From Collingwood Rat Pack member to Sydney premiership player to North Melbourne senior coach: Rhyce Shaw’s AFL journey has been anything but dull.
Shaw officially became the Kangaroos’ 36th VFL/AFL coach on Thursday, capping a meteoric rise that even he didn’t see coming.
Certainly not back when he was part of the infamous bunch of Magpies larrikins that included his brother Heath, Dane Swan, Ben Johnson and Alan Didak.
The colourful deeds and occasional misdemeanours of the Rat Pack are part of black-and-white folklore but it was difficult to envisage a senior AFL coach emerging from that gallery of lovable rogues.
However Shaw’s at-times troubled Magpies career and his transformational trade to the Swans are key reasons he is a senior coach at the tender age of 37.
“I really enjoy having the ability to change people’s and players’ perspectives on football and life and guide them in the direction that I’d like them to go,” Shaw said.
“I’ve learnt from experiences in footy, both good and bad, and I kinda know the path to go down and hopefully I can direct those people in that manner.
“… It probably has happened a little bit quicker than I expected but I back myself in any situation.”
With his Magpies skipper dad Ray, Collingwood captain and coach uncle Tony and Heath, the Shaws have a rich VFL/AFL history with a combined total of 996 games, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise the family has produced another AFL coach.
It was Shaw’s decision to request a trade to Sydney at the end of 2008 that not only revitalised his flagging AFL career but set him on the path to coaching.
A youngster who occasionally struggled with expected standards became a disciplined senior player and ultimately a coach charged with setting those same standards so critical to a team’s culture.
“I only really started to think about coaching when I was in my second or third-last year at Sydney,” he said.
“I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to coach the reserves team up in Sydney straight out of playing.
“They threw me in the deep end there, that was a great experience, and ever since I’ve just loved it.
“I didn’t expect to be here but I’m glad I am.”