Shaun Smith (born 22 June 1969) 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 in the

VFL/AFL 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 ...

. Originally from the

Ainslie Football Club The Ainslie Football Club is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The club was formed in 1927 and won its first premiership in 1929. Ex- St Kilda star Kevin Neale was captai ...

in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

, but recruited from

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the local government area of the City of Wyndham. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werrib ...

and debuting 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 ...

in 1987, Smith is best known for his incredible leap and ability to take spectacular marks or speckies. His high leaping play enabled him to hold down a

key position Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to: Common uses * Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message * Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument * Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock * ...

whilst being only 184 cm and is sometimes compared to

Russell Robertson Russell "Robbo" Robertson (born 24 November 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last played for the Melbourne Football Club. Robertson is one of the Melbourne's great goalkickers, being one of just four players in ...

. Smith debuted with the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, 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 (AF ...

in 1987 and was delisted due to a string of injuries at the end of 1992 after 47 games and 38 goals. He played for Werribee in 1994, and had a dominant season there. He was one of the Association's leading goalkickers for the season, finished third in the

J. J. Liston Trophy The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J. J. Liston, J.J. Liston, a busine ...

count, and continued his reputation for taking high marks. He was consequently recruited back to the AFL by for the 1995 season. By far Smith's most successful and consistent season was at the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. His 1995

Mark of the Year In Australian rules football, a player can take a mark by catching the ball from a kick, which earns protection from tackles. In the Australian Football League (AFL), the mark subjectively judged the best in each season is named Mark of the Y ...

, a chest mark over teammate

Garry Lyon Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly a ...

in the goal square against the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

at the Gabba, was named the ''Mark of the Century'', superseding Gary Ablett Sr's famous, though controversial, mark a year earlier. In the same year, he managed an AFL-career-best 51 goals.

Injury Injury is physiological damage to the living tissue of any organism, whether in humans, in other animals, or in plants. Injuries can be caused in many ways, including mechanically with penetration by sharp objects such as teeth or with ...

plagued the rest of his career at the Demons until he was finally delisted in 1998, finishing his career at the

Werribee Football Club The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-base ...

in 2004. Shaun's son Joel was signed by the Demons for the 2016 season as a Category B rookie under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

, and his daughter Amy is currently listed with North Melbourne in the AFLW, recruited in 2020 as the club's first father–daughter pick.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Shaun 1969 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players Werribee Football Club players Ainslie Football Club players Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory