Shaun Hart

Shaun Hart (born 17 May 1971) is a former Australian rules football player, who played for the Brisbane Bears/Lions in the Australian Football League. Hart played in Brisbane’s Hatrick of premierships from 2001-2003 as well as in the clubs reserves premiership in 1991. He is currently the director of coaching at Port Adelaide Power and has also been an assistant coach.[1]

Shaun Hart
Personal information
Full name Shaun Hart
Date of birth (1971-05-17) 17 May 1971
Place of birth Ferntree Gully, Victoria
Original team(s) Shepparton United Football Club
(Goulburn Valley Football League)
Draft 33, 1989
Brisbane Bears
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 75 kg (165 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1990 – 1996 Brisbane Bears 102 (81)
1997 – 2004 Brisbane Lions 171 (96)
Total 273 (177)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

He was born in Ferntree Gully, Victoria and moved to country Victoria where he played for the Shepparton United Football Club.

Hart was recruited to the Brisbane Bears from Shepparton in the 1989 national VFL draft.

AFL career

Shaun Hart played his first senior game in the first match of the 1990 season.

He initially struggled with the demands of professional football and played a great deal of football in reserve grade. This allowed him to gain a place in the Bears' only premiership side by being eligible to play in the 1991 reserve grade Grand Final.

In 2001 he was awarded his highest individual honour, the Norm Smith Medal, as best on ground in the Lions' first premiership win. He also went on to play important roles in the Lions successful campaigns in 2002 and 2003.

In the 2004 Preliminary Final, with the Lions poised to enter a playoff for a record-equalling fourth consecutive premiership, Hart was unlucky enough to find himself in the path of teammate Daniel Bradshaw on a lead. Bradshaw was unable to avoid a collision and Hart emerged with massive facial injuries. He was immediately taken to hospital, where shocked medical staff commented that his injuries were consistent with being in a car crash at speed without wearing a seat belt. As a consequence of consistent head injuries, for much of his career, he wore a soft helmet.

Unable to take his place in the Lions side for the 2004 Grand Final, he was forced to watch from his hospital bed as his team failed to maintain a half-time lead over Port Adelaide due to injuries to key forwards Jonathan Brown and Alastair Lynch. He announced his retirement from football not long afterwards.

Statistics
[2]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1990 Brisbane Bears 32112652439514140.20.54.73.98.61.31.3
1991 Brisbane Bears 3261151328313130.20.28.55.313.82.22.2
1992 Brisbane Bears 3212151569024651240.10.413.07.520.54.32.0
1993 Brisbane Bears 3219942058829356460.50.210.84.615.42.92.4
1994 Brisbane Bears 3211112864112722151.00.27.83.711.52.01.4
1995 Brisbane Bears 3223322130717348087421.40.913.37.520.93.81.8
1996 Brisbane Bears 3220252125511537056591.31.112.85.818.52.83.0
1997 Brisbane Lions 3219111525012437475390.60.813.26.519.73.92.1
1998 Brisbane Lions 3218121421815136966400.70.812.18.420.53.72.2
1999 Brisbane Lions 322318727212139375350.80.311.85.317.13.31.5
2000 Brisbane Lions 3224141526414240697520.60.611.05.916.94.02.2
2001 Brisbane Lions 3219871959428962330.40.410.34.915.23.31.7
2002 Brisbane Lions 32238317810828677570.30.17.74.712.43.32.5
2003 Brisbane Lions 32251813290126416104600.70.511.65.016.64.22.4
2004 Brisbane Lions 32207618211329546410.40.39.15.714.82.32.1
Career 273 177 140 2961 1561 4522 901 570 0.6 0.5 10.8 5.7 16.6 3.3 2.1

Post playing career

Not long after retiring, Hart supported the newly formed, Christian-aligned Family First Party in 2004 Federal election to the Australian House of Representatives. In 2007 he stood as a Family First candidate in Queensland for the Senate at the 2007 Australian federal election,[3] although he was unsuccessful.

In 2008, Hart was appointed the senior coach of the Broadbeach football club in Queensland.[4]

Hart held a number of coaching and development roles at the Gold Coast Football Club from 2009 until January 2014 and then joined Port Adelaide as Director of Coaching in January 2014.[5]

References
  1. Jackson, Ed (10 January 2014). "Suns lose Hart to Power". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  2. Shaun Hart's player profile at AFL Tables
  3. "Lions star runs for Family First". The Australian. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  4. "Shaun Hart". Fox Sport Pulse. Fox Sport Pulse. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  5. Morgan, Kym (10 January 2014). "Brisbane champion Shaun Hart replaces Alan Richardson as coaching director at Port Adelaide". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
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