The son of William Hurn, who played 135 games with Central District, and the grandson of South Australian cricketerBrian, a member of South Australia's 1963-64 Sheffield Shield, Hurn was born in Angaston, South Australia in the Barossa Valley and attended Angaston Primary and Nuriootpa High School. Hurn was heavily involved in school and local sporting clubs, allowing him to excel in his favourite sports: cricket and Australian rules football. Hurn’s more professional career began whilst playing his two favourite sports simultaneously. He took on a rookie contract with SACA in 2004, turning down a second one in 2005 to focus on his football. Hurn played football for Central District, making it to two premierships in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, Hurn was picked to captain the U-18 South Australian side and also picked in the U-18 All-Australian selection in football. Hurn was picked 13th in the first round in the 2005 draft to West Coast Eagles.
AFL career
Hurn made his debut for in round 5, 2006 against the. After playing 6 games in his debut season he solidified his spot in the team, playing every game in 2007. He was nominated for the 2007 AFL Rising Star for his 19 possession performance in round 11 against. Hurn played just six games in 2008 because of injury, in what was a poor year for the Eagles, but he rebounded to play 22 games in 2009, and 15 in 2010. In 2011, he truly established himself as an elite kick and a highly damaging player off of the half back line. He was crucial to the Eagles' success, as they rebounded from the wooden spoon the previous year to a top-four team the next. Hurn played every game, including the three finals, including 15 disposals and a goal in the nail biting semi-final win over Carlton. In 2012, Hurn continued his strong form, playing all 24 games, including an 18 disposal and one goal effort in the Elimination Final demolition of North Melbourne. West Coast missed the finals in 2013, their lack of penetration out of the half-back line noticeable as Hurn played only 12 games. After Darren Glass retired midway through the 2014 season, Hurn was named acting co-captain of the club for the remainder of the season, along with four other players. On 8 December 2014 it was announced that Hurn would become the 10th captain of the West Coast Eagles.
Captaincy (2015-)
Hurn started out his captaincy with a highly successful first season in charge, leading West Coast to a surprise grand final in 2015. Unfortunately, the Eagles fell short to a rampant Hawthorn by 46 points, with the Hawks pulling off a threepeat for the first time since Brisbane in 2003. Over the next two years, Hurn continued to provide drive off halfback and through kick-ins. The subsequent two seasons proved to be a mixed bag for West Coast, with the club making finals both times, but being convincingly beaten by the Western Bulldogs in an EF, and Greater Western Sydney in a QF. In 2018, Hurn's form improved dramatically; in a change of role in defence, he established himself as one of the best defenders in the comp, earning a maiden All-Australian selection on the halfback flank. This coincided with a remarkable rise for West Coast, with the club expected to fall after losing a substantial amount of experience in the offseason. They made the Grand Final for the first time in three years, coming up against Collingwood - the Eagles went on to win by 5 points, and Hurn became the third premiership captain in the club's history. He continued his strong form into 2019, finishing with a second consecutive All-Australian selection, where he was named as Vice-Captain. He stepped down as captain following the 2019 season, to be replaced by Luke Shuey.
