Shannon Motlop: Premierships, racisim & life after AFL | Thebigtip

Shannon Motlop played AFL for both North Melbourne and Melbourne Football Clubs.

His career began at the Kangaroos where he was selected with the 85th pick in the 1998 National Draft, and played 54 games including the 1999 Premiership. After his time at Arden St, he played 10 games for Melbourne between 2005 – 2006.

Joseph: How’s it going Shannon, what have you been doing with yourself after football?
Shannon: I moved back to Adelaide and then to Darwin for a bit but ended up moving to Mildura to play a bit of country footy and work with the Clontarf Foundation in Mildura. (http://www.clontarffootball.com/)

Did you always want to play football as a kid?
I grew up in Darwin, my family were heavily involved in Football and Rugby in Darwin so I grew up playing both sports from an early age. I moved to Adelaide to play with North Adelaide when I was 18.

Who did you barrack for in the AFL as a kid and were you happy when North picked you up?
I went for Brisbane, wasn't a fan of North, in fact the year before I was drafted I barracked for Adelaide in the grand final.

What are some of your favourite moments in your footballing career?
1999 Premiership with North Melbourne and 2 VFL Premierships while playing with Melbourne.

At your time at North Melbourne you played with the likes of Wayne Carey, Glenn Archer, Anthony Stevens and co, who was the best player you played with?
I don’t like to name best players. When you look at those players you see great qualities in all of them.

You played under Dennis Pagan whilst you were at North Melbourne and Neale Daniher whilst you were at Melbourne, How did they compare as coaches?
I think Neale was a bit more relaxed than Dennis.

What are your memories from the 1999 Premiership?
It was hard for me to feel much at the time, almost like it hadn't sunk in. I always wished it could have happened later in my career, when I had more of a connection with the club and relationships with my teammates had grown. So at the time I guess I didn't feel I was apart of the group. In the end it was still a moment I will never forget.

In 2004, you played for North Adelaide in the SANFL, and were then given a second chance at the start of the following year, when Melbourne recruited you as a replacement for Troy Broadbridge who tragically died in the Boxing Day disaster. How did that come about?
I was at home reading the paper and just notice a small article about Melbourne in talks with some potential replacements for Troy. I instantly rang Aaron Davey who is a good mate of mine and asked him to look into it for me. He got back to me saying they were interested and wanted me to send a highlights tape. They then came to Darwin and watch me play in our Preliminary final. They pretty much flew me to Melbourne straight after that to start training.

What are your memories of the Melbourne Football Club? Do you still have friends there who you catch up with here and there?
Yes I already had good friends there in Aaron Davey and Matthew Whelan but I really felt at home while I was at Melbourne. I still catch up and keep in touch with Aaron and Matty and I've even had a chance to drop into the rooms now and then and say hello to everyone.

What are your regrets about your AFL career? In hindsight, do you think you did not train hard enough at the time?
I don’t have any regrets. I enjoyed my time and everything AFL has given me. I can say that I enjoy life a bit more now than when I played AFL. Its good not have the pressures of the game and a bit more flexibility to do what I want to do when I want to do it.