McVEIGH, Mark

Mark McVeigh was only four years old when he started playing junior football with the Killarney Vale club on the NSW south coast. He won the Under-13 competition best and fairest award when he was only nine. He later played with Pennant Hills in Sydney but was surprisingly overlooked by the Sydney Swans and was secured by Essendon with pick 9 in the 1998 National Draft.

He had a slow start to his career, finding it difficult to break into the strong teams of that time, although he did win the Reserves Best and Fairest award in 2000. He made his debut in Round 1, 1999, in a win over Carlton, but only played ten games in his first two seasons.

However, once he broke into the team in 2001, he was remarkably consistent and missed only two games in the next three years.

He was an excellent midfielder with good goal sense. He went to the backline in 2003 and established himself as a very reliable player, finishing ninth in the Club's Best and Fairest award in 2006. He finished third in 2007 and won the Trainers and Staff Best Clubman award. He was selected in the International Rules team in 2004.

He won 13 Brownlow Medal votes in 2008, despite only playing 14 games, and required a knee operation to repair damage that he had apparently incurred when he had been pushed into James Hird's face, causing substantial damage.

Hip, knee and hamstring injuries limited his appearances in 2012 and he retired at the end of the season. He spent some time in the media with the Seven Network and radio station SEN, then began a coaching career. He first coached the NSW/ACT Rams Under 16s and Under 18s in the National Championships then became head coach at Greater Western Sydney's academy. In 2015, he became defensive at the Giants.

He had to stand down from a coaching role for the 2016 season due to suspension because of the Supplements saga. He resumed his role at GWS and took over as caretaker coach of during 2022 following the retirement of Leon Cameron during that year. He hoped to retain his position in 2023 but lost it to Adam Kingsley. He then then accepted a role as assistant coach at the Sydney Swans' academy, ironically being reunited with Leon Cameron, who was senior coach there.