A Shaw surprise
Heath Shaw's supergoal against Melbourne last week was a delight to him and his junior club, Diamond Creek
NO ONE was more surprised than Heath Shaw himself when he slotted the Magpies' only supergoal in their nine-point loss to Melbourne last Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.
The 26-year-old found himself in prime position to nail the nine-pointer when the ball was pushed out of the Pies' attacking arc and he gathered it close to the 50m line.
He threw it onto his boot and watched it sneak behind the pack of players in the goal square as the three-quarter time sounded.
So close was the ball to the fist of Melbourne defender James Frawley, the field umpire called for a video review before it could be signalled as a supergoal.
"It took a while for me to figure out I actually kicked it because they went to the video replay," Shaw said.
"It's not too often I sneak down for a goal and even rarer I get the opportunity to kick one from outside 50.
"It was spur of the moment, the ball popped up in my hands and the opportunity rose and I wasn't letting it pass."
Shaw's big kick not only moved the Pies within three points of the Demons with a quarter to go, but it saw NAB donate $500 worth of footballs to his junior club, Diamond Creek.
"I've got a lot of good memories there. I played all my juniors there and won a fair few premierships along the way," he said.