Shane Savage

Born: New Zealand on January 5, 1991.

Wife: Sarah.

Children: Jett and Willow.

Parents: Sid and Julie.

Siblings: Angela, Vaughan and Taylor.

Education: Dandenong North Primary School before going to Hallam Secondary School.

Sporting highlight: Running onto the MCG for my 150th AFL game and having my children Jett and Willow with me. I'll treasure that moment forever.

Shane, you've signed a one-year contract with the option of another season to play footy with Port Fairy next season after playing 165 games with Hawthorn and St Kilda. Had you been to Port Fairy before your signed on the dotted line?

I had never been to Port Fairy before my wife and family came down to visit the town.

We were really impressed with the town and the community spirit when we visited there for a few days just a couple of weeks ago.

My wife Sarah had been to Port Fairy when she was young and has great memories of spending time there on holidays.

Sarah and I discussed