Tony McGuinness
Encyclopedia
Anthony "Tony" McGuinness (born 6 May 1964) is a former Australian rules football
er who played for Footscray
and Adelaide in the Australian Football League
. His estranged wife is Nine News presenter Georgina McGuinness
.
in 1982 at the age of 18. A dynamic and pacy left-footed rover, he featured strongly in Glenelg's 1985 premiership victory against North Adelaide
, kicking 2 goals.
, McGuinness then accepted the invitation to play in the more lucrative Victorian Football League
. He was signed by Footscray
and quickly justified his huge reputation. In five seasons at the Bulldogs, McGuinness missed only one game and consistently racked up many possessions, usually distributing it with precision by hand or by his trusty left foot. He stood out in an otherwise mediocre team, especially in wet weather, and won the club best and fairest award
in 1987.
After a particularly fine 1990 season
, in which he was a key member of the Bulldogs' revival, McGuinness decided to return to South Australia
in 1991 to play with the newly-formed Adelaide Crows
. He was appointed the club's first vice-captain and holds the honour of both captaining The Crows in their first ever game (a pre-season trial game win over Essendon in front of over 45,000 at Football Park) and of kicking the first-ever goal for Adelaide in the AFL season proper against Hawthorn, again at Footy Park.
In 1993
, Adelaide made the finals for the first time, only to lose to eventual premiers Essendon in a famous Preliminary Final. Adelaide led The Bombers by 42 points at half-time but Essendon came back to win their way into the 1993 AFL Grand Final
against Carlton by 11 points. McGuinness had an outstanding season, racking up 657 disposals (477 kicks, 180 handballs, the highest disposal count in his 11 year AFL career), and was recognized with his third All-Australian selection. After finishing 2nd in both 1991
and 1992
, McGuinness won the Crows Club Champion
award as Adelaide's best and fairest player in 1993.
He became captain for the 1995
and 1996
seasons but along with a number of other older and experienced players, he was delisted at end of the 1996 season by newly appointed Adelaide
coach Malcolm Blight
, ending his AFL playing career. History shows that while Blight copped a lot of criticism for axing so many established players, Adelaide went on to win their first AFL Premiership in 1997
and repeated as premiers in 1998.
In May 1996, Tony McGuinness and long time Glenelg, South Australian and Crows team mate Chris McDermott
set up the McGuinness McDermott Foundation which was launched in memory of five-year-old Nicholas Berry, and seven year old Nathan Maclean who died of cancer. The Foundation raises funds to improve oncology treatment for South Australian children.
Subsequently he commenced as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide Power AFL side in 2005. He resigned from this position at the end of the 2006 season, citing outside business interests and wanting to spend more time with his family http://portadelaidefc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=296006.
McGuinness resigned from the McGuinness-McDermott Foundation on 17 August 2010. He also ran a sports retail business, Rowe and Jarman, which he sold to Amart All Sports in 2006.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er who played for Footscray
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
and Adelaide in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
. His estranged wife is Nine News presenter Georgina McGuinness
Georgina McGuinness
Georgina McGuinness was the anchor of Nine News Adelaides weekend 6pm news bulletin from 1989 to 2011.An Adelaide native, born 29th August, 1966, Georgina studied at Seymour College and at the Magill campus of the South Australian College of Advanced Education...
.
SANFL career
McGuinness proved his skills early in his career with leading SANFL club Glenelg, winning the Magarey MedalMagarey Medal
For the biography award of the same name, see Magarey Medal for biography. For a list of winners, see List of Magarey Medallists.The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football...
in 1982 at the age of 18. A dynamic and pacy left-footed rover, he featured strongly in Glenelg's 1985 premiership victory against North Adelaide
North Adelaide Roosters
North Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club, who play in the South Australian National Football League.- History :Formed in 1888 as Medindie, in 1893 the club renamed itself to North Adelaide. It is the fourth oldest club still in operation in the SANFL...
, kicking 2 goals.
VFL/AFL Career
Like his champion premiership teammate Stephen KernahanStephen Kernahan
Stephen Scott Kernahan is a former Australian rules footballer best known for his career with the Carlton Football Club of the Australian Football League and the Glenelg Football Club of the SANFL from 1981 until 1997...
, McGuinness then accepted the invitation to play in the more lucrative Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
. He was signed by Footscray
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
and quickly justified his huge reputation. In five seasons at the Bulldogs, McGuinness missed only one game and consistently racked up many possessions, usually distributing it with precision by hand or by his trusty left foot. He stood out in an otherwise mediocre team, especially in wet weather, and won the club best and fairest award
Charles Sutton Medal
The Charles Sutton Medal is awarded to the player adjudged Best and Fairest for the Western Bulldogs. Scott West holds the record at the club, winning seven medals, followed by Gary Dempsey, with six...
in 1987.
After a particularly fine 1990 season
1990 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1990.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 154...
, in which he was a key member of the Bulldogs' revival, McGuinness decided to return to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in 1991 to play with the newly-formed Adelaide Crows
Adelaide Crows
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....
. He was appointed the club's first vice-captain and holds the honour of both captaining The Crows in their first ever game (a pre-season trial game win over Essendon in front of over 45,000 at Football Park) and of kicking the first-ever goal for Adelaide in the AFL season proper against Hawthorn, again at Footy Park.
In 1993
1993 AFL season
-Ladder:All teams played 20 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. Each team also had two byes. An additional 7 games were played during the finals series.-Awards:*The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gavin Wanganeen of ....
