McManus was a former teammate of head coach Justin Longmuir between the years of 1999 and 2006, highlighted by the club's historic run to the preliminary finals in their final year together.
He debuted for the club as a 19-year-old in Round 5 of Fremantle's inaugural season in 1995, impressing coach Gerard Neesham enough on debut to play through the remainder of the season from thereon, the first 18 of his 228 games for the club.
McManus' talent soon became apparent to the rest of the competition when he won a Rising Star nomination in just his sixth match, for a 22-disposal display in a 71-point thumping of St Kilda.
He also won State of Origin selection in his debut year, representing Western Australia against the Allies at Subiaco Oval.
Whilst his talent and work ethic was not to be rewarded with footy's ultimate prize, McManus worked his way up the tree at Fremantle to be club co-captain with Adrian Fletcher during the 2000 and 2001 seasons before Peter Bell took the reins in his second season out west.
McManus became the club's third 'life member' in 2004, recognised for his tenth year of playing service at the time.
Despite having retired at the end of 2008, he remains in the club's top-ten all-time appearances list, having been the second behind Shane Parker to notch up 200 games for the club.
He took on a player development mentoring role immediately upon retirement before transitioning into radio and television broadcasting.
Fremantle CEO Shaun Garlick said McManus "sums up what a Fremantle person is" on Monday morning.
“He had a remarkable career as a Fremantle player, but beyond that he has been a champion of this Club since our humble beginnings back in 1995," Garlick added.
“Those early foundation years weren’t easy, and as a 19-year-old he came in showed great qualities which resulted him being named captain at just 24.”
“The courage he showed on field speaks for itself, but ever since retiring he’s been a passionate and positive influence, someone who purely lives and breathes Freo.
“If we are good enough to get the job done on Saturday, it will be a great moment to see Shaun present the cup to Alex, and his old teammate Justin.”
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
