The Magpie defender missed Friday night's game with back-related hamstring tightness, but it has been suggested he failed to meet club skinfold targets.
On Tuesday, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley downplayed skinfold measurement as a factor in Shaw not playing on Friday night, but admitted it had been raised as an issue.
Ray Shaw told SEN radio on Wednesday the discussion should have been kept in-house.
"I'm disappointed that it even got out of the club," Shaw said.
"Things like this should be kept in house between the dietitian, the coach and the player."
Geelong star Jimmy Bartel told SEN he believed skinfold measurements did not affect form and an issue would make little difference when it came to Heath Shaw's ability to play well.
"[The] basics of football are still the same: get the ball, beat your man."
Bartel said the art of coaching was recognising the need to treat each player as an individual.
"Good footy sides don't have 42 robots and don't have 42 party boys," he said.
"You need a mix of everything like you need good inside players and good outside players."
Bartel admitted that tough decisions often needed to be made and said the suspension of Steve Johnson in 2007 for off-field issues, although harsh, had been a turning point in his career.
"That's more a reflection on the character of Steve," Bartel said.
