Heath Shaw was initially concerned about his brother Rhyce jumping back into the AFL system in 2021, but says it’s worked out nicely for the former North Melbourne coach.
Rhyce Shaw made the decision to step away as coach of the Kangaroos for mental health reasons and instead has taken up a development coaching role with the Suns.
The 39-year-old is close friends with Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew, with the pair working together for a long time at Sydney.
“As much as I was hesitant about him getting back into football and coaching this year, I think the job at the Gold Coast with Stuart Dew, one of his best mates, and the head of development and developing young kids was probably the perfect role for him,” Heath Shaw told SEN Breakfast.
“So as much as I was hesitant about him entering back into AFL ranks. It was the perfect job and him and the family have moved up there and he’s enjoying every minute of it.
“For him, being up there, we spoke about getting out of football, he got out of the coaching game in a way, but he still loved coaching. He hadn’t lost the passion to coach, it was just the situation didn’t work out for him.
“It’s good now that he’s got that role and he’ll be great for them.”
Shaw added it was nice to be so close with his brother up in the Queensland hub, but he wasn’t quite aware of what he was feeling until late in the season.
“It was weird because in the hub I was actually in the same place as North Melbourne, so it was great, the Giants and North and West Coast were all (in the same resort) and I got to see my two nephews and sister-in-law nearly every day,” the retired Giant said.
“I didn’t see Rhyce as much because he was busy. It was sort of hard and I understood the pressures coming to him, but I didn’t know the extreme of it until towards the end of the season.
“It was difficult after the season to see it pan out the way it did, but he’s bounced back pretty well and he’s in a great spot now.”