FORMER Collingwood premiership hero Heath Shaw has always been a good reader of the play. It's what has made him one of the game's best small defenders over his 306-game career.
Maybe he has some psychic powers, because he can also predict the future.
Before the finals even began, Shaw made the call that Greater Western Sydney would take on his old club for a spot in this year's decider.
After the Giants' stirring three-point win over Brisbane on Saturday night, Shaw revealed he sent Magpies captain Scott Pendlebury a text on the eve of his 300th game in their qualifying final against minor premier Geelong.
Many tipped the Cats to beat the Pies that night, and the Western Bulldogs to end the Giants' season in their elimination final the following day.
They were wrong.
Shaw and Pendlebury get reacquainted on the field. Picture: AFL Photos
The Giants belted the Dogs, then took care of the Lions, and will meet Collingwood – who easily beat the Cats to earn a week off – in the preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday.
It's a rematch of last year's semi-final won by the Pies, which Shaw missed after suffering a serious knee injury late in the season.
"Sitting on the sidelines last year wasn't great, so I'm looking forward to getting back to the 'G," he said.
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"I messaged 'Pendles' before their first final and said, 'congratulations on your 300th, I'll see you in the prelim'.
"It's worked out pretty well."
The Giants' shaky late-season form had many dismissing their premiership chances this year, but the old footy cliché - finals is a new season - sums up their turnaround.
Shaw said the ferocious attitude of the Giants – they smashed the Bulldogs physically and laid 76 tackles against Brisbane - has them playing the kind of football that can win the club a historic flag.
"Once you keep doing it, it becomes instinctive and that's what we want," he said.
"Everyone talks about finals football - it raises another level - so we knew we had to lift our intensity and that's what we did.
"We obviously set ourselves for the Bulldogs, we had a plan going into that, and then we reset and went again and we're going to do the same again next week.
"We're going to look at Collingwood and the way they go about it, but we still want to play the way we do."
The Giants' backline was impenetrable in the frantic final term against the Lions, despite having to absorb continuous attacking forays by the home side.
Brisbane had 19 inside 50s in the last quarter but led by Shaw, co-captain Phil Davis, Nick Haynes and Zac Williams, GWS refused to wilt.
"We understand that momentum is going to swing in games, and in those times, when the momentum is going the other way, you just have to try and get a mark, try and get something, to stem the flow a little bit," Shaw said.
"In the last quarter the ball kept coming in and we just said, 'keep defending, keep defending, because we'll be alright'.
"It's not ideal, the ball coming in 19 times in the last quarter, but I thought our back seven as a group and that whole backline fought well together."
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