Shane O'Bree

Shane O'Bree (born 15 March 1979) is a former professional Australian rules football player, who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club. O'Bree played a total of 246 AFL matches, playing for both the Brisbane Lions and the Collingwood Football Club.

Originally from Beaufort in north-west Victoria, via North Ballarat Rebels under 18 side, O'Bree was drafted to the Brisbane Lions in the 1997 National Draft as a first-round selection.

He spent two years up North, debuting in 1998 with 21 touches, but managed only 19 games in his 2 seasons. A ball winning midfielder, he won an AFL Rising Star nomination in the first week of 1999, having 27 touches. After a brilliant start to the season his form slipped at a great rate, and was delisted at the end of the season.

O'Bree was not delisted by the Brisbane Lions at the end of his second season. Leigh Matthews, coach of the Brisbane Lions, travelled to O'Brees hometown of Ballarat during the off season in an attempted to persuade him to remain at Brisbane. Collingwood coach, Michael Malthouse, was very interested in O'Bree due to his brilliant display in his second AFL season. O'Bree left Brisbane by choice and Collingwood selected O'Bree with their first pick in the pre season draft of 2000.

After being quickly snapped up in the 2000 Pre-Season Draft by Collingwood and had a great first season with the club, showing dominance as a clearance player. He had 498 disposals and then 467 in successive seasons at the Pies, showing he was a great pick up. O'Bree suffered a slow start to 2002 thanks to Osteitis Pubis, but played in the Grand Final sides of 2002 and 2003, once again being a valuable clearance player in the centre for the Magpies. Around this time he also played his 100th game. Steady seasons in both 2004 and 2005 have kept him going, despite his lack of speed in a slow midfield outfit, he still found the ball and tackled hard. 2006 saw him play all 23 games and bring up his 150th career game in Round 5 against Port Adelaide. He consistently found the ball, having another good season in which he averaged 21 touches per game.