Shannon Hurn

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.

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
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

Early life

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

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)

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

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

Honours and Achievements

Team

Individual

Statistics
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 256134020601860.20.56.73.310.03.01.0
2007 West Coast 252411717115832972530.50.37.16.613.73.02.2
2008 West Coast 2561353177017100.20.58.82.811.72.81.7
2009 West Coast 252243282159441106240.20.112.87.220.04.81.1
2010 West Coast 2515452033123466300.30.313.52.115.64.42.0
2011 West Coast 252553343109452114440.20.113.74.418.14.61.8
2012 West Coast 252412733976415119570.50.314.13.217.35.02.4
2013 West Coast 2512121602718747260.10.213.32.315.63.92.2
2014 West Coast 25184325083333106450.20.213.94.618.55.92.5
2015 West Coast 252539297114411109420.10.411.94.616.44.41.7
2016 West Coast 252331300113413111400.10.013.04.918.04.81.7
2017 West Coast 252302292165457145440.00.112.77.219.96.31.9
2018# West Coast 252512430101531196440.00.117.24.021.27.81.8
2019 West Coast 252102386104490154310.00.118.45.023.37.31.5
2020[lower-alpha 1] West Coast 2517002056627187260.00.012.13.915.95.11.5
2021 West Coast 25150026067327103240.00.017.34.521.86.91.6
2022 West Coast 25190035680436143330.00.018.74.223.07.51.7
2023 West Coast 2513002027027270250.00.015.55.420.95.41.9
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
  1. Argent, Peter (April 2015). "South Australians in the AFL: the definitive list". InDaily. 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. "Hurn gets nod for Eagles". afl.com.au. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  6. "Captain confirmed: The Shuey fits".
  7. https://www.afl.com.au/news/992500/eagles-great-calls-time-on-decorated-career
  8. "Shannon Hurn". AFL Tables. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
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