Kevin Sheedy AO is a celebrated figure in Australian football, known for his exceptional career as both a player and coach, as well as for his innovative contributions to the game. He played 251 games for Richmond between 1967 and 1979, winning three Premierships, and serving as captain in 1978.
As a coach, Sheedy led Essendon for 27 years, achieving four Premierships ('84, '85, '93, '00), and was the inaugural coach of Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS). He promoted significant innovations such as the extended interchange bench and the annual Essendon-Collingwood ANZAC Day fixture. Sheedy was also instrumental in developing AFL traineeships and advocating for Indigenous players through initiatives like the Essendon-Richmond Dreamtime match.
Beyond football, Sheedy established AFL SportsReady, providing employment and education opportunities for over 14,000 young Australians including 2,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. He is an ambassador for the Bravery Trust and the Australian Government's Apprenticeships program.
Sheedy has co-authored nine books, including "Icons of Footy" and "Stand Your Ground," and is a renowned speaker, who is equally inspirational beyond the boundaries of sport, helping major corporations with team building and entertainment as an MC at sports nights.
His accolades include an Order of Australia, the Centenary Medal, the National Service Medal and the Victorian Government Sports Achievement Award. He has been inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and has reached Legend status in the AFL Hall of Fame. He holds honorary doctorates from The Australian Catholic University and the University of Western Sydney. In 2022, he was honoured as a member of the Tiwi Island clan Mantiyupwi and elevated to the Immortal status of the Essendon Football Club.
Kevin Sheedy's legacy extends beyond football, marking him as a marketer, thinker, innovator, and community advocate who continues to inspire and influence.
Talking Points
Positive and Lateral Thinking
Positive and Lateral Thinking
Building a Team
Building a Team
Developing Young Employees
Developing Young Employees
Empowerment and Leadership in the Workplace
Empowerment and Leadership in the Workplace
Leadership
Leadership
Pockets Full of Greatness
Pockets Full of Greatness
The Forgotten Heroes
The Forgotten Heroes
Video
Kevin Sheedy at the Saxton Corporate Luncheon
Kevin Sheedy is one of the Australian Football League's most enduring figures. A player and coach over five decades, Kevin has an unsurpassed record of involvement in a 1000 games and eight premierships. That involvement will be re-ignited in 2012 when he becomes the inaugural coach of the AFL's Western Sydney Football Club.Kevin's attendance at our forum was described as a stroke of brilliance. He was carefully chosen for his passion, down to earth attitude and wide appeal to our target audience. He fulfilled ... keep reading Aboriginal Workforce Development Centre
Kevin Sheedy was great and very warm with all our guests - very happy with him.
The success of our annual planning day was due to the quality of Kevin's presentation. We were looking for insights into how creativity can be transformed into innovation and how planning supports delivery. Kevin delivered above our high expectations through his enthusiasm and passion for sport and life.The feedback from the audience was unanimous! Kevin is great speaker and I do not believe we could have chosen better.
Kevin was gracious with his time , genuinely interested in the local community and a fantastic speaker to the audiences that came to see him. It was inspiring seeing him get everyone involved in his presentation through his mix of humour , honesty and storytelling. I would recommend Kevin to anyone , whether it be children, community members or corporate bankers. Through his life experiences, both professional and personal he has something worth sharing with everyone.
Fantastic, related really well back to our audience about Chiropractic and small business, very impressive and professional.
Everyone so enjoyed and commented how amazing he was and how it left an impression - very relaxed speaker and made everyone feel comfortable.
Kevin was great to listen to. He adapted his experiences to our industry (private hospital) so everyone in the room could relate to him. The feedback from the staff who attended was excellent.
We would like to express our sincere thanks for your assistance and presentation at our recent franchise conference. The fact that we had David Parkin pull out at the last minute did send panic stations through our organizing team, however Saxtons went into overdrive and came up with a fantastic alternative in you. We do appreciate that it must have meant some rejigging of your commitments at the last minute to fit in your presentation which we will be eternally grateful for. At our last conference we had Andrew Gaze speak and they said I wouldn't be able to top that this time; well the response from my franchisees suggests that we delivered again, as they were extremely motivated by what you had to say. You connected with the audience from the very moment you spoke and the ideas and the way you presented them were easily understood and made relevant to the individual franchisees who are small business owners in there own right. We presented the book to all of the participants at the very end of the conference and they were very pleasantly surprised that they had been individually autographed as well. So what looked like being a disastrous event ended with it being a great success,once again our sincere thanks for you making the effort and motivating 'Our Team'.
Kevin was brilliant, passionate about his topic and excellent in relating it to our business audience. The audience were enthusiastic and our feedback has been fantastic. Kevin was a delight to deal with nothing was too much trouble and he stayed long after the event signing material for those present.
Sheeds made good valid points for future direction in planning business developments within the firm and through in a couple of motivational gems as well. Well done, very professional and will use again for next retreat.
Kevin Sheedy enthralled our team with real life stories and on occasion bringing tears of joy and sadness to many. It was a pleasure to have Kevin address our conference and provided a rare insight into the personal side of a amazing man as he shared some private memories of his Mother and Father. His level of professionalism and his love of public speaking was demonstrated with the decision to honour a business commitment so soon after the loss of his beloved Mother.
I am writing to thank you for your contribution to the recent National Occupational Health and Safety Commission Construction Conference. Your speech during the Conference dinner was lively and engaging. I am sure that those present enjoyed hearing about your views on empowerment and leadership in the workplace. Your willingness to spend time with guests at the dinner was also very much appreciated. Thank you again for your participation.
Thanks for a great breakfast and most entertaining speaker in Kevin Sheedy this morning.
Kevin had great empathy for the audience and held their attention. His presentation was interesting and relevant. I believe that we got good value for money.
Kevin had the whole audience in the palm of his hand. A great morning.
Kevin's video presentation added to the atmosphere. Topical and interesting for all.
Kevin was professional, funny, entertaining and did a great job relating his speech to the issues affecting our particular industry.
Inspirational!
He emphasised the need for training of young people for jobs in the business world at all levels and stressed the need for motivation of management if companies were to be winners in an increasingly international market. With his quiet, inimitable manner, Kevin Sheedy has appeal to a wide cross-section of Australian business people.
All present, including the Chief Commissioner of Police and other Senior Officers were inspired by your message. Comments included: "He reminded us to think laterally'outside the square'and create new ideas.
Excellent communication while in the store. Always large crowds in attendance.
Kevin was excellent in his presentation of his role as coach and our company's role with customers. He had the complete attention of the audience.
Kevin spent some valuable time pre-conference understanding our theme and the message we wanted to convey to our sales and marketing team. He nailed the objectives right from the first minute and his presentation was both captivating and entertaining. His understanding of what makes a business like our 'tick' was central to his presentation and gave his content great credibility. Definitely a highlight of our conference.
Kevin did a fantastic job engaging our industry and getting key messages across in an informal and anecdotal manner. He shared his experience and wisdom with the audience whilst keeping the audience entertained with his subtle humour. Kevin has been an instrumental leader in change in the sports industry and we were pleased we selected him as the keynote to inspire our industry.
