Shannon Hegarty (born 14 June 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative three-quarter back, he played club football in the National Rugby League for the Sydney Roosters (with whom he won the

2002 NRL Premiership The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League. The season was affected by the competition-leading Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' salary cap breach fi ...

), South Sydney Rabbitohs and North Queensland Cowboys.

Playing career

Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Hegarty played for the Sydney Roosters at centre in their 2000 NRL Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Broncos. Hegarty scored the Roosters' first try in their win over the Warriors in the

2002 NRL grand final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. T ...

and went on to victory in England for the resulting

2003 World Club Challenge The 2003 World Club Challenge match was contested on Sunday, 16 February by National Rugby League season 2002 premiers, the Sydney Roosters and Super League VII premiers, St. Helens. 19,807 spectators turned out at Bolton's Reebok Stadium for th ...

. He was then selected to play on the wing for Queensland in every match of the

2003 State of Origin series The 2003 State of Origin series was the 22nd year that the annual three-game series between Queensland and New South Wales was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. Queensland's return to a renovated Lang Park was soured whe ...

. Hegarty scored a try whilst playing in the centres for the Roosters in their loss to Penrith in the

2003 NRL grand final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...

. After that he was selected to go on the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, helping Australia to victory over Great Britain in what would be the last time the two nations contested an Ashes series. Hegarty played for the Roosters on the wing in their

2004 NRL Grand final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...

loss to cross-Sydney rivals, Canterbury-Bankstown. In 2005, Hegarty joined the Sydney Roosters arch rivals South Sydney. In his first season at Souths the club finished 13th on the table. In the

2006 NRL season The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Te ...

, Hegarty made 10 appearances as the club finished last on the table. In the

2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusio ...

, Hegarty was part of the Souths team which reached the finals for the first time since 1989. Released from the final year of his playing contract with South Sydney on a mutual agreement, Hegarty signed with the North Queensland Cowboys two days later.

Post playing

Off the field, Hegarty posed for the ''Gods Of Football'' charity calendar in 2009 and appeared as Benji Veniamin in '' Tough Nuts: Australia's Hardest Criminals'' in 2011. He was a trainer and conditioning coach for the Jacksonville Axemen of the USA Rugby League. He currently owns and operates Down Under Fitness gym & personal training in Jacksonville Beach, FL.

References

External links

State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hegarty, Shannon 1979 births Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players North Queensland Cowboys players South Sydney Rabbitohs players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Sydney Roosters players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Prime Minister's XIII players Jacksonville Axemen players Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Australian expatriate rugby league players Expatriate rugby league players in the United States Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Living people Rugby league players from Brisbane