Australian Football

Ruckman Mark Mickan joined West Adelaide from Renmark and made his SANFL debut in 1981. He was a powerful, authoritative figure who won Bloods best and fairest awards in 1983, 1985 and 1986. In 1983 he suffered a major disappointment when a torn posterior ligament in his right knee, sustained during the last minor round game of the season, forced him to miss a finals series that culminated in Wests' first premiership in 22 years.

Mickan was appointed West Adelaide skipper in 1986, but after only a year in the role he transferred to fledgling VFL club Brisbane, which ended up selecting him as its inaugural captain. He led the Bears for three seasons, and ended up playing a total of 48 games for the club between 1987 and 1990. In 1991 he joined Adelaide, which like Brisbane four years earlier was making its competition debut, but after a fine start his form fell away, and he spent most of the 1993 season, his last as a contracted Crows player, back in the SANFL with West Adelaide, where he won a fourth club best and fairest award. Mickan played a total of 37 AFL games for Adelaide, and 139 for Westies, where he continued playing until 1994. He was a regular South Australian state of origin representative who achieved All Australian selection in 1988.

In 1998, four seasons after his retirement as a player, Mark Mickan was appointed non-playing coach of Woodville-West Torrens. He spent two years in the post, steering the side to sixth and third place finishes.

In October 2005 Mark Mickan was appointed senior coach of Glenelg on a three year contract and oversaw steady improvement culminating in 2008 in the Tigers' first Grand Final appearance since 1992. However, they were unable to overcome a highly experienced, finals hardened Central District combination. The Tigers finished in the top two after the minor rounds again in 2009 and 2010 but were eliminated from finals contention in 'straight sets' in both seasons. Midway through the following season, Mickan's tenure as Glenelg coach was ended by the club.

Mickan then returned to West Adelaide as football manager in 2012 and was appointed senior coach prior to the 2014 season. Although the Bloods slumped to second-last in his first season at the helm, they had a dramatic reversal of fortunes in 2015, culminating in a Grand Final win over Woodville-West Torrens which broke a 32-year premiership drought for the club.

Mark Mickan was inducted into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and is also a member of the West Adelaide Football Club Hall of Fame.

Author - John Devaney and Andrew Gigacz