Peel Thunder legend Rory O’Brien will lay down the first ever paver in the City of Mandurah’s Sporting Hall of Fame outside Bendigo Bank Stadium on Friday afternoon.
O’Brien became the hall’s first ever inductee at the 2017 City of Mandurah Sports Awards presentations last November, and will once again be honoured when he lays down the paver bearing his name outside the club he spent years playing for.
The Halls Head resident made his league debut for Peel Thunder in 2005, coming off premiership success in the colts division.
His list of accomplishments at the top level of the state league stretches on for miles, and includes having played as an integral part of both Peel Thunder league premierships in 2016 and 2017.
In 2008, he spent a season playing for North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League, before returning to WA where he donned an East Fremantle jumper for 108 games with the Sharks.
His time at East Fremantle saw him claim the West Australian Football League’s highest individual honour, the Sandover Medal, with a brilliant season in 2013.
O’Brien returned to Peel Thunder in 2016, helping the team to a pair of premierships before calling time on his illustrious and star-studded WAFL career.
He now plays his footy with his original country club, Pinjarra, in the Peel Football and Netball League.
A Sporting Hall of Fame commemoration area has been established at Peel Thunder Football Club to honour inductees, with O’Brien to lay down its first paver on Friday.
Nominations to enter this year’s City of Mandurah Sport Awards will be open between Monday, September 3 and Friday, October 5.
Justin Rake
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
