Shaun Atley (born 13 September 1992) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos a ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, Atley was taken with draft pick #17 in the 2010 National draft by

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

. Prior to being drafted, he played both as a half-back and as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He debuted the following year, in the

2011 AFL season The 2011 AFL season was the 115th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured s ...

. Atley made his debut in Round 1, against . 2012 was a much more successful year for Atley. He played every possible game, and was noted as one of the competition's most improved player. The catalyst of this change of form was a move to the backline, where he used his explosive pace and blistering speed to accelerate out of defence on numerous occasions to turn defence into attack. His kicking improved out of sight, and this was recognised with a fifth placing in the Syd Barker Medal. He is the brother of

Joe Atley Joseph Atley (born 4 August 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Port Adelaide with their third selection and thirty-second ove ...

, who plays for the Essendon Football Club's VFL side after being delisted by the Port Adelaide Football Club. Atley was delisted by North in October 2021 after 234 games for the club.

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* * 1992 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Murray Bushrangers players North Ballarat Football Club players {{AFL-bio-1990s-stub