Recruited from Tasmanian club, Sandy Bay Shaw played 51 games between 1974 and 1981 for the Essendon Football Club and was noted as a talented defender who was struck down by injury throughout a promising career. Shaw underwent nine major operations finally retiring at the end of the 1982 season. Shaw was then appointed by Essendon coach, Kevin Sheedy as a specialist opposition analyst. In 1984 Shaw captain-coached Clarence Football Club in the Tasmanian Football League winning the premiership in 1984 and finishing runners-up in 1985. He retired at the end of the 1985 season before returning to Essendon as assistant coach in 1986. Shaw represented Tasmania in the 1979 and 1980 State of Origin carnivals and overall played six games for his state.
Coaching career
He embarked on a coaching career, first with the Clarence Football Club in Tasmania in 1984–85. Shaw was then appointed Essendon Football Club assistant coach from 1986–1988 then transferred to Fitzroy Football Club as assistant coach between 1989 and 1990. Shaw coached Fitzroy to the VFL reserves premiership in 1989, defeating Geelong by two points. This represents Fitzroy's last premiership success. From 1991–94 Shaw was senior coach of Fitzroy and coached Adelaide Football Club from 1995–96. Including pre-season games Shaw coached for over 150 games and was highly regarded for his tactical ability and opposition analysis,. He was the assistant coach at Essendon Football Club from 1999–2005 which included the 2000 premiership coached by Kevin Sheedy and captained by James Hird. Shaw coached Tasmania at the 1988 Bicentennial Carnival and was Tasmania's State of Origin coach from 1990–1993. He successfully coached Tasmania to victory over Victoria in 1990 and was named assistant coach in Tasmania's Team of the Century. He was an inaugural inductee in the Tasmanian Football League's Hall of Fame and in 2008 was elevated to Legend status. He is also a Life Member of the Essendon Football Club and an AFL 200 Club Member. Shaw left Essendon at the conclusion of the 2005 season to take up a position at Fremantle Football Club as General Manager of Football Operations, returning to Victoria at the end of the 2009 season. He recently retired from Brighton Grammar School after ten years teaching, which included his role as Director of Football and First XVIII coach. He coached the school to three APS premierships in a row from 2014-2016. Shaw also writes extensively on Twitter under @shawry_analyst. He currently works part time at Essendon Football Club as Schools Recruiting Consultant and is a casual relief teacher in the north west suburbs of Melbourne. Shaw has a Master's Degree in Sport Management and an Applied Science Degree majoring in Physical Education.
