Retiring defender Rhyce Shaw spoke to the media ahead of Saturday night’s semi-final against North Melbourne.
Is there any emotion going into your last game in Sydney?
“Not really to be honest. It will be my last game in Sydney but I’m happy it won’t be my last game all up. That’s all I’m worried about and that’s all we’re worried about at the moment. I’m really confident in the way we’re going about our football, you have to come finals. It’ll be a tough challenge, we’re looking forward to it and hopefully we can get the win.”
What are you expecting from North Melbourne?
“They’re a very dangerous side. They’re a completely different side than the one that came up here for the preliminary final last year, as are we. We’re expecting a real battle. It’s not going to be like last year which was good game for us, obviously. They’ve got some new recruits, they’re playing well together and they have momentum. Both teams are up for it so it should be a really good game.”
Have you ever played on ‘Boomer’ Harvey during your time?
“I’ve tagged him before, back in my younger days. I’ll leave it to Harry (Cunningham) and those kind of guys that’ll take care of him this week.”
Nick Smith is expected to play. How much of a boost is that?
“He’s a premier small defender in the competition. It’s a big plus. It allows me to run off, Dane Rampe as well, knowing Nick will always have my back. He’s a real stalwart for us.”
Announcing your retirement before the finals series, has that taken some weight off your shoulders?
“It was just a good time to announce it. It has probably has freed me up. I’ve been concentrating on my footy, trying to get the best out myself every week and it has worked out well in that respect. But we still didn’t get over the line last weekend. There’s still a lot of areas I and the team can improve in.”
What do you make of the expectations outside of the club in light of having so many stars missing?
“We don’t really listen to them. We’re a really focused group, we have our own standards. We try and stick by those standards, and if we don’t then we review them hard to see where we can improve. That’s never changed since I’ve been at the club and I don’t think it will. We failed in areas last weekend, areas we have to improve in otherwise we won’t be here next week. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to put a four quarter performance together and really strong performance across the board.”
Have you spoken to Buddy at all this week?
“I’ve sent him a couple of text messages. He knows he’s got our support and we really hope he’s doing well. It’s important for him to get himself better, then worry about footy later on.”
Is the club annoyed about the rumours circling around Buddy at the moment?
“It's par for the course really, stuff like that happens all the time, the innuendo that comes with stories has been happening for years, and they've been happening ever since I've played the game. You can't really do much about it. We know the real story and we've said what's happening with Lance and we can't say much more. We've been totally open and honest with his situation and it's a real shame, but we can't control that. I know what Lance is going through, and the club has announced what the situation is and that's all we can do really."
