NEW GREATER Western Sydney recruit Heath Shaw acknowledges he has to curb his fiery on-field behaviour if he is to become a positive influence at his new club.
Shaw struggled with discipline during his time with Collingwood, notably losing his cool and showing petulant behaviour in his final game for the club, the elimination final loss to Port Adelaide.
But he will be expected to show the way for his new teammates, who are crying out for some real leadership.
Callan Ward and Stephen Gilham were the only players left on the GWS list with over 100 games of experience, prior to the arrival of Shaw (173 games), Shane Mumford (100) and Josh Hunt (198) during the trade period.
"I'm very passionate about my footy and I'm very passionate about success and sometimes that gets a hold of me," Shaw admitted when he was unveiled in GWS colours for the first time on Wednesday.
"But I know when you've got young kids around you, you have to be careful with what you say and how you say it.
"I'm still learning, as these boys are. Leadership comes fairly naturally to me, but I've got really high expectations and hopefully I can get that message across to these boys."
Shaw concedes his wish would have been to remain at Collingwood, where he had two years left on his contract, before it became apparent he was being squeezed out by coach Nathan Buckley.
He insists he has no ill will for Buckley or his former club, although he hasn't spoken to Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, joking that "he might've deleted my number".
"I haven't spoken to Eddie yet. I'm still waiting for a phone call from him," he said.
"It was a clean break. As soon as the club decided to trade me and I decided to go to GWS, that was it.
"I've only had a couple of negative comments throughout and they were just (from people) upset because they bought their kids a No.39 jumper at Collingwood and have to change it this year.
"I still have a lot of friends there and premiership teammates and it will always be part of my history, but now I’m just looking forward."
The 27-year-old, who has penned a five-year deal with GWS, didn't want to put a time frame on when his new club would start pushing for finals football, something he became accustomed to with the Pies.
But he appears to be quickly adjusting to his new surroundings.
"It's pretty comfy," Shaw said as he showed off a GWS jumper. "I've filled it out a bit, so I've got a bit of work to do.
"I wasn't too happy with the process of how I got to GWS, it dragged out a bit, but I'm rapt with the result.
"With the way this group has built and the improvements they made last year, if they can get a bit more confidence into them, a couple more wins on the board as well, they can improve pretty rapidly.
"The talent is there."
