Michael McGuane (born 29 December 1967) 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who represented and in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s.
Playing career
Early years (1987–1990)
McGuane showed great promise for his local club
Sebastopol in the
Ballarat Football League
The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria (state), Victoria.
The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat F ...
. He made his senior debut for the club in 1985 while still a teenager and was a member of the side that lost heavily in the Grand Final to
North Ballarat.
Ignored by , who had the Ballarat region in their
recruiting zone, were quick to pounce, and signed McGuane to their Under 19s squad for the 1986.
McGuane made his senior debut 1987 with and showed great skills as a running midfielder. In 1988 he finished second to
Peter Daicos in the
Copeland Trophy
The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year.
The Copeland Shield, as it was formerly known, was donated by Ern Cop ...
count. In
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
he was one of five Magpies - others being captain
Tony Shaw,
Scott Russell,
Graham Wright and
Darren Millane - to accumulate over 500 disposals over the season. He was one of Collingwood's best players in their drought-breaking
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
victory over , acquiring 22 disposals and kicking a goal.
Copeland Trophy era (1991–1994)
McGuane won consecutive
Copeland Trophies in 1992 and 1993, and also won
All-Australian
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-perfo ...
selection in 1992. His career was at its peak and he was regarded among the elite in
AFL Football, and part of his hard work was due to
Darren Millane's trainer, who was asked by Mick to help his fitness. In 1994 he kicked an amazing running goal against
Carlton at the
MCG, which saw him run from the centre-square along the wing and half-forward flank, closing to 30m and kicking it through the middle. He bounced the ball 7 times during the famous run, and was deemed as one of the greatest goals of all-time.
Later career and injuries (1995–1997)
McGuane's final years as a player were blighted by injury and exacerbated by ongoing
alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
and
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...
problems; in 1991 he had lost his driving licence for 19 months after he was caught drink-driving. Calf injuries were his main concern in 1995, where he played only 13 games. In 1996 he had a life-threatening bladder infection, and resulted in a ruptured urethra. The injury came upon a kick to the groin in the annual
ANZAC Day clash against
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
United Kin ...
. At the end of all seasons from 1992–1997, McGuane experienced some kind of surgery.
In 1996 he left Collingwood for a fresh start, and was traded to
Carlton for a 1st and 4th round draft selections in the
1996 AFL Draft. Coach
Tony Shaw of Collingwood did offer McGuane a two-year contract deal, but was refused. He had calf problems at Carlton, causing him only to manage a disappointing 3 games with the rival club. His off-field incidents were also frequent, and included another alcohol problem, as well as a fight with Carlton teammate
Matthew Hogg at training. McGuane then returned to Collingwood and worked in the club's marketing department.
Coaching career
In 2000, McGuane took up his first coaching appointment with Tasmanian club
Burnie
Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...
. In 2001, he led them through an undefeated season, culminating in a premiership. McGuane then returned to Victoria to coach
Gisborne in the
Bendigo Football League
The Bendigo Football Netball League (previously known as the Bendigo and District Football Association, Bendigo Football Association and Bendigo Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Bendigo regio ...
for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons. In 2002 all three teams he coached (Under 18s, Reserves and Seniors) won their Grand Final. The seniors won again in 2003.
In 2005, McGuane was appointed a part-time scout at by coach
Terry Wallace, but jumped to the following year after securing a full-time coaching appointment under
Grant Thomas. After Thomas was sacked at the end of the season, McGuane decided to quit.
McGuane then coached the Balwyn Tigers seniors team in the Eastern Football League Division 1 in 2007. He came to the club at a tough time as they move into the highly rated EFL competition 1st Division. McGuane's coaching saw Balwyn into the finals in their first year in the competition.
In 2008, McGuane was appointed as senior coach of the
Keilor Football Club. In his inaugural season, he led the club's
Essendon District Football League A Grade side to a grand final victory, followed by premierships in 2016 and 2019.
Keilor also claimed back to back premierships in 2023 and 2024 with the latter featuring McGuane’s son Tom who is eligible for the 2025 draft as a Father Son for Collingwood.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuane, Mick
1967 births
Carlton Football Club players
Collingwood Football Club players
Collingwood Football Club premiership players
Victorian State of Origin players
Copeland Trophy winners
All-Australians (AFL)
Living people
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat
VFL/AFL premiership players