A maverick to the end, a stubborn Heath Shaw says following his routine and not what others dictate is the key to him playing every game this year, as he seeks to improve his famous family's poor AFL grand final record.
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The veteran half-back is one of only three ever presents in the GWS side heading into Saturday's season decider against Richmond.
"A lot of clubs have a lot of fitness staff telling you what to do, but I'm pretty stubborn in my ways and I've stuck to my routine," Shaw said.
"I sort of pick and choose what I want to do a little bit.
"I think I get that privilege being 33 years old and playing for over 15 years but I know my body and what I need during the week."
Shaw is about to contest his fourth grand final having had a win, a draw and a loss with former club Collingwood.
"Mum is going into her 12th grand final watching dad, myself and (my brother) Rhyce. Her record is not that great," Shaw said.
"She's two wins, two draws and seven losses, so we've got to try and change that around this week.
"She's probably put up with more emotions in grand finals than any of us."
Saturday's game will be his 308th in a career spanning 15 season.
Shaw said he would sit down with GWS coach Leon Cameron to discuss whether he would play on next year.
"If we win it (on Saturday), the weeks after that it would be pretty hard for the club to find me to try and figure out whether I'm playing again," Shaw quipped.
Shaw is enjoying the less intense focus on the AFL in Sydney compared to what he was used to in Melbourne in a grand final week.
"I can actually just focus on football up here and outside of these walls I can relax and just be a normal person," he said.
"People at the cafe near my house this morning didn't know I was playing a grand final, those sort of things. We've got a little bit of an advantage."
He said he belief among the GWS players hadn't wavered since mid-season despite a couple of form slumps and injuries.
"I think at the start of the finals series, us and Essendon were tagged as sort of the black sheep and it was going to be us two out and then the other six move on," Shaw said.
'"Each week we've got better and better and that belief has grown."
THE SHAW FAMILY GRAND FINAL RECORD
*Heath 1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw all with Collingwood
*Rhyce: 1 win and 1 loss with Sydney, 1 loss with Collingwood.
*Ray: 1 draw 4 losses, all with Collingwood.
*Ray's brother and Heath and Rhyce's uncle Tony had one win and two losses with Collingwood
*TOTAL: 3 wins, 2 draws, 9 losses.
Australian Associated Press
