Gold Coast has officially announced Rhyce Shaw as the club’s head of development, with the former North Melbourne coach set to make the move up north.
Shaw stepped down as coach of the Kangaroos for personal reasons following the 2020 season.
Suns Football Operations Manager Jon Haines was excited to make the announcement on Monday morning.
“Rhyce is an experienced, well-respected coach who is widely regarded across the AFL industry as a wonderful developer of young men and young players,” Haines said.
“We are committed to continually enhancing our development model and Rhyce has all the attributes, skills and personality to lead a program that will help to get the very best out of our playing group.”
Former North Melbourne midfielder Nick Dal Santo believes Shaw’s appointment is a huge win for Gold Coast and their young talent.
“Speaking to a couple of North Melbourne players over the last couple of years and in particular a couple of the younger ones when they had him as their defensive coach and ultimately as the senior coach last year, they love his personable skills,” Dal Santo told SEN Breakfast.
“They love his ability to build relationships. They said he was firm when he had to be, but he could wrap the arm around them and go out and improve those things rather than just drilling someone and leaving them to work it out themselves.
“So I think he’s perfect for that role.
“There’s probably no better young group coming through right now than the Gold Coast Suns, so I think that is a great fit and he’s someone that’s also experienced the demands at senior level as well as the senior coach.
Dal Santo doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence that the best clubs in the league usually have the best development systems.
“I don’t know where it sits in the priority list in terms of how important it is, but I must say of the really good teams, it’s no coincidence that their development program is exceptional,” he said.
“They have young kids coming through bursting on the scene that other clubs haven’t had for a decade.
“They have an ability to rejuvenate and reinvent these young guys that are just coming out of the junior system or maybe they’ve been in the system for a couple of years and away they go.
“I think that’s a fantastic appointment.”