Rhyce Shaw (born 16 October 1981) is a current

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

coach and former player who is the head coach of the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

(AFLW). Shaw grew up in Diamond Creek and played for

Diamond Creek Football Club The Diamond Creek Football Club is an Australian rules football club located in Diamond Creek – an outer north-eastern suburb of Melbourne. History Formed in 1904, the club was a founding member of the Whittlesea District Football Associat ...

. He played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

and

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL), winning the 2012 premiership with Sydney. Shaw was the men's senior coach of the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

, before becoming the first person to be a non-caretaker head coach at both AFL and AFLW level.

Playing career

Collingwood

Shaw, son of former Collingwood captain Ray, was drafted to Collingwood in the 1999 AFL Draft under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

at pick no.18. He made his debut late in 2000 because of a broken collarbone, he was impressive with 16 kicks, but his form disappeared and was dropped weeks later. Shaw had suffered from

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

as a junior and carried it into his

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

career. His skills were ordinary, but his pace was an asset as a wingman. In 2001 and 2002 he only managed 1 senior game, but managed to be retained on the list. In 2003 Rhyce had experienced an improved season and played 19 games. He wore Bob Rose's number 22 with pride, his heart on his sleeve, and when Rose's death in mid-2003 came about Shaw was a very emotional man, sporting his guernsey with initials B.R above the number. Shaw, however, had a nightmare finish to the season in the Grand Final against the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

. In one of the more infamous highlights of any Grand Final, he fumbled the ball, slipped and fell over at a crucial moment in the game, only to have an opposing player, Alastair Lynch, gain possession of the ball and kick a goal. In 2004 he played 16 games, but could not manage to play consistent footy, and he averaged under 10 touches per game. His slight late-season form kept him at the club once again, but pondered thoughts of why into fans heads. 2005, however, was a turning point for Shaw as he provided better skills on show and performed consistently. In the first 6 games he was averaging over 23 touches a game, including a career-best 32 on The ANZAC Day clash against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

, before being stretchered off the field concussed. Mid-season he would rupture his ACL and require a knee reconstruction, missing the rest of the season. He bought up a long-awaited 50th game in Round 11. He returned mid-2006 and played 9 games, playing a similar brand of football of his improved 2005 season. He averaged just under 20 touches, and spent time in the VFL to gain back his best football touch. Shaw's 2007 season started off with a bang, with

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

form in the opening six rounds, before coaches applied more attention to Rhyce, and brother Heath. He averaged 23 disposals a game and more than 8 marks in that period. A hamstring injury, where he would be a late withdrawal for the Queen's Birthday match against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

saw him miss five games and six weeks on the sidelines. He would return through the before breaking back into the side for four of the last five home and away games, with form not up to standard. He would be an emergency for the finals on two occasions. Rhyce played a successful role that established him the backline or winger due to his pace in the 2008 season. He averaged 22 possessions a game in the first half of the season but slumped to a calf injury which prevented him from lining up in the team in the following weeks. He was named emergencies in most of the matches at the end of the home and away season. At the conclusion of the 2008 AFL season, Rhyce requested to move up north due to his part earlier in 2008, where he was involved with brother Heath and teammate Alan Didak in a drink driving offense. Rhyce Shaw was traded to the

with pick 61 from Collingwood which Collingwood received pick 46 in the AFL Draft. The trade was made official on the 10 October 2008.

Sydney Swans

His move to the Swans revitalized his career, with his run off the half-back line proving extremely potent. His contribution and value to the team was acknowledged by Shaw being officially named as part of the Swans leadership team. In 2009, Shaw played the best football of his career as a running half back/

back pocket Vulfpeck is an American funk/soul music, soul band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss, and bassist Joe Dart, the band has released four extended plays, six studio a ...

player in the Swans' defence. He capped off a wonderful year by finishing 2nd in the Bob Skilton Medal to Ryan O'Keefe. In 2010, Shaw began to stagnate somewhat experiencing a deterioration in his disposal efficiency playing off half-back. His form seemed to be stunted by the return of Tadhg Kennelly to the Swans' half-back line and Nick Malceski returning to the best 22 after a few years in the wilderness. In the 2nd half of the year, however, a move to the forward line seemed to reinvigorate Shaw. He kicked 2 late goals against North Melbourne to seal a win for the side and then kicked 3 goals the next week against Carlton in a very polished performance. Shaw was later moved into the middle to tag the opposition's best players and did so to good effect. He played on and limited the influence of players such as Marc Murphy, Dan Giansiracusa and Stephen Hill. Shaw enjoyed perhaps the best season of his career in 2011, culminating in him finishing equal 2nd in the Skilton Medal with Josh Kennedy (behind Adam Goodes). He combined tight defensive and tagging with a strong rebound and run throughout the year to become one of the most consistent and well-performed Swans for the season. He was also awarded the Best Clubman Award for 2011. Shaw followed up his strong 2011 season with another consistent display in the side's premiership-winning year. He was deployed as the Swans' main defensive rebounder whilst also proving to be a tight and strong small defender. Shaw played his 200th AFL game in Round 7, 2014, as the Swans beat the

by 79 points at

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

. He announced in August 2015 that he would retire at the end of the season.

