{"id":77339,"date":"2026-08-21T09:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/77339\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:48:13","slug":"west-perth-two-time-premiership-legend-shane-nelson-retires-on-275-wafl-games-with-five-breckler-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/77339\/","title":{"rendered":"West Perth two-time premiership legend Shane Nelson retires on 275 WAFL games with five Breckler Medals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shane Nelson knows he\u2019s going to be emotional walking off the ground for the last time.<\/p>\n

But in the build-up to his 275th and final WAFL game for West Perth on Saturday at Joondalup, the 33-year-old decorated Falcon is trying to keep a lid on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to keep this week as normal as possible,\u201d he told PerthNow ahead of his final training session on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying not to reflect too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure it will be pretty emotional walking off the ground for the last time on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ShaneCamera IconShane Nelson in action against South Fremantle in April 2026. Credit: Belinda Taylor<\/p>\n

The veteran is retiring alongside best mate and fellow two-time premiership stalwart Aaron Black.<\/p>\n

They came through high school at Woodvale together before carving out distinguished careers at the Falcons.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we get to end it together,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll both be able to look back and be pretty proud of what we\u2019ve been able to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson won five Breckler Medals, the club\u2019s best player award, as a prolific on-baller, second with club legend Ray Schofield to WAFL games record holder Mel Whinnen with nine medals.<\/p>\n

He played several State games and considers the two premierships of 2013 and 2022 as highlights along with a feat he achieved with his younger brother Scott.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to run out for West Perth alongside my brother is one of the big highlights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"AaronCamera IconAaron Black and Shane Nelson celebrate the Falcons’ 2022 premiership. Credit: Belinda Taylor<\/p>\n

Family, friends and some old teammates will be out in support as the struggling Falcons try to send their veterans off with a win over Perth.<\/p>\n

Present will be his wife and two young children, part of the reason for retiring as \u201ctime is of the essence during the week\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also believes it\u2019s time to \u201clet the younger generation of players take the club into a new era\u201d of success after some recent lean years.<\/p>\n

His body is \u201cstill holding up\u201d so the plan is to \u201cplay footy somewhere next year\u201d when he will be free to look back on a fine career that started with former Falcons coach Bill Monaghan believing in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBill was a great mentor for me,\u201d Nelson, who runs a football academy with his brother, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe taught me what it takes to play at this level and the expectations of playing in the WAFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the start of a great relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ShaneCamera IconShane Nelson on the move in characteristic style in his last West Perth-East Perth derby. Credit: Belinda Taylor<\/p>\n

On Saturday, there will also be a nod to his late father Murray, who died from a heart attack in Nelson\u2019s first year of league football in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I will be thinking of him,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a big part of my career and the main reason I got into footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d probably be proud of what I have achieved at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shane Nelson knows he\u2019s going to be emotional walking off the ground for the last time. But in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[335,261,1342],"class_list":["post-77339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-perth","tag-sport","tag-wafl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}