Tony Shaw (Australian rules footballer)

Anthony Shaw
Born	(1960-07-23) July 23, 1960
Occupation(s)	Australian rules football player, coach, media figure
Years active	1977–1994 (player), 1996–1999 (coach)
Known for	Collingwood Football Club player and coach

Anthony Shaw (born 23 July 1960) is a retired Australian rules football player, coach, and media figure, best known for his tenure with the Collingwood Football Club.

Collingwood Football Club

Originating from Reservoir-Lakeside, Shaw made his senior debut in 1977 alongside his brother Ray. Standing at 170 cm, he was not naturally gifted but made up for it with tenacity and bravery in the rover position. Early on, Shaw found it challenging to maintain a regular place in the senior team and participated in the losing Grand Finals of 1980 and 1981.

In 1984, Shaw earned the prestigious Copeland Trophy as Collingwood's best and fairest player, sharing the field with his brother Neville. He assumed the captaincy in 1987 following the resignation of Mark Williams, although the club ended the season in 12th place.

Shaw led Collingwood to its first premiership in over three decades in 1990, triumphing over Essendon. His outstanding performance included 35 disposals, which secured him the Norm Smith Medal as best afield, alongside claiming his second Copeland Trophy. The following year, he amassed an impressive 50 disposals against the Brisbane Bears, marking the second-highest single-game total at that time.

Later in his career, injuries curtailed his playing time, yet Shaw continued to be a key figure as a centreman. He passed on the captaincy to premiership teammate Gavin Brown before retiring after the 1994 season. During that final year, he reached his 300th game milestone and surpassed Gordon Coventry's club record by playing more than 306 matches. His last appearance was a close elimination final defeat at the WACA.

By retirement, Shaw had accumulated 313 VFL/AFL games and scored 157 goals for Collingwood from 1978 through to 1994.

Playing statistics

|- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1978 || || 56,32 | 5 || 6 || 2 || 42 || 22 || 64 || 10 || || 1.2 || 0.4 || 8.4 || 4.4 || 12.8 || 2.0 || || 0 |- | scope=row | 1979 || || 22 | 15 || 8 || 7 || 227 || 113 || 340 || 41 || || 0.5 || 0.5 || 15.1 || 7.5 || 22.7 || 2.7 || || 0 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1980 || || 22 | 18 || 14 || 12 || 190 || 88 || 278 || 35 || || 0.8 || 0.7 || 10.6 || 4.9 || 15.4 || 1.9 || || 0 |- | scope=row | 1981 || || 22 | 25 || 19 ||18||413||227||640||70||||0.8||0.7||16.5||9.1||25.6||2.8||||6 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1982 ||||22 |20||18||8||294||206||500||56||||0.9||0.4||14.7||10.3||25.0||2.8||||4 |- | scope=row | 1983 ||=||22 |14||14||299||216||515||86||||0.6||0.6||13.6||9.8||23.4||3.9||||0 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1984 ||=||22 |15||19||396||280||676||119||||0.7||0.8||17.2||12.2||29.4||5.2||||6 |- | scope=row | 1985 ||=||22 |11||10||360||240||600||114||||0.5||0.5||16.4||10.9||27.3||5.2||||10 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1986 ||=||22 |10||7||328||218||546||84||||0.5||0.4||16.4||10.9||27.3||4.2||||5 |- | scope=row | 1987 ||=|||22 |3|||2|||221|||151|||372|||49|||38|||0.2|||0.1|||13.8|||9.4|||23.3|||3.1|||2.4|||0 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1988 ||=|||22 |9|||10|||316|||203|||519|||89|||34|||0.5|||0.5|||15.8|||10.2|||26|||4.5|||1.7|||4 |- | scope=row | 1989 ||=|||22 |6|||7|||208|||141|||349|||56|||23|||0.4|||0.5|||14.9|||10.1|||24.9|||4|||1.6|||5 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C | 1990^# ||=|||22 |7|||11|||459|||277|||736|||105|||55|||0.3|||0.4|||17.7|||10.7|||28.3|||4|||2.1|||13 |- | scope=row | 1991 ||=|||22 |8|||7|||316|||202|||518|||57|||35|||0.4||||17,6||||11,2||||28,8||||3,2||||1,9||||3 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1992 ||=||||22 |3||||2||||244||||162||||406||||74||||30||||0,2||||0,1||||14,4||||9,5||||23,9||||4,4||||1,8||||4 |- | scope=row | 1993 ||=||||22 |1||||3||||133||||119||||252||||36||||30||||0,1||||0,3||||11,1||||9,9||||21,0||||3,0||||2,5||||0 |- style=background:#EAEAEA | scope=row | 1994 ||=||||22 |5||||2||||141||||180||||321||||40||||28||||0,3||||0,1||||7,1||||9,0||||16,1||||2,0||||1,4||||2 |- class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 | Career !313!!157!!141!!4587!!3045!!7632!!1121!!273!!0,5!!0,5!!14,7!!9,7!!24,4!!3,6!!1,9!!62 |}