Coaching career

Sydney Swans (2016–18)

Prior to the 2016 season, Rhys was appointed an assistant coach at Sydney until the end of 2018.

North Melbourne (2019–20)

After three years as an assistant coach at , at the end of 2018, Rhyce was appointed assistant coach at the Kangaroos. In May 2019, after 10 rounds Brad Scott suddenly resigned as senior coach. Shaw was then appointed caretaker senior coach of

for the rest of the 2019 season. After winning four of his first five games as caretaker senior coach and garnering the support of the North Melbourne playing group, Shaw was announced as the club's permanent successor to Brad Scott as senior coach on a three-year contract. Shaw's first full season coaching the club was

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, a season which was heavily disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and saw the club relocated to south-east Queensland for most of the season. The club's performances were weak under Shaw, with a 3–14 record resulting in a second-last placing. Following the season, Shaw stepped away from the club for personal reasons, before officially resigning from his position as senior coach of North Melbourne on 22 October 2020 after only one season. Shaw was then replaced by David Noble as senior coach of North Melbourne.

Gold Coast Suns (2021–present)

On January 4, 2021, Rhyce joined

as an assistant coach in the role of Head of Development ahead of the 2021 season.

AFL Women's head coach (2025–present)

On January 22, 2025, Shaw was named senior coach of the Suns' AFL Women's team. The hiring made Shaw the first coach to hold full-time senior positions in both AFL and AFLW.

Personal life

Rhyce is the son of former Collingwood captain Ray Shaw, and brother of

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

. He is also the nephew of premiership captain and

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990, the competition was known as the Victorian Footbal ...

list, Tony Shaw and former Collingwood player

Neville Shaw Neville William Shaw (born 4 October 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Shaw, a Keon Park Stars recruit, was the youngest of three brothers to play for Collingwood ...

. His cousin, Brayden (son of Tony) was drafted to Collingwood, but failed to play a game before being delisted in 2005.

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 3 , , 3 , , 0 , , 23 , , 3 , , 26 , , 11 , , 3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.7 , , 1.0 , , 8.7 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 5 , , 2 , , 7 , , 2 , , 0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , , 7.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 19 , , 2 , , 0 , , 172 , , 64 , , 236 , , 75 , , 21 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 9.1 , , 3.4 , , 12.4 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 16 , , 0 , , 4 , , 114 , , 41 , , 155 , , 45 , , 21 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 7.1 , , 2.6 , , 9.7 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 12 , , 4 , , 4 , , 141 , , 76 , , 217 , , 63 , , 11 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 11.8 , , 6.3 , , 18.1 , , 5.3 , , 0.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 9 , , 3 , , 3 , , 102 , , 71 , , 173 , , 67 , , 17 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 11.3 , , 7.9 , , 19.2 , , 7.4 , , 1.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 14 , , 3 , , 2 , , 165 , , 77 , , 242 , , 83 , , 31 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 11.8 , , 5.5 , , 17.3 , , 5.9 , , 2.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 20 , , 5 , , 7 , , 262 , , 149 , , 411 , , 137 , , 56 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 13.1 , , 7.5 , , 20.6 , , 6.9 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 22, , 4 , , 4 , , 373 , , 159 , , 532 , , 80 , , 58 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 17.0 , , 7.2 , , 24.2 , , 3.6 , , 2.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 23 , , 12 , , 8 , , 262 , , 134 , , 396 , , 94 , , 60 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 11.4 , , 5.8 , , 17.2 , , 4.1 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 24 , , 4 , , 4 , , 309 , , 112 , , 421 , , 70 , , 67 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 12.9 , , 4.7 , , 17.5 , , 2.9 , , 2.8 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 24 , , 1 , , 2 , , 300 , , 149 , , 449 , , 71 , , 57 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 12.5 , , 6.2 , , 18.7 , , 3.0 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 6 , , 1 , , 1 , , 60 , , 22 , , 82 , , 21 , , 6 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 10.0 , , 3.7 , , 13.7 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 20 , , 1 , , 1 , , 268 , , 160 , , 428 , , 85 , , 30 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 13.4 , , 8.0 , , 21.4 , , 4.25 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 24 , , 1 , , 2 , , 283 , , 164 , , 447 , , 104 , , 61 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 11.8 , , 6.8 , , 18.6 , , 4.3 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 237 ! 44 ! 42 ! 2839 ! 1383 ! 4222 ! 1008 ! 499 ! 0.2 ! 0.2 ! 12.0 ! 5.8 ! 17.8 ! 4.3 ! 2.1

Coaching statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 7 , , 5 , , 0 , , 58.3% , , 12 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 17 , , 3 , , 14 , , 0 , , 21.4% , , 17 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 29 ! 10 ! 19 ! 0 ! 34.4% ! colspan=2,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Rhyce 1981 births Living people People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Collingwood Football Club players Williamstown Football Club players Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans premiership players Northern Knights players North Melbourne Football Club coaches VFL/AFL premiership players People from Diamond Creek, Victoria