Shannon William Hurn (born 4 September 1987) 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 played for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

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). From

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, he excelled at both

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and football at junior level, and at one stage had a rookie contract with the

South Australian Cricket Association The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the South Australian men's and women's teams based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the ...

(SACA). Prior to being drafted by West Coast, Hurn played for in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(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 The 2023 AFL season was the 127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 16 March to 30 September, comprising a 23-m ...

Early life

Hurn hails from a sporting family; his father

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

played 135 games with Central District, and his grandfather

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

was a member of

's 1963-64 Sheffield Shield-winning team. Hurn was born in

Angaston, South Australia Angaston is a town on the eastern side of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, 77 km northeast of Adelaide. Its elevation is 347 m, one of the highest points in the valley, and has an average rainfall of 561 mm. Angaston was origin ...

in the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

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:

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 in round 5,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

against the . After playing 6 games in his debut season he solidified his spot in the team, playing every game in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. He was nominated for the 2007 AFL Rising Star for his 19 possession performance in round 11 against . 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. 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, 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. On 8 December 2014 it was announced that Hurn would become the 10th captain of the

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 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. 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 The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in an Elimination Final in 2016, and by

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

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 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 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 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 ...

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.

Retirement

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

Honours and achievements

Team * AFL premiership captain (

)

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

(

)

Individual * West Coast games record holder *2×

All-Australian team 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 ...

: 2018, 2019 (vc) * AFLPA best captain: 2019 *3× Glendinning–Allan Medal: 2017, 2018, 2019 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2007

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2023 season'' , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

, , 25 , , 6 , , 1 , , 3 , , 40 , , 20 , , 60 , , 18 , , 6 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 6.7 , , 3.3 , , 10.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

, , 25 , , 24 , , 11 , , 7 , , 171 , , 158 , , 329 , , 72 , , 53 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 7.1 , , 6.6 , , 13.7 , , 3.0 , , 2.2 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , 25 , , 6 , , 1 , , 3 , , 53 , , 17 , , 70 , , 17 , , 10 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 8.8 , , 2.8 , , 11.7 , , 2.8 , , 1.7 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , 25 , , 22 , , 4 , , 3 , , 282 , , 159 , , 441 , , 106 , , 24 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 12.8 , , 7.2 , , 20.0 , , 4.8 , , 1.1 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , 25 , , 15 , , 4 , , 5 , , 203 , , 31 , , 234 , , 66 , , 30 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 13.5 , , 2.1 , , 15.6 , , 4.4 , , 2.0 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , 25 , , 25 , , 5 , , 3 , , 343 , , 109 , , 452 , , 114 , , 44 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 13.7 , , 4.4 , , 18.1 , , 4.6 , , 1.8 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , 25 , , 24 , , 12 , , 7 , , 339 , , 76 , , 415 , , 119 , , 57 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 14.1 , , 3.2 , , 17.3 , , 5.0 , , 2.4 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , 25 , , 12 , , 1 , , 2 , , 160 , , 27 , , 187 , , 47 , , 26 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 13.3 , , 2.3 , , 15.6 , , 3.9 , , 2.2 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , 25 , , 18 , , 4 , , 3 , , 250 , , 83 , , 333 , , 106 , , 45 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 13.9 , , 4.6 , , 18.5 , , 5.9 , , 2.5 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

, , 25 , , 25 , , 3 , , 9 , , 297 , , 114 , , 411 , , 109 , , 42 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 11.9 , , 4.6 , , 16.4 , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , 25 , , 23 , , 3 , , 1 , , 300 , , 113 , , 413 , , 111 , , 40 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 13.0 , , 4.9 , , 18.0 , , 4.8 , , 1.7 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , 25 , , 23 , , 0 , , 2 , , 292 , , 165 , , 457 , , 145 , , 44 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 12.7 , , 7.2 , , 19.9 , , 6.3 , , 1.9 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

^# , style="text-align:center;", , 25 , , 25 , , 1 , , 2 , , 430 , , 101 , , 531 , , 196 , , 44 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 17.2 , , 4.0 , , 21.2 , , 7.8 , , 1.8 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 25 , , 21 , , 0 , , 2 , , 386 , , 104 , , 490 , , 154 , , 31 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 18.4 , , 5.0 , , 23.3 , , 7.3 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , 25 , , 17 , , 0 , , 0 , , 205 , , 66 , , 271 , , 87 , , 26 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.1 , , 3.9 , , 15.9 , , 5.1 , , 1.5 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 25 , , 15 , , 0 , , 0 , , 260 , , 67 , , 327 , , 103 , , 24 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 17.3 , , 4.5 , , 21.8 , , 6.9 , , 1.6 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , 25 , , 19 , , 0 , , 0 , , 356 , , 80 , , 436 , , 143 , , 33 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 18.7 , , 4.2 , , 23.0 , , 7.5 , , 1.7 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , 25 , , 13 , , 0 , , 0 , , 202 , , 70 , , 272 , , 70 , , 25 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 15.5 , , 5.4 , , 20.9 , , 5.4 , , 1.9 , - style="background:#EAEAEA; font-weight:bold; width:2em" , scope="row" text-align:center class="sortbottom" colspan=3 , Career , 333 , 50 , 52 , 4569 , 1560 , 6129 , 1783 , 604 , 0.2 , 0.2 , 13.7 , 4.7 , 18.4 , 5.4 , 1.8 Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurn, Shannon 1987 births Australian rules footballers from South Australia Central District Football Club players Living people Peel Thunder Football Club players West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles premiership players People from Angaston, South Australia All-Australians (AFL) VFL/AFL premiership players 21st-century Australian sportsmen