Matt Shaw might enjoy flying under the radar of AFL opposition, however he won’t be able to escape the spotlight this weekend, as the Gold Coaster becomes just the fifth player in the Club’s short history to reach the special 50-game milestone when he runs out against Collingwood at Metricon Stadium. 

 “It definitely doesn’t seem like my 50^th AFL match; I still feel like I haven’t played that many games, but when you look back it takes about three years to get there,” Shaw told goldcoastfc.com.au.

“You learn a lot of things over those three years, I’m looking forward to improving and hopefully making my next 50 games even better.”

Shaw’s journey towards his first career milestone hasn’t been met without its fair share of highs and lows, with the start-up Gold Coast SUNS having had to endure a multitude of growing pains before beginning to bear the fruits of their hard work. 

“My first few games were pretty interesting,” he said.

“You learn a lot of new things about your weaknesses which you might not have thought were there.

“However like the team, I was able to improve with every game and we’re all starting to feel a lot more comfortable in terms of where we are at as a football club.”

While Shaw’s style of play doesn’t inject the same excitement as his fellow Gold Coasters in Harley Bennell, David Swallow and young gun Jaeger O’Meara, the limited publicity doesn’t seem to bother him too much – happy enough to let others steal the spotlight, despite consistently finishing amongst the team’s leading possession-getters.

“I’m happy just playing my role for the team and whoever wants to take the spotlight off me doesn’t really bother me,” he said.

“As long as I’m performing well for the team on the field, and doing my bit for the community away from the football club, then I don’t mind if I’m up in the headlights or going under the radar.

“As long as people respect me in the proper way, then I’m happy to continue going about my business as usual.”

And with this weekend’s Round 17 clash against Collingwood likely to see in excess of 20,000 spectators flood through the Gates into the stadium precinct, a Victory for his 50^th AFL appearance couldn’t come at a better time for the no-nonsense on-baller.

“It’s always good to play in a packed stadium and hopefully all the fans will get down there,” Shaw said.

“We’ve come up against Geelong and Hawthorn and were able to take it right up to them.

“There’s no reason why we can’t do the same against the Magpies this weekend.”