Fondly known in the football world as 'Magic', Michael McLean’s magnificent style of football certainly justified the nickname.
One of Nightcliff's most celebrated players, he won the clubs Under 15 Best and Fairest Medal in 1978/79, the Under 17 Best and Fairest medal in 1979/80, was a member of the1981 All Australian schoolboys team and proudly represented the Northern Territory at senior level eight times.
He was vice-captain of the famous 1988 Bicentennial Carnival team who won the Division 2 Championship.
Recruited by VFL club Footscray, he played there from 1983 to 1989 before transferring to the Brisbane Bears where he started from 1991 to 1997. Michael McLean played over 200 VFL/AFL games scoring 40 goals and in testament to his ability, he is a two-time winner of Brisbane’s Best and Fairest, winning the award in 1991 and 1993.
He captained the Indigenous All Stars team in 1995 and in that same year became an assistant coach for the Brisbane Lions. He was named in the AFL Indigenous Team of the Century and in 2005 and in 2007 he coached the Indigenous All Stars.
A role model and leader both on and off the field, he has coached NTFL clubs Nightcliff and Southern Districts and in 2009 was named the inaugural coach of the NT Thunder, once again demonstrating that he is a true leader of men. In the 2014/15 NTFL Season he coached Tracy Village to a memorable Division 1 flag. A true NT football icon, Majo McLean was inducted as a legend into the AFLNT Hall of Fame in 2010 and we are proud to name one of the most revered and respected footballers the NT has ever produced, Michael ‘Magic’ McLean in the AFLNT Team of the Century.