final demolition of North Melbourne. West Coast missed the finals in 2013,[3] their lack of penetration out of the half-back line noticeable as Hurn played only 12 games.

After Darren Glass retired midway through the 2014 season, Hurn was named acting co-captain of the club for the remainder of the season, along with four other players.[4]

On 8 December 2014 it was announced that Hurn would become the 10th captain of the West Coast Eagles.[5]

Captaincy (2015–2019)

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Hurn started out his captaincy with a highly successful first season in charge, leading West Coast to a grand final berth in 2015. The Eagles lost to Hawthorn by 46 points.

Over the next two years, Hurn continued to provide drive off halfback and through kick-ins. The club continued to reach the finals, but were defeated by the Western Bulldogs in an Elimination Final in 2016, and by Greater Western Sydney in a Semi Final in 2017.

In 2018, Hurn's form improved dramatically; in a change of role in defence, he established himself as one of the best defenders in the comp, earning a maiden All-Australian selection on the halfback flank. This coincided with a remarkable rise for West Coast, with the club expected to fall after losing a substantial amount of experience in the offseason. They made the Grand Final for the first time in three years, facing and defeating Collingwood by five points, with Hurn becoming the third premiership captain in the club's history. He and Mark LeCras were the only players from the Eagles' 2006 playing list to feature in the 2018 Grand Final, although neither he nor LeCras were selected for the 2006 Grand Final.

He continued his strong form into 2019, finishing with a second consecutive All-Australian selection, where he was named as Vice-Captain. He stepped down as captain following the 2019 season, to be replaced by Luke Shuey.[6]

Retirement

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On 1 August 2023 Hurn announced he would retire from the AFL at the end of the 2023 season.[7]

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of the 2023 season[8]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
  #  
Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2006 West Coast 25 6 1 3 40 20 60 18 6 0.2 0.5 6.7 3.3 10.0 3.0 1.0
2007 West Coast 25 24 11 7 171 158 329 72 53 0.5 0.3 7.1 6.6 13.7 3.0 2.2
2008 West Coast 25 6 1 3 53 17 70 17 10 0.2 0.5 8.8 2.8 11.7 2.8 1.7
2009 West Coast 25 22 4 3 282 159 441 106 24 0.2 0.1 12.8 7.2 20.0 4.8 1.1
2010 West Coast 25 15 4 5 203 31 234 66 30 0.3 0.3 13.5 2.1 15.6 4.4 2.0
2011 West Coast 25 25 5 3 343 109 452 114 44 0.2 0.1 13.7 4.4 18.1 4.6 1.8
2012 West Coast 25 24 12 7 339 76 415 119 57 0.5 0.3 14.1 3.2 17.3 5.0 2.4
2013 West Coast 25 12 1 2 160 27 187 47 26 0.1 0.2 13.3 2.3 15.6 3.9 2.2
2014 West Coast 25 18 4 3 250 83 333 106 45 0.2 0.2 13.9 4.6 18.5 5.9 2.5
2015 West Coast 25 25 3 9 297 114 411 109 42 0.1 0.4 11.9 4.6 16.4 4.4 1.7
2016 West Coast 25 23 3 1 300 113 413 111 40 0.1 0.0 13.0 4.9 18.0 4.8 1.7
2017 West Coast 25 23 0 2 292 165 457 145 44 0.0 0.1 12.7 7.2 19.9 6.3 1.9
2018# West Coast 25 25 1 2 430 101 531 196 44 0.0 0.1 17.2 4.0 21.2 7.8 1.8
2019 West Coast 25 21 0 2 386 104 490 154 31 0.0 0.1 18.4 5.0 23.3 7.3 1.5
2020[a] West Coast 25 17 0 0 205 66 271 87 26 0.0 0.0 12.1 3.9 15.9 5.1 1.5
2021 West Coast 25 15 0 0 260 67 327 103 24 0.0 0.0 17.3 4.5 21.8 6.9 1.6
2022 West Coast 25 19 0 0 356 80 436 143 33 0.0 0.0 18.7 4.2 23.0 7.5 1.7
2023 West Coast 25 13 0 0 202 70 272 70 25 0.0 0.0 15.5 5.4 20.9 5.4 1.9
Career 333 50 52 4569 1560 6129 1783 604 0.2 0.2 13.7 4.7 18.4 5.4 1.8

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

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  1. ^ Argent, Peter (April 2015). "South Australians in the AFL: the definitive list". InDaily. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  2. ^ "AFL Tables - Shannon Hurn - Stats - Statistics".
  3. ^ "West Coast Eagles 2013 season report card | Herald Sun". Archived from the original on 18 September 2013.
  4. ^ Alex Malcolm (13 June 2014). Up to five could rotate West Coast captaincy – Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  5. ^ Malcolm, Alex (8 December 2014). "Hurn gets nod for Eagles". afl.com.au. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Captain confirmed: The Shuey fits". 6 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Eagles great calls time on decorated career". August 2023.
  8. ^ "Shannon Hurn". AFL Tables. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
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