Shayne McMenemy (born 19 July 1975) 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 11 ...

footballer who played as a back rower in the 1990s and 2000s. He played club football in Australia for the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

and

WA Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition i ...

, and in England for the

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

( Heritage № 1109), Halifax 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 were ...

Early years

McMenemy was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He attended Macquarie Fields High School in his early years, before attending

St Gregory's College, Campbelltown , motto_translation = What you sow, so shall you reap , established = , type = Independent single-sex and co-educational comprehensive and specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school , specialist = Agricultural sch ...

Playing career

Australia

A Macquarie Fields Hawks Junior, McMenemy made his first grade début in 1997 against the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful i ...

. The Magpies won the game against a Balmain Tigers team including

Ellery Hanley Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley MBE (born 27 March 1961) is an English former rugby league player and coach. Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds. He won 36 ...

and

Paul Sironen Paul Sironen (born 23 May 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Finnish descent who was a prominent Second-row forward for the Balmain Tigers during the late 1980s, and early 1990s. He was part of the team that ...

. McMenemy signed a scholarship at 14 and went on to play Harold Mathews, SG Ball, Jersey Flegg, Presidents Cup, Reserve Grade and first grade. McMenemy début in the

Tommy Raudonikis Thomas Walter Raudonikis (13 April 1950 – 7 April 2021) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played 40 International games and World Cup games as Australia representative and captained his country in two matches of the 1 ...

era in the late 1990s. McMenemy mostly played for the Magpies. A bad elbow injury finished off his career in 1999 and he joined the Super League.

England

McMenemy's English career started at

where he played a handful of games before moving onto

. McMenemy was named Player of the Year and Clubman of the Year, and was selected in the Northern Ford Dream Team of the year.

finished one game short of the grand final. McMenemy signed on for

for the 2001 season but only played one game before he transferred to Halifax. McMenemy was named player of the year in 2001 and Defensive player of the Year in 2002. By mid-2003, Halifax were experiencing financial problems and McMenemy was signed by

Hull F.C. 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 were ...

midseason. Making his début against the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two r ...

, McMenemy dislocated his elbow and only appeared in a few games at the end of the season. McMenemy played 2nd row for

, and was part of the winning

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying Round First Round Second Round Third Round Fou ...

team at the Millennium Stadium,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

against

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

, 25–24. McMenemy played a major role in the semi final against St. Helens, scoring two tries in the 34–8. Hull reached the 2006 Super League Grand final against St. Helens, and McMenemy played at second-row forward in his side's 4–26 loss at Old Trafford,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. McMenemy's career with Hull ended with a serious injury, when he dislocated his shoulder scoring against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats at Belle Vue, requiring season-ending surgery. He was named in the Ireland training squad for the

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 ...

. After not initially being selected for the final 24-man squad, he was called up as a replacement in the

squad for the

. In 2008 McMenemy returned to Australia to play in the

Jim Beam Cup Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

for

as captain-coach. He was included in the Jim Beam Cup NSW team in the Quad series.

References

External links

Ireland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMenemy, Shayne 1976 births Living people Australian people of Irish descent Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Hull F.C. players Ireland national rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league second-rows Western Suburbs Magpies players