Australian Football

Jack Sheedy commenced with East Fremantle in 1942, when the WANFL competition was conducted on an under-age basis. In 1944 he played half a dozen VFL games for South Melbourne when stationed in Melbourne on naval duties. He also represented Navy in the Sydney competition. He made his senior debut with East Fremantle in 1946.

Tough, aggressive, and seldom far from controversy, Sheedy was without doubt one of the most colourful characters to have played the game. He was also a fine footballer, renowned as one of the best drop kicks in the business, a tremendous team player, and a superb exponent of handball. Sheedy was as adaptable as he was talented and proved equally damaging on the ball, in the centre, or anywhere in the forward lines. He played a total of 210 games for Old Easts, winning a then record four Lynn Medals as the club's fairest and best player (although one of these was achieved in the under-age competition). He was also a member of the 1946 premiership team, captain-coached the club in 1949 and 1955, and was captain for four seasons. His all round contribution to the club was immense, and in 1997 he was included as captain in its official 'Team of the Century'.

In 1956 Jack Sheedy crossed to East Perth as captain-coach, where he added another 122 league games in seven seasons. It was at East Perth that Sheedy blossomed as a coach, steering the Royals to no fewer than six straight Grand Finals for three wins. Under Sheedy's tutelage, players like Graham Farmer, Ted Kilmurray and Derek Chadwick emerged as top quality performers. In 2006, the immensity of Sheedy's contribution to the Royals was affirmed when he was selected as both coach and first rover in the club's official 'Team of the Century 1945 to 2005'.

When Sheedy retired as a player, his total of 338 league appearances (plus 22 for Western Australia) was a record for the major football states. Nevertheless, had it not been for his frequent business at the League Tribunal, that total would have been much higher. Perhaps the most famous tribunal visit occurred after his first match for East Perth. Reported twice by umpire Montgomery on charges of using abusive language and disputing an umpire's decision, Sheedy turned up at the tribunal hearing with a bible, on which he solemnly swore that he had not been the player responsible for either indiscretion. The members of the tribunal were not impressed, banning Sheedy for four matches, but the repercussions proved to be much broader, and to this day Jack Sheedy is popularly referred to as 'Reverend Jack'.

While at East Perth, some of Sheedy's most volatile performances came against his former club. In 1958, the Royals were pitted against Old Easts in the Second Semi Final, and 'the Reverend' responded to a verbal barb from 'Rizzie' Lawrence by employing his trademark right hook to lay his former team-mate out cold. Hardly surprisingly, the Tribunal members were far from amused, and Sheedy ended up watching the Grand Final re-match between the teams - which East Perth won by two points - from the sidelines.

There is little doubt that Jack Sheedy was a first rate coach, supremely capable of eliciting the best from his charges. His coaching record at East Perth is second only to that of Phil Matson, and he enjoyed the added distinction of coaching Western Australia to victory at the 1961 Brisbane carnival. He was also one of the most noteworthy players of the 1940s and 1950s, effortlessly blending supreme skill with formidable mental strength to emerge as one of the very few footballers genuinely deserving of the epithet 'champion'. The fact that controversy seemed to attend him at more or less every turn only serves to make his story all the more captivating.

Author - John Devaney