Former West Coast Eagles utility Patrick McGinnity signs on for Dunsborough Sharks’ inaugural league side

Having relished life down in the South West over the past three years, Patrick McGinnity has added another exciting element to his life — being an integral part of the Dunsborough Sharks’ inaugural league team.

McGinnity, who played 93 AFL games for the West Coast Eagles between 2009 and 2016, relocated to the region following a successful stint at WAFL side East Perth in the aftermath of his AFL career.

Although he has plenty of friends down here, McGinnity told the Busselton-Dunsborough Times his move to the Sharks was not pre-planned.

“For me, the stars sort of aligned a little bit,” he said.

“To be honest, I genuinely thought I would never play again. If you had asked me six months ago whether I was going to play again, I would have said ‘definitely not’.

“I kind of feel bad now, because I had other footy teams in the area ask me if I wanted to play or be involved with their sides — including close mates at Busselton and Augusta-Margaret River, who I said I no to.

“But Paul Dean got in contact with me from the Dunsborough Footy Club and talked to me about how they were getting a new side and how it had been in the works for a while.

“I just felt like it was a really good opportunity to get involved. I have been living down here for three years now, brought my family down and we love it.

“Now we are a little bit settled, we wanted to start getting involved in the community a little bit.”

Aside from his playing commitments, McGinnity will have a degree of mentorship at the club, where he will provide support to younger players who are transitioning to senior football.

This concept is warmly embraced by McGinnity and his coach Daniel Wiseman.

When not sweating it up on the training track with the Sharks, chances are you will find McGinnity working hard down in Margaret River at Fermoy Estate.

“We have got an awesome crew,” he said.

“I do our ground keeping and manage our warehouse here. But we all sort of help each other out, given the fact we are a small team.

“We make some awesome wines — Jeremy Hodgson makes ours and does some awesome stuff. I have learnt a lot and it is just a great lifestyle down here.”