Aussie netball great McMahon retires

One of Australia's greatest netballers, Sharelle McMahon, has retired from the sport.

Aussie netball great McMahon retires

Former Australian Diamonds captain Sharelle McMahon has announced her retired from netball.

Australia's former netball captain and the nation's second most-capped player, Sharelle McMahon, has retired from the sport.

The 35-year-old mother-of-one, whose 118 games for Australia leave her trailing only Liz Ellis (122), amassed an enormous collection of honours during her career, including two Commonwealth Games gold medals and two world championship golds.

Sharp-shooter McMahon famously produced the last-second goal that clinched Australia the 1999 world championship, among numerous big-time clutch plays for Australia.

She was also part of five premierships with the Melbourne Phoenix in Australia's former national domestic competition and added another with the Melbourne Vixens in 2009 in the trans-Tasman league.

McMahon's announcement comes just a week after her successor as national captain, Natalie von Bertouch, retired.

McMahon said two moments with the national team, both against arch-rivals New Zealand, stood out.

"I always find it really hard to pinpoint things, but two experiences with the Diamonds, winning the world champs in 1999 and winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Manchester (in 2002) in double extra time were two real highlights from the Aussie team," McMahon said.

"It's hard (to choose highlights) from a club perspective because it was all so different.

"But certainly the 2009 premiership with the Melbourne Vixens was a really special one with how we actually got there and achieved what we wanted to achieve as a team."

McMahon said it was a tough decision to retire as she still loved the game but it was no longer as great a priority in her life as it has been.

"I have kind of just felt like my really strong desire and passion I have always had to put netball first and put everything into that was just not there as it used to be and that, for me, was enough," McMahon said.

McMahon was also last week left out of Australia's 17-strong squad to play Tests against New Zealand and Malawi.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world