, Adelaide made the finals for the first time, only to lose to eventual premiers Essendon in a famous Preliminary Final. Adelaide led The Bombers by 42 points at half-time but Essendon came back to win their way into the 1993 AFL Grand Final
1993 AFL Grand Final
The 1993 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1993. It was the 97th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...
against Carlton by 11 points. McGuinness had an outstanding season, racking up 657 disposals (477 kicks, 180 handballs, the highest disposal count in his 11 year AFL career), and was recognized with his third All-Australian selection. After finishing 2nd in both 1991
1991 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1991.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:...
and 1992
1992 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1992. The AFL Grand Final this year was won by the West Coast Eagles, who became the first non-Victorian club to win a Premiership.-Ladder:...
, McGuinness won the Crows Club Champion
Malcolm Blight Medal
The Malcolm Blight Medal is a post-season award given to the best and fairest player in the Adelaide Crows Football Club. The medal was named after former Adelaide Crows coach, Malcolm Blight and was first awarded in 1991.-Recipients:-Multiple Recipients:...
award as Adelaide's best and fairest player in 1993.
He became captain for the 1995
1995 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1995.-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:*This was the first ANZAC Day clash held between Collingwood and Essendon which famously ended in a draw.-Round 5:-Round 6:...
and 1996
1996 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:...
seasons but along with a number of other older and experienced players, he was delisted at end of the 1996 season by newly appointed Adelaide
Adelaide Crows
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....
coach Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
, ending his AFL playing career. History shows that while Blight copped a lot of criticism for axing so many established players, Adelaide went on to win their first AFL Premiership in 1997
1997 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1997.The Port Adelaide Power joined the competition.The Brisbane Lions also joined the competition after the merger of the and ....
and repeated as premiers in 1998.
In May 1996, Tony McGuinness and long time Glenelg, South Australian and Crows team mate Chris McDermott
Chris McDermott
Chris McDermott is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League.Chris McDermott was the inaugural captain of the Adelaide Crows. He was initially signed by Fitzroy in 1981 but chose to stay loyal to the Glenelg Football Club and reap the rewards of the South...
set up the McGuinness McDermott Foundation which was launched in memory of five-year-old Nicholas Berry, and seven year old Nathan Maclean who died of cancer. The Foundation raises funds to improve oncology treatment for South Australian children.
VFL / AFL Career Statistics Summary
- Statistics are correct as of the end of 2010
Season Team No. Games Kicks Marks Mark (Australian football)A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground....Handballs Handball (Australian rules football)Handball is a term in the sport of Australian rules football which describes a method of disposing of possession of the football by hand. It is the most frequently used alternative to kicking the ball...Goals Behinds Disposals Brownlow Votes 1986 1986 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1986.- Awards :* The Brownlow Medal was awarded to both Greg Williams of the Sydney Swans and Robert "Dipper" DiPierdomenico of the Hawthorn Hawks...Footscray Western BulldogsThe Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...11 22 273 32 108 28 381 6 1987 1987 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1987.-Night Series: defeated 8.10 to 8.6 in the Final at Waverley Park.-Leading goalkickers:...Footscray 11 22 369 53 145 34 34 514 15 1988 1988 VFL seasonThe 92nd Victorian Football League Premiership Season commenced in April 1988 and concluded on 24 September 1988, with Hawthorn winning their seventh Premiership in their sixth consecutive Grand Final appearance.-Night Series:...Footscray 11 21 353 55 107 13 23 460 13 1989 1989 VFL season-Notable events:* In Round 13, horrendous conditions at Windy Hill saw Essendon and Footscray play the lowest scoring game since the 1927 Grand Final, with the teams combining for only 6.15 ....Footscray 11 22 365 43 119 14 16 484 9 1990 1990 AFL seasonResults and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1990.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 154...Footscray 11 22 412 44 148 19 26 560 14 1991 1991 AFL seasonResults and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1991.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:...Adelaide 11 21 348 25 145 17 11 493 8 1992 1992 AFL seasonResults and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1992. The AFL Grand Final this year was won by the West Coast Eagles, who became the first non-Victorian club to win a Premiership.-Ladder:...Adelaide 11 19 337 30 140 26 29 477 3 1993 1993 AFL season-Ladder:All teams played 20 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. Each team also had two byes. An additional 7 games were played during the finals series.-Awards:*The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gavin Wanganeen of ....Adelaide 11 23 477 59 180 12 21 657 11 1994 1994 AFL season-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. An additional 9 games were played during the finals series. It was the first season that the AFL implemented a top 8 team finals series...Adelaide 11 21 352 38 148 14 8 500 8 1995 1995 AFL seasonResults and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1995.-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:*This was the first ANZAC Day clash held between Collingwood and Essendon which famously ended in a draw.-Round 5:-Round 6:...Adelaide 11 11 136 10 45 4 5 181 1 1996 1996 AFL seasonResults and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:...Adelaide 11 18 261 41 81 6 17 342 5 Totals 222 3683 430 1366 187 190 5049 93
Post-retirement
McGuinness returned to his original club Glenelg as a coach from 1998 to 2000, but had little success, finishing 9th, 4th, and 9th respectively.Subsequently he commenced as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide Power AFL side in 2005. He resigned from this position at the end of the 2006 season, citing outside business interests and wanting to spend more time with his family http://portadelaidefc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=296006.
McGuinness resigned from the McGuinness-McDermott Foundation on 17 August 2010. He also ran a sports retail business, Rowe and Jarman, which he sold to Amart All Sports in 2006.