Sharelle McMahon

Sharelle McMahon (born August 12, 1977) is the current captain of the Australian national netball team. She plays the goal attack and goal shooter positions, and is known for her remarkable speed in sprinting, dodging, passing, fast reflexes and elevation. In addition to these qualities, Sharelle is known as a greater "finisher", sinking shots with relatively high accuracy and maintaining composure in tough situations. McMahon also captains the Melbourne Vixens in the ANZ Championship, a reincarnation of Melbourne Phoenix which she played in for 11 seasons and captained for four.

In a new game-plan for her, McMahon now plays second fiddle in terms of volume of goals to the goal shooter (GS), Caitlin Thwaites, of Melbourne. However, her role in setting up the attacking play for her team is formidable, and her accuracy is in the top ten in the league. Naturally her leadership and experience are invaluable assets apart from her court-craft.

International career

"Sharelle has learnt to rely on her two best assets, blistering speed and a great netball mind-when she is towered over by opposition defenders." (Ellis, 2005)

"Sharelle is regarded by many as one of the world's best netballers." (Ellis, 2005)

After starting to play netball at age seven, Sharelle first came under the attention of national selectors in 1996 with a spectacular performance in the Victorian Under 21 team, which won the Qantas nationals. She was chosen in the Australian Under 21 team the following month.

She first started playing for Australia at age 20, making her international debut against Jamaica in Jamaica in 1997. At this time she began a habit of shooting the final goal in matches decided by the slimmest margins. In 1998 she was the youngest member of the Australian team which won the inaugural netball gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1999 at the world championships, she was brought onto the court midway through the third quarter - the game began the ascendancy of a true star of the game. Many people marvelled at her composure and efficiency afterward. She said "I don't really remember what was going through my head when I shot that goal. When Donna Loffhagen took her last shot, I remember thinking we were going to lose. But we got the rebound from Donna's shot, and I snapped out of that and back into playing. When the ball was in my hands I didn't know there was only one second left - I was just playing netball."

In 2002, Sharelle was again a member of the Australian team when it successfully defended its Commonwealth Games title in Manchester. She was also a member of the Australian team that was beaten by the Silver Ferns by 25 goals in October 2005. However the difference was not nearly as large when the two teams met in Melbourne for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. They were well matched, but were eventually outplayed by a determined Silver Ferns team 60-55.

At the 2007 world championships, McMahon teamed up with long-time partner Catherine Cox to begin the final against New Zealand. However in a risky move she was removed at half time and replaced by Susan Pratley, who was soon concussed. Eventually McMahon re-took the court with Natalie Medhurst and the speed of the two smaller shooters just dragged Australia over the line.

On July 17, 2006, Sharelle was a special guest in Bert's Family Feud along with Catherine Cox, Bianca Chatfield and Natalie von Bertouch.

http://www.netball.asn.au/playerprofile.asp?team=826&id=115&comp=164&orgid=1