| Heath Shaw | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Shaw playing for Greater Western Sydney in June 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Heath Shaw | ||
| Nickname | The Heater | ||
| Born | (1985-11-27)27 November 1985 (age 39) | ||
| Original team | Northern Knights (TAC Cup) | ||
| Draft | No. 48(F/S),2003 national draft | ||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 86 kg (190 lb) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2004–2013 | Collingwood | 173 (37) | |
| 2014–2020 | Greater Western Sydney | 152(5) | |
| Total | 325 (42) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2008 | Victoria | 1 (0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020. 2 Representative statistics correct as of 2008. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Heath Shaw (born 27 November 1985) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played for theCollingwood Football Club and theGreater Western Sydney Giants in theAustralian Football League (AFL). Heath grew up inDiamond Creek and played junior sport forDiamond Creek Football Club and Diamond Creek Cricket Club.
After being drafted under thefather–son rule in the2003 AFL draft at pick 48 toCollingwood,[1] Shaw made hisAFL debut in 2005 againstSt Kilda at theTelstra Dome. He was a solid contributor since making his debut, with his best game being his first. A running defender, Heath has pace and good ball skills which can make him into a good footballer. He played all possible remaining 6 games of the season and kicked his first goal againstAdelaide in Round 21.
Shaw had a stunning2006 season, being quickly noted for his ball-winning ability out of the back-line and his consistency and reliability which was a key to the success of the Magpies. He played 22 games, with his first being in Round 2 againstHawthorn after being a late replacement forScott Burns. Shaw had played forVFL affiliateWilliamstown, where he had 30 touches in wet and windy conditions, only 24 hours before his call up.[2] Shaw kept his spot for the rest of the season, building game-time each week early on to becoming a valuable player to the side. In Round 4 onANZAC Day againstEssendon he had 23 touches and 10 marks, and in the following week, he won anAFL Rising Star nomination. Shaw had 16 games with 18 or more disposals during the season, which showed his consistency. He somewhat tailed off at the end of the season, but still was effective with hisone percenters. Shaws ended up having 448 disposals (313 kicks, 135 handballs) at an average of more than 20 touches a game. His best game being againstPort Adelaide where he had 27 kicks, six handballs, 11 marks and kicked a fantastic goal in a thriller atAAMI Stadium. Heath also had 160 marks and accumulated 2210 Champion Data ranking points at an average of 100, and was ranked inside the top 10 in a game on 13 occasions, including two no.1 game rankings.
Shaw played in his first final against theWestern Bulldogs, but Collingwood lost. Shaw also came third in the 2006AFL Rising Star[1] behindDanyle Pearce ofPort Adelaide andAndrew Raines ofRichmond. Shaw also polled six votes in the 2006Brownlow Medal, including a game-high of three votes in the Round 12 game against theSydney Swans. Shaw also placed fourth in the 2006Copeland Trophy.
In 2007, Shaw started the season in great fashion. He would have a solid pre-season and then become one of the players of the first quarter of the year; leading the league in kicks (114 @ 19.0) after round 6. He had an extraordinary opening game of the season, where he had 27 disposals, and collected twoBrownlow votes despite giving away five free kicks,[3] including a50-metre penalty in the final minutes of the game, which resulted in aShannon Grant controversial miss.[4] OnAnzac Day, Shaw would put on a show of courage and determination in where he won theAnzac Day Medal,[1][5] racking up 23 kicks, nine handballs and 13 marks against theBombers. Essendon coachKevin Sheedy labelled the Shaw boys as trouble and a pair that needed to be stopped. Heath would be on notice by opposition coaches for the majority of the season, with taggersKane Cornes andKane Johnson to name a few would be told to restrict his run off half-back. Shaw'sAll-Australian form would deteriorate with the extra attention, as well as acorked thigh/quad he encountered againstFremantle in round ten. He would be heavily bandaged on his left leg for the rest of the season.
Shaw played an exciting brand of football late in the season, including a good finals series. He would have 25 disposals in the losing preliminary final in which the club lost to the eventual premiers,Geelong by five points. Shaw would poll seven votes in theBrownlow Medal, as well as finish equal fourth (fifth on the new countback system) in theCopeland Trophy and was considered unlucky not to be selected in theAll-Australian team.[5]
Shaw started 2008 well with a best-on-ground performance againstRichmond, but found the going tough mid-season when opposition clubs finally discovered ways to curb his influence. Shaw andAlan Didak were suspended for the rest of the season by the club following a serious late-night indiscretion.
Hamstring troubles and a suspension for contact with an umpire caused a slow start to 2009. He played only two of the first six matches before returning in round seven against St Kilda and did not miss a beat for the remainder of the year. Was one of the most consistent Magpies in the finals. Finished third in the Copeland Trophy and won the Bob Rose Trophy as the Best Finals Player.
In 2010 he was one of Collingwood's best players across the two Grand Finals. He enshrined himself in Collingwood history in the replay by his freakish smother ofNick Riewoldt who meandered to the goal line. Shaw managed to knock the ball free from Riewoldt's hands before it could even touch his boot to save a certain goal and tip the momentum Collingwood's way.
By mid-year 2011 he was a popularly tipped by most pundits to be a certain inclusion in the All-Australian team but after he was found to have laid a bet on teammate he was suspended for the rest of the season.
