Tony 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, Tony 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, Tony 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 ground. In the same season, Shaw won his second Copeland Trophy.
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 159 goals.
Tony Shaw became a media commentator after his coaching role, commentating on radio for 3AW Football before joining the Fox Footy Channel as a commentator/ special comments for several seasons.