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Finals
		Won	Lost	Drew	Win %	Position	Won	Lost	Drew	Win %	Outcome
COLL	1996	9	13	0	Template:Winperc	11th out of 16	—	—	—	—	—
COLL	1997	10	12	0	Template:Winperc	10th out of 16	—	—	—	—	—
COLL	1998	7	15	0	Template:Winperc	14th out of 16	—	—	—	—	—
COLL	1999	4	18	0	Template:Winperc	16th out of 16 (last)	—	—	—	—	—
[1]		30	58	0	Template:Winperc		0	0	0	.000

Honours and achievements

Team

• AFL premiership player (Template:AFL Col): Captain in 1990

Individual

• Norm Smith Medal: Awarded in 1990
• AFL Premiership Captain: 1990
• Collingwood Captain: From 1987 to 1993
• AFLPA Best Captain Award: Received in 1990
• Two-time Copeland Trophy winner: 1984, 1990
• Represented Victoria in State of Origin four times: 1984, 1990, 1991, 1992
• Named on the interchange bench for the Collingwood Team of the Century 1897-1996
• Inducted into the Collingwood F.C. Hall of Fame: 2004
• Selected for the VFL/AFL Team of the Year: 1984, and as captain in 1990

Senior coach at Collingwood Football Club (1996–1999)

After Leigh Matthews was dismissed following the conclusion of the 1995 season, Shaw took over as senior coach of Collingwood starting in 1996, two years post-retirement. Although he had been a strong leader during his playing days, his coaching period saw modest results. The club ended the 1996 campaign in 11th place with a 9–13 record, improved slightly to finish 10th with a 10–12 tally in 1997, but then dropped to 14th position at 7–15 in 1998. The team finished at the bottom of the ladder in 1999 with only four wins and eighteen losses, marking Collingwood’s second wooden spoon and making Shaw one of the few premiership captains to later coach a last-place team. He stepped down after that season and was replaced by Mick Malthouse.

Over four seasons at Collingwood, Shaw led the side through 88 matches, achieving a winning percentage of approximately 34%, with thirty victories and fifty-eight defeats.

Post-Football

Following his coaching career, Shaw moved into broadcasting, initially providing commentary for 3AW Football before joining Fox Footy Channel as a commentator and special analyst for multiple years.

In recognition of his community contributions, Shaw was named Moomba Monarch (King of Moomba) in 1991. His son Brayden was selected by Collingwood in the 2003 draft but did not appear in any senior games before being delisted in 2005; Brayden subsequently played for Port Melbourne in the VFL.

In March 2006, Shaw voiced criticism toward the AFL regarding its frequent rule changes. Additionally, he had the honour of presenting the Norm Smith Medal to Luke Hodge from during the 2008 AFL Grand Final, recognizing him as best on ground.

Racism

In 1991, Shaw confessed to using racially charged language during matches if he thought it would secure a victory, stating that he was indifferent to race or creed as long as it elicited a response. Nevertheless, after an independent investigation in 2021 uncovered systemic racism within the Collingwood Football Club, Shaw rejected claims that the club was racist, highlighting his 21-year tenure as a player and coach without encountering such conduct.

During a 2013 interview, having previously avoided the subject for years, Shaw admitted that his earlier comments were immature and incorrect, reflecting a mindset that "what happens on the field stays on the field," and he took accountability for his past behavior.