West Coast Eagles Legend Dom Sheed Retires Due to Injury

Premiership hero Dom Sheed has announced his retirement after missing this season with a knee injury. Dom Sheed after the Grand Final between West Coast and Collingwood at the MCG, September 29, 2018. Picture: AFL Media

WEST Coast has lost another club stalwart with Dom Sheed announcing his retirement on Tuesday. The Eagles great joins Jeremy McGovern as an early delisting, choosing to draw an end to his career after missing the entire 2025 season due to an ACL injury sustained at a training session in February. Sheed had been limited to just 24 games through the past four seasons due to a wretched run with injuries.

The 30-year-old retires with 165 games under his belt, many of them memorable but none more so than the 2018 Grand Final. The term 'Premiership hero' is bandied around a lot, but Sheed's matchwinning goal will be part of West Coast folklore for many years to come.

Ironically the bookends of that play, Sheed and McGovern, have been forced out of the game within weeks of each other. Born in Kalgoorlie, Sheed played for Subiaco in the WAFL in 2012 as a 17 year old, and the next year captained WA in the national under-18 championships, winning the Larke Medal as the competition's best player. Taken with pick 11 in the 2013 AFL National Draft, the West Australian product debuted in round one the following year. Dom Sheed and Heritier Lumumba during the round 20 match between West Coast and Collingwood at Patersons Stadium, August 10, 2014. Picture: AFL Media

While he only touched the ball three times that day he soon established himself as a regular member of the side, playing 23 games and averaging just under 20 disposals in 2015. Sheed headed into the Eagles' 2018 September campaign in red-hot form, and his contribution in the flag win wasn't limited to the final minutes, gathering 32 disposals in the nail-biting win against Collingwood. Sheed missed just one match through the next three years before bad luck struck, severely limiting his ability to get on the ground and eventually forcing him to call time on his career. Dom Sheed after his 150th game in the round 12 match between West Coast and Collingwood at Optus Stadium, June 3, 2023. Picture: Getty Images

\"It has been an absolute privilege to represent the West Coast Eagles, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity this great footy club gave a skinny kid from Kalgoorlie,\" Sheed said on Tuesday. \"To play for the club I grew up supporting has been a dream come true, but the relationships you build and memories you share from footy are what I will cherish most from my time in the game. It hasn't always been easy. There's been plenty of ups and downs, and to finish up without being able to play alongside the boys this year due to injury has been tough.\"

Sheed will stay in touch at West Coast as he completes his rehab and helps mentor the club's list of young players, Eagles' general manager of football Gavin Bell taking time to acknowledge the off-field as well as on-field contribution of his champion. Dom Sheed and Harley Reid during the round 12 match between West Coast and St Kilda at Optus Stadium, June 1, 2024. Picture: Getty Images

\"Dom will be forever remembered for that one great moment in the Grand Final, but to us internally he is much more than that,\" Bell said. \"He was an old-school footballer - tough, competitive, driven to improve and he cared deeply about his teammates. Dom made the most of his assets as a player. He had an incredibly high footy IQ, the ability to read and understand the game, and a deadly left foot.\"