Tony Shaw

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For the Australian rugby union international, see Tony Shaw (rugby).
Tony Shaw
Personal information
Full name Anthony Shaw
Date of birth (1960-07-23) 23 July 1960 (age 61)
Original team(s) Reservoir-Lakeside (NFL)
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s) Rover/Centre
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1978–1994 Collingwood 313 (157)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
Victoria ? (?)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1996–1999 Collingwood 88 (30–58–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1994.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1999.
Career highlights
  • AFL Premiership: 1990
  • VFL/AFL Team of the Year: 1984, 1990 (Captain)
  • Collingwood Best & Fairest: 1984, 1990
  • AFL Premiership Captain: 1990
  • Norm Smith Medal: 1990
  • Collingwood Captain: 1987-1993
  • Collingwood Team of the Century: Interchange
  • Collingwood Hall of Fame
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Anthony Shaw (born 23 July 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality who played for the Collingwood Football Club.

Playing career[]

Shaw was recruited to Collingwood from Reservoir-Lakeside to make his debut in 1977 alongside brother Ray. He was a small midfielder at 170 cm who didn't have the natural ability or quality skills of others but his courage and determination made him a fine rover. He did struggle in his early years to cement a senior position in the team. Shaw played in the 1980–1981 losing Grand Final sides.

In 1984, Shaw won the Copeland Trophy as the Magpies best and fairest player for the season, as well as playing with second brother Neville. After another couple seasons of the club failing to make the finals, Shaw took over the captaincy left by Mark Williams in 1987, but the side failed in the new-look competition, finishing 12th.

In 1990, Shaw captained the club to a historic premiership, the club's first in 32 years, defeating Essendon. Shaw's 35 touches saw him earn the Norm Smith Medal as best on the ground. In the same season, Shaw won his second Copeland Trophy.

In 1991, against the Brisbane Bears, Shaw had 50 disposals, which was at the time the second most disposals recorded in a game by a single player (trailing Greg Williams' record of 53 set in 1989). [1]

Injuries got the better of him in years to come, but he continued impressing as a centreman despite the constant struggle of getting on the park injury-free. At the end of 1993, he was considering retirement but played on, despite handing the captaincy to premiership team-mate Gavin Brown. 1994 was his last year, but he broke several records. In round nine, against North Melbourne, he played his 300th game, and nine weeks later against Footscray, he broke Gordon Coventry's club VFL/AFL games record of 306 games. Shaw's last game was played at the WACA in an elimination final which the Magpies lost by two points.

Shaw retired in a tearful farewell with 313 VFL/AFL games and 157 goals.

Coaching career[]

After Leigh Matthews ended his stint as Collingwood coach, Shaw would be appointed the new coach for the 1996 season, only two seasons after retirement. A leader on the field, Shaw was unsuccessful off the field as a coach. In 1996 he would guide Collingwood to 11th place, and his best effort came in 1997 when the club finished 10th. Shaw coached the Pies to the club's second wooden spoon in 1999, earning the accolade of being a premiership captain to coach a wooden spoon winning side. After that, Shaw resigned as Collingwood coach.

Post-Football[]

Shaw became a media commentator after his coaching role, commentating on the radio for 3AW Football before joining the Fox Footy Channel as a commentator/special comments for several seasons.

In 1991, Shaw was appointed Moomba Monarch (popularly called King of Moomba).[2]

His son, Brayden, was drafted to Collingwood in 2003, but failed to play a game before being delisted in 2005, before moving on to Port Melbourne in the VFL.

In March 2006, Shaw returned to media focus when he publicly criticized the AFL for the consistent introduction of new rules.[3]

Shaw was selected to present the Norm Smith Medal to the best player in the 2008 AFL Grand Final,[4] which was Luke Hodge from Hawthorn.[5]

Racism[]

In 1991 Shaw told journalist Caroline Wilson of The Sunday Age that "I'd make a racist comment every week if I thought it would help win the game. If I think I can say something to upset someone, then I'll say it. I couldn't give a stuff about their race, religion or creed. If they react, you know you've got 'em".[6] However, in 2021, following an independent review of the Collingwood Football Club which found evidence of systemic racism, he denied that the club was racist, stating "I played there for 21 years and coached over that period of time … I never saw anything that meant that this whole club was racist".[7]

''I said it,'' Shaw said in a follow-up 2013 interview with The Age after 22 years of publicly avoiding the matter. ''I was naive and I was wrong. I had this view that what goes on the field, stays on the field. I erred and I've got to wear it.''[8]

References[]

  1. ^ http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/1991/020419910420.html
  2. ^ Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm, Hilary Eriksen (17 Feb 2006) Moomba: A festival for the people. Archived 5 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine PDF pp 17–22
  3. ^ Palmer, Scot (5 March 2006) Tony Shaw on 3AW: Rules robbing the game of soul and spirit; Sunday Herald Sun
  4. ^ Shaw hopes Harley gets Norm Smith Medal
  5. ^ Full Norm Smith voting
  6. ^ Wilson, Caroline (20 April 2013). "Revisiting past controversy on racial taunts". The Age. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  7. ^ Parker, Gareth (2 February 2021). "Collingwood great denies 'systemic racism' claims". Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  8. ^ Wilson, Caroline (19 April 2013). "Revisiting past controversy on racial taunts". The Age. Retrieved 23 August 2021.

External links[]

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