In 2013, Shaw's on-field issues were highlighted again during Collingwood's loss to Port Adelaide in the Elimination Final where he played onAngus Monfries. During the game, Shaw gave away a crucial free kick in the goal square early in the second quarter and after the siren for half-time rang, he threw the ball at Monfries' head.[6] At the end of the 2013 season, Collingwood agreed to trade Shaw despite signing a two-year contract extension in 2012.[7]
In October 2013, Shaw was traded to Greater Western Sydney in exchange forTaylor Adams.[8]
In 2015, he won theKevin Sheedy Medal as Greater Western Sydney's best and fairest.[9]
Shaw was recognised for his defensive efforts by earning a place in the back-pocket in the2015 All-Australian team.[10] He was also selected in the2016 All-Australian team, this time on the half-back line.[11]
Shaw was involved in a late-season controversy in 2008 when he was charged with drink driving after crashing into a parked car and reportedly registering a blood alcohol reading of 0.144. On 4 August the Collingwood Football Club released a statement saying that Shaw had lied to them; teammateAlan Didak was his passenger when the accident happened, but Shaw and Didak denied this and the entire team fronted the media in a show of unity, where Shaw refused to divulge the identity of the passenger under media questioning. He was backed up by captainScott Burns. However eyewitnesses identified Didak, and after the pair admitted to lying to their teammates and club officials, they were banned until the end of the season.[12]
In Round 3, 2009, Shaw pushed umpire Michael Vozzo off-balance after he had paid a free kick to the opposition. This resulted in Shaw being suspended for one game and fined $1950.[13]
Shaw was suspended by the AFL in July 2011 after it was found that he had paid $10 to a friend to bet on teammateNick Maxwell to be the first goalscorer in Collingwood's Round 9 match againstAdelaide. AFL integrity rules prohibit all players and club officials from participating in any form of betting on football matches. He was fined $20,000 and suspended for 8 weeks, as well as a six-week suspended sentence.[14]
During the 2014 off-season, Shaw was detained by Victorian police for drunken behaviour early on the morning of theAFL Grand Final, which his brotherRhyce was to take part in for theSydney Swans. He was the second Giants player to fall foul of the law in 2014, after teammateToby Greene was suspended for five matches earlier in the season also for drunken behaviour following the team's 111-point loss toWest Coast in Round 8.[15]
In round five, 2017, during the third quarter of the twelfthSydney Derby, Shaw made an insensitive comment towardsSydney Swans playerTom Papley while being tackled.[16]
Shaw attended Loyola College, Watsonia, in Melbourne's outer north-east suburbs.
Shaw is the son of former Collingwood captainRay Shaw, and brother ofRhyce. He is also the nephew of premiership captain andNorm Smith Medallist,Tony Shaw and former Collingwood playerNeville Shaw. His cousin Brayden (son of Tony)[17] was drafted in the same year as Heath, but he failed to play a game before being delisted in 2005.[18]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks | ||
# | Played in that season's premiership team | † | Led the league for the season |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2005 | Collingwood | 39 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 66 | 24 | 90 | 40 | 11 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 4.0 | 15.0 | 6.7 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2006 | Collingwood | 39 | 22 | 9 | 4 | 313 | 136 | 449 | 160 | 54 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 14.2 | 6.2 | 20.4 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 6 |
| 2007 | Collingwood | 39 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 361 | 126 | 487 | 164 | 68 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 14.4 | 5.0 | 19.5 | 6.6 | 2.7 | 7 |
| 2008 | Collingwood | 39 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 247 | 119 | 366 | 125 | 33 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 13.7 | 6.6 | 20.3 | 6.9 | 1.8 | 5 |
| 2009 | Collingwood | 39 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 295 | 187 | 482 | 118 | 43 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 14.0 | 8.9 | 23.0 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 5 |
| 2010# | Collingwood | 39 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 345 | 144 | 489 | 129 | 53 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 15.0 | 6.3 | 21.3 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 5 |
| 2011 | Collingwood | 39 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 282 | 95 | 377 | 116 | 60 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 16.6 | 5.6 | 22.2 | 6.8 | 3.5 | 3 |
| 2012 | Collingwood | 39 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 318 | 105 | 423 | 107 | 58 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 15.1 | 5.0 | 20.1 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 1 |
| 2013 | Collingwood | 39 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 278 | 113 | 391 | 114 | 60 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 13.9 | 5.7 | 19.6 | 5.7 | 3.0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 275 | 82 | 357 | 83 | 30 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 16.2 | 4.8 | 21.0 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2015 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 420† | 97 | 517 | 145 | 61 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 19.1† | 4.4 | 23.5 | 6.6 | 2.8 | 0 |
| 2016 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 503† | 77 | 580 | 183 | 61 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 21.0† | 3.2 | 24.2 | 7.6 | 2.5 | 2 |
| 2017 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 393 | 122 | 515 | 151 | 37 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 15.7 | 4.9 | 20.6 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2018 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 361 | 84 | 445 | 115 | 53 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 18.1 | 4.2 | 22.3 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 0 |
| 2019 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 419 | 103 | 522 | 177 | 60 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 4.0 | 20.1 | 6.8 | 2.3 | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 162 | 47 | 209 | 78 | 38 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.5 | 2.8 | 12.3 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 0 |
| Career | 325 | 42 | 42 | 5062 | 1667 | 6729 | 2017 | 781 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 15.8 | 5.2 | 21.0 | 6.3 | 2.4 | 34 | ||
Notes
