McGinnity calls time on WAFL career

Captain Patrick McGinnity has called time on his WAFL career.

The 31-year-old walked off Leederville Oval to a standing ovation from the East Perth faithful on Saturday after recording a 71-point victory over Peel Thunder.

It was a tense wait post-game for McGinnity and his teammates as they waited on the results of the Perth-South Fremantle clash that would determine East Perth’s chances of a finals berth.

In the end it was Perth who beat South Fremantle and dashed East Perth’s hopes of premiership glory when they secured a spot in the finals for the first time since 1997.

McGinnity, who carried his ninth month old daughter Maya off the ground after the game, reflected on the momentousness of the occasion:

“I was keen to leave that (celebrations), but the boys allowed me to have that little moment to myself and I appreciated that,” McGinnity told The West Australian.

“It’s been a long time playing footy and it was a nice moment.”

McGinnity’s experience was invaluable to the Royals – his father Kevin played 59 games for the Royals during the 1970s.

In a career spanning 13 seasons, McGinnity played 114 WAFL league games (for Claremont and East Perth) and 93 AFL games with the West Coast Eagles.

He made his Royals debut as a West Coast listed player during the alignment in 2014. Following the end of his AFL career, McGinnity signed with East Perth for the 2017 season and was elevated to co-captaincy alongside Kyle Anderson in the same year.

The joint 2018 FD Book Medallist, who took the reins as sole captain for the 2020 season, said he was confident that the Royals have a bright future under the current leadership structure.

“We’re such a young group and we’re always trying to get better,” McGinnity said.

“It’s been a good year for us. We’ve got good leadership. Barney (Jeremy Barnard) has always been big on that, so we’re in good hands for next year.”