Guy McKenna

Guy McKenna
Personal information
Full name	Guy Lindsay McKenna
Nickname(s)	Bluey
Date of birth	11 May 1969
Place of birth	Perth, Western Australia
Original team(s)	Carine JFC
Height/Weight	184 cm / 88 kg
Position(s)	Half-back flanker
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1985–87; 1992 1988–2000	Claremont West Coast	49 (5) 267 (28)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1987–1997	Western Australia	5 (1)
Coaching career^3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2003 2011–2014	Claremont Gold Coast	21 (12–9–0) 88 (24–64–0)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2000 season. ^3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2014.
Career highlights
Claremont premiership side 1987 West Coast Eagles Rookie of the Year 1988 VFL Team of the Year 1989 West Coast best and fairest 1989, 1999 All-Australian team 1991, 1993, 1994 West Coast premiership side 1992, 1994 West Coast Best Clubman Award 1994 Western Australia State of Origin captain 1996, 1997 West Coast captain 1999–2000 Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee 2009

Guy Lindsay McKenna (born 11 May 1969) is a retired Australian rules football player and the former senior coach of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). McKenna played 267 games for the West Coast Eagles, including the 1992 and 1994 premiership wins. He captained the club between 1999 and 2000 AFL season.

WAFL career

Educated at Carine Senior High School and originally from Carine Junior Football Club, McKenna was zoned to Claremont in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), where he played 49 games in four seasons from 1985 to 1987 and in 1992, including the Tigers' 1987 premiership.

AFL career

McKenna was recruited to the West Coast Eagles for the 1988 season with a pre-draft selection. He played for the Eagles from 1988 until 2000, notching up 267 games and booting 28 goals. He formed one of the most feared backlines in the AFL, along with John Worsfold, Ashley McIntosh, Glen Jakovich and Michael Brennan and was known for his cool demeanour and reliability.

He won the Club Champion Award twice, once in 1989 and the other in 1999, finishing in the top three another five times.

He was captain from 1998 until his retirement at the end of 2000. He kicked a memorable goal on the final kick of his career in Round 22 2000 which frenzied the crowd at Subiaco Oval.

McKenna boasts two unusual on-field distinctions from his career. In Round 20, 1994, he was the first player ever ordered from the ground under the blood rule, which had been introduced to the league that week.^[1] Then, in a match against St Kilda in Round 22, 1999, McKenna became the third captain in league history to call for a head count; the teams were even.^[2]

Coaching career

After retiring he coached in the West Australian Football League as senior coach of the Claremont Football Club with considerable success before moving to an assistant coaching role with the West Coast Eagles and then the Collingwood Football Club to be under former mentor Michael Malthouse.

In 2009, McKenna was appointed the inaugural coach of the newly founded Gold Coast Suns. He oversaw their TAC Cup and VFL campaigns prior to their entrance in the AFL. After the Suns failed to make the finals in their first four years in the senior competition, McKenna was sacked as coach on 1 October 2014.^[3]

On 9 November 2015, McKenna was appointed as line coach at Essendon.^[4]

Statistics

Playing statistics

^[5]

Legend
G	Goals	B	Behinds	K	Kicks	H	Handballs	D	Disposals	M	Marks	T	Tackles

†	Denotes seasons in which McKenna won an AFL Premiership
	Led the league for the Season only*
	Led the league after finals only*
	Led the league after Season and Finals*

*10 games required to be eligible.

Season	Team	#	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
			Totals								Averages (per game)
1988	West Coast	17	18	0	3	169	156	325	73	17	0.0	0.2	9.4	8.7	18.1	4.1	0.9
1989	West Coast	17	20	1	1	184	184	368	113	26	0.1	0.1	9.2	9.2	18.4	5.7	1.3
1990	West Coast	17	26	4	3	252	210	462	97	52	0.2	0.1	9.7	8.1	17.8	3.7	2.0
1991	West Coast	17	26	2	6	259	210	469	80	41	0.1	0.2	10.0	8.1	18.0	3.1	1.6
1992†	West Coast	17	12	2	2	91	95	186	37	22	0.2	0.2	7.6	7.9	15.5	3.1	1.8
1993	West Coast	17	21	1	1	199	165	364	92	39	0.0	0.0	9.5	7.9	17.3	4.4	1.9
1994†	West Coast	17	25	5	4	227	202	429	103	49	0.2	0.2	9.1	8.1	17.2	4.1	2.0
1995	West Coast	17	23	5	2	155	208	363	81	44	0.2	0.1	6.7	9.0	15.8	3.5	1.9
1996	West Coast	17	22	5	0	204	175	379	118	58	0.2	0.0	9.3	8.0	17.2	5.4	2.6
1997	West Coast	17	20	1	0	177	145	322	89	58	0.1	0.0	8.9	7.3	16.1	4.5	2.9
1998	West Coast	17	22	1	1	209	161	370	82	64	0.0	0.0	9.5	7.3	16.8	3.7	2.9
1999	West Coast	17	23	0	1	216	175	391	113	41	0.0	0.0	9.4	7.6	17.0	4.9	1.8
2000	West Coast	17	9	1	1	56	63	119	31	12	0.1	0.1	6.2	7.0	13.2	3.4	1.3
Career			267	28	25	2398	2149	4547	1109	523	0.1	0.1	9.0	8.0	17.0	4.2	2.0

Coaching statistics

^[6]

Season	Team	Games Coached	Wins	Losses	Draws	Points %	Ladder Position	League Teams
2011	Gold Coast	22	3	19	0	13.6%	17	17
2012	Gold Coast	22	3	19	0	13.6%	17	18
2013	Gold Coast	22	8	14	0	36.4%	14	18
2014	Gold Coast	22	10	12	0	45.5%	12	18
Career totals		88	24	64	0	27.27%	15.00	17.75

* = Unfinished season

References

1. Richard Hinds (7 August 1994). "New rule grounds Eagle". The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout) (Melbourne, VIC). p. 3.
2. "1999 Review". 1999. Retrieved 10 Sep 2011.
3. Gold Coast sacks Guy McKenna as speculation mounts club will make play for Essendon’s Mark Thompson, News.com.au, 1 October 2014
4. "McKenna appointed Line Coach". Essendon Football Club. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
5. Guy McKenna's player profile at AFL Tables
6. Guy McKenna's coaching profile at AFL Tables

External links

• Official Website of the West Coast Eagles