Australian Football

Noel McMahen joined Melbourne from Mordialloc and made his VFL debut in 1946. However, during his first five seasons he struggled to hold down a regular place in the side owing to a combination of illness and not finding his best position. He did earn a place as a half forward flanker in the 1948 premiership team, but it was really only after being tried on a half back flank in 1951 that he began to play to his full potential.

McMahen's typically ferocious attacks on the ball made him a much feared and respected opponent, and allied to this he had good all round skills, and the happy knack of being able to anticipate where the ball was most likely to land. He won Melbourne's best and fairest award in 1951, and went on to be a key performer in the side for the next five seasons.

A VFL interstate representative on four occasions, McMahen was appointed skipper of the Demons in 1955, and led them to the flag both that year and the next. The last of his 175 games in the VFL was the 1956 Grand Final in which Melbourne trounced Collingwood by 73 points. After a successful spell coaching Rochester in the Bendigo Football League he returned to the VFL as non-playing coach of South Melbourne in 1962, but his in three-season stint at the helm proved unable to get the side above second to last place on the ladder.

In the year 2000 Noel McMahen was selected on a half back flank in Melbourne's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'.

Author - John Devaney