West Coast’s games record holder Shannon Hurn will wind up his decorated 18-year AFL career at season’s end.
Captain of the Eagles’ 2018 premiership, the 35-year-old will seek to bow out in the club’s final game of the season against Adelaide at Optus Stadium in round 24.
Hurn told teammates of his decision on Tuesday, with West Coast coming off breaking their club-record losing streak with a win against North Melbourne on Sunday.
The hardnosed defender is the only player in West Coast’s 35-year history to play more than 300 games.
“I love playing the game and I know I’m really going to miss it,” Hurn, who has played 332 games, said.
“But I also know the time is right. People have told me that I would know when this moment arrived and it’s here.
“Unfortunately, you can’t go on forever and it’s time for me to step away.
Shannon Hurn (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Media/Getty Images)
“I feel very lucky to have played for as long as I have, always wanting to contribute to the team, but ultimately the game does catch up with you – especially at 35.”
Hurn was All-Australian in the Eagles’ 2018 premiership campaign, and backed it up with a second blazer in 2019 when he was named vice-captain of the team.
His retirement starts what is expected to be an off-season of change at West Coast as they seem destined to collect just the second wooden spoon in club history.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson, who played 306 games for North Melbourne, believed Hurn was one of the best leaders he had seen in the AFL.
“The first thing you want from your leaders is to play well, and there weren’t many times in his career when ‘Bunga’ (Hurn) didn’t do that,” Simpson said.
“He is one of only three premiership captains in the history of the club and that honour is not gifted to anyone.
“He is just such an honest and humble person and it has been a privilege to have been involved in the second half of his career.”
Hurn’s announcement comes after Sydney legend Lance Franklin confirmed his retirement from the AFL, effective immediately.
In-form Carlton have lost another top midfielder to a hamstring injury as Adam Cerra joins Sam Walsh on their casualty list.
The Blues confirmed on Monday that Cerra had suffered a low-grade strain after he was subbed out in the third term of last Friday night’s upset win over top side Collingwood.
They say it will put him out of action for two to three weeks.
Walsh missed the Collingwood game – Carlton’s sixth win a row – because of his injury, while Cerra returned from hamstring tightness to play the Magpies.
Cerra’s setback comes as Blues livewire Jack Martin declares he is “absolutely confident” he has overcome his injury woes and will be able to play a key role as Carlton seek an end to their decade-long AFL finals drought.
Adam Cerra of the Blues runs with the ball. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
Martin missed three months because of calf trouble during the first half of the season and was substituted out of his first two games on return.
He also sat out the thrashing of West Coast in round 19 but returned with a bang in last week’s upset of ladder leaders Collingwood, booting three goals.
It would have been four – an equal career-best tally – if a gettable late shot on the run had not drifted wide.
Clearly relieved to be back on the park, Martin said he had “been everywhere, seen everyone” in his bid to overcome his calf issues.
“I missed a chunk of footy in the front half of the season but I’ve been able to get myself right and the body’s feeling good,” Martin told AAP.
“I’m just happy to be back out there playing footy with the boys.
“I’ve seen a few different specialists and I’ve tweaked a few things in my program, and a lot of strength work is certainly helping.
“I’m trying to turn every stone over to get my body right.”
The winning streak has thrust Carlton back in the top eight after all hope looked lost at the halfway point of the season.
The Blues can strengthen their grip on a finals spot with victory over fellow top-eight side St Kilda on Sunday before meetings with Melbourne, Gold Coast and GWS in the run towards September.
“(Beating Collingwood) gives us a lot of confidence,” Martin said.
“It was more about us and what we wanted to bring because we knew that our game would stand up against anyone.
“Collingwood’s been a great side all year and there was no better way to test ourselves.
“It was an unbelievable win by the boys. We really focused on contest and pressure and everything happened on the back of that.”
St Kilda were successful after going to the AFL tribunal to have young forward Anthony Caminiti available for Sunday’s big game against in-form Carlton.
Caminiti faced his second suspension this season for striking.
He was handed a one-game ban for an incident involving Hawthorn captain James Sicily during Sunday’s win over the Hawks at Marvel Stadium. It was graded as intentional, low impact and high contact but after pleading his case, the incident was reclassified as careeless.
Caminiti said he was pleased with the outcome.
“I’m grateful for this result and thank the Tribunal for taking the time to consider my case,” Caminiti said. “I look forward to getting back to training this week and preparing for a big game against Carlton on Sunday.”
Caminiti, who has been a big find for the Saints after joining them during the pre-season as a rookie signing, also served a three-game ban for striking Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy.
The Saints are fifth and come up against the Blues, who are on a six-game winning streak and have climbed to seventh after upsetting top side Collingwood last weekend.
Josh Dunkley is keeping the receipts, confident the Brisbane Lions can win an AFL flag without the benefit of a top-two finish.
Port Adelaide’s big loss to Adelaide opened the door for Chris Fagan’s side but a loss to Gold Coast meant the Lions were unable to jump them into second place.
The result took their 2023 record to 4-6 away from the Gabba, where they are 9-0 this season.
With four rounds to play they remain in third, narrowly ahead of Melbourne on percentage.
There is a two-win buffer between those sides and GWS and St Kilda in equal-fifth, with a double chance in finals the prize for sides who finish in the top four.
A top-two finish carries the added bonus of a home qualifying final, which could be the difference between hosting the Power at the Gabba or playing them at Adelaide Oval for a preliminary final berth.
But Western Bulldogs recruit Dunkley insists that isn’t the focus of a side that’s hunting their first grand final in what would be a fifth-straight finals campaign under Fagan.
Josh Dunkley during a Brisbane Lions training session. (Photo by Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“Everyone can talk about first, second, third fourth and however the ladder’s going to play out,” he said ahead of training on Tuesday.
“We all know every spot’s up for grabs, so you just have to win and we weren’t able to do that.”
Brisbane lost both finals games at home in 2019 after finishing second and in 2021 snuck into fourth place only to be knocked out again in straight sets.
They were beaten in a preliminary final in 2020, but arguably their best finals run came last year when they reached that same stage again despite finishing sixth.
Dunkley, in the Bulldogs’ side that beat the Lions by a point in the 2021 semi-final, has heard the doubters’ claims but is adamant they don’t need to begin their post-season at the Gabba to eventually lift the trophy at the MCG.
“Not at all; I see a few things pop up,” he said. “I save it in the back of my mind because, hopefully, at the back end of the year we can look back on it and prove them wrong.”
Dunkley said the season-ending knee injury to Will Ashcroft was a tough break but was confident they can adapt even after the Suns exposed them by executing a hard tag on Lachie Neale.
“We’ll look at that and hopefully help him out a little bit more,” Dunkley said. “Bont (Marcus Bontempelli) or Libba (Tom Liberatore) were tagged most weeks (when Dunkley was at the Bulldogs) and we worked through that.
“It’s about working together and complementing each other.
“I know on the weekend it probably didn’t look like that, but I know moving forward we’ll get that input and output from guys to cover Ashy.”
© AAP
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