WHEN Shannon Hurn leads West Coast onto Optus Stadium to face Greater Western Sydney this Saturday night he will do so as the reigning premiership skipper in his 250th game for the Eagles.
However, if Hurn didn't choose football as a teenager, his sporting career path could have ended up very differently.
A star junior batsman in South Australia, he was on the radar of national underage sides and many believe he would have eventually padded up for the Australian cricket team, even if the modest 31-year-old plays that prospect down.
Footy or cricket is a decision many young sports stars have wrestled with, and while things have clearly worked out for Hurn, he has always maintained strong interest in the summer game.
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So when national coach and Eagles board member Justin Langer invited him into the inner sanctum for a one-day international against South Africa at Adelaide Oval last November, Hurn jumped at the opportunity.
"All sports, we all have similar things that you're trying to work on – how we best prepare the team, how a certain individual is going, what tactics do you want to have?" Hurn told the Coast to Coast podcast.
I probably took a lot away from talking to a couple of players individually. Sport and most business is just about people management.
"It's just trying to understand your players, get the best out of them, give themselves some confidence.
"Australia wasn't going that well at that time in the one-day competition, so that's what I took out of it, football is no different."
For years, Hurn has been mentored by avid West Coast fan Langer, and they share similar traits as strong-willed characters who never give an inch and always put the team first.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson, who lives on the same street as Langer, has also leaned heavily on the former nuggety left-handed batsman for advice.
In the wake of last year's Grand Final epic, Simpson lauded the 48-year-old for a speech he delivered to the playing group on the eve of finals 12 months earlier which helped set the course for West Coast's success.
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Langer, who played the bulk of his 105-Test career during one of the most dominant eras in cricket history, later described it as his "Ron Barassi moment" detailing the camaraderie that made Australia a force in international cricket.
"The Australian cricket team have the songmaster after the games that they have, and Justin did that for a fair while," Hurn said.
"One of the things he spoke about the cricket team going through that era of mid-90s to … 2007 or 2008, how they got along, the mateship, how they wanted to play and the spirit and what it meant to them.
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"He just spoke about that, his dealings with cricket, and how he best felt sport was played, and that's what he passed onto the group.
"Yes, we're all individuals and we want to do our own certain things in the sport, but really you're doing it to help your teammate out.
"It's the blocks, that's the tackles, getting over and helping someone, that's pretty much what he spoke about, and as a group I think that's something we had been working on.
"But Justin just related in a pretty simple manner and it just probably flowed from there.
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"I think now through Simmo and the coaches and playing group, it's just something we really wanted to get better at and I think it helped us last year."
Hurn, who joined John Worsfold and Chris Judd as premiership-winning Eagles captains, could overtake games record holder Dean Cox (290) next year after recently inking a contract extension.
While he is set to become just the eighth Eagle to reach the 250-game mark against the Giants, the rugged half-back is most looking forward to sharing his milestone with teammates Josh Kennedy (200 club games) and Chris Masten (200 games).
He reflected proudly on helping guide West Coast back to success, and wants to leave the club in a strong position by ensuring the Eagles' next generation is ready to take ownership when its time comes.
"You are quite proud of being able to help the club get along to a premiership, where it is today," Hurn said.
"When I first came in there was Drew Banfield, that was his last year (2006) and he got to play in a premiership.
"We got to have three or four years with (Daniel) Kerry, Coxy, (Darren) Glassy, (Ben) Cousins for a couple, and they all help you learn what football is about, how to go about it and how to win.
"Especially when you're a young fella, you think you have an idea, but you don't know quite what it takes."
