BRAYDEN Shaw says the decision to leave Bundoora was one of the hardest he has made in his life.
The two-time Bulls premiership captain this week signed with Division 2 outfit Hurstbridge, ending a distinguished association with Bundoora.
“To be honest, it was easily the biggest decision I’ve made in my footy career and the hardest decision,” Shaw told NFL.org.au.
“I absolutely love the Bundoora Football Club to the point where I probably wouldn’t have kept playing football if I didn’t go to Bundoora.
“It was pretty stressful but I feel I’ve made the right call for myself and my wife Kez and son Zane.”
With his second child due in January and taking on increased commitments at work, Shaw conceded he no longer had time to devote to Division 1 football.
“I was pretty upset about it but I’ve got to think about my future and think about my career and ‘Chopper’ (Hurstbridge coach Michael Ryan) who is one of my best mates offered me a role to come to Hurstbridge,” he said.
“It’s only five minutes from home and training was going to be a big issue for me in divvy one and I don’t know how many games I’ll be able to play, but I’ll play as many as I possibly can.”
Shaw joined Bundoora after a stint with VFL club Port Melbourne.
It followed two seasons at Collingwood, where a wretched run of ankle and shoulder injuries prevented him from playing a game after being selected under the father-son rule.
Reflecting back on his time at Yulong Reserve, Shaw said the two premiership triumphs and the lifelong friends he had made were his fondest memories.
“If I had my time over again I wouldn’t have even played at Port Melbourne, I would have gone straight to Bundoora. That’s how much I love the place,” Shaw said.
“The two flags were massive highlights, but just to come back to local footy and be able to have the chance to play with your best mates was the reason I wanted to do it.
“I’d never won a premiership apart from a couple of junior ones, but to win a senior Division 1 premiership I was absolutely stoked and I’d ticked something off that I really wanted to accomplish.
“To do it a second time was just the icing on the cake for me.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to do football-wise for Bundoora and I thank the place so much for the opportunity they gave me.”
Shaw’s departure was announced a week after teammate Cameron Cloke signed with Craigieburn in the Essendon District Football League, marking somewhat of a new era for Bundoora.
The 29-year-old conceded his decision was made harder following the departure of the 2013 Frank Rosbrook Trophy winner, who booted 246 goals in 77 appearances.
“Clokey has been magnificent for Bundoora and you couldn’t ask any more from a bloke,” Shaw said.
“In his first year we won the flag and without him we would not have won either of the two flags that we did.”
“The season he had in 2013 is in the record books, winning the best and fairest for the league and the club, a premiership medallion and goal kicking in the same year.”
Shaw was announced as one of four signings at Hurstbridge this week, along with former Bundoora teammate Micheal Farrelly and Epping premiership player Jarrod Tilley.
Farrelly has joined as a playing-assistant after spending the 2014 season with Beulah in the Mallee Football League, while Shaw has joined purely in a playing capacity.
While he won’t have the captaincy tag, Shaw said he wouldn’t change his approach at his new club.
“I like being vocal on the ground and I like being pretty vocal at training,” he said.
“If I can help out a few younger kids and teach them the way to train hard, I’ll definitely be doing that.
“I’ll still be playing and training exactly as I did at Bundoora.”
Shaw joins Hurstbridge at an exciting time in the club’s development.
The Bridges won their final three games in 2014 for a fifth-place finish, their best result since returning to Division 2 four seasons ago.
“It’s a very young group, a very skilful group and hopefully with a few more bigger bodies and senior players we can play some finals footy,” he said.
“Hopefully I can bring some of the success from Bundoora down to Hurstbridge and see if we can play some finals footy this year, which would be great for the club and for the town itself.”
