Jack Sheedy
South Melbourne · “The Reverend”
AFL career
6 games7 goals
- Debut
- R4 1944 v COL27 May 1944
- Most recent
- R14 1944 v STK5 Aug 1944
Stats
Bio
A towering figure in West Australian football later known as "Mr Football," Jack Sheedy's brief VFL tenure was a result of World War II service rather than a traditional recruitment pathway. The son of East Fremantle champion Barney Sheedy, he enlisted in the Navy at just 17 and was posted to Victoria, allowing him to join South Melbourne as a wartime permit player for six games in 1944. A ferocious and skilled rover who combined elite foot skills with an uncompromising, aggressive approach that later became his trademark, Sheedy's time in the Bloods' lineup was cut short when his unit was redeployed to Sydney. He eventually returned home to forge a legendary career as a premiership player and coach with East Fremantle and East Perth, becoming the first West Australian to play 300 elite games and earning induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Profile
- Born
- 28 Sept 1926
- Died
- 23 Feb 2023 (aged 96y 148d)
- Birthplace
- Fremantle, WA
- Height
- 170 cm
- Weight
- 78 kg
Teams
Honours
- Hall of Fame2001
Bio
1 revisionA towering figure in West Australian football later known as "Mr Football," Jack Sheedy's brief VFL tenure was a result of World War II service rather than a traditional recruitment pathway. The son of East Fremantle champion Barney Sheedy, he enlisted in the Navy at just 17 and was posted to Victoria, allowing him to join South Melbourne as a wartime permit player for six games in 1944. A ferocious and skilled rover who combined elite foot skills with an uncompromising, aggressive approach that later became his trademark, Sheedy's time in the Bloods' lineup was cut short when his unit was redeployed to Sydney. He eventually returned home to forge a legendary career as a premiership player and coach with East Fremantle and East Perth, becoming the first West Australian to play 300 elite games and earning induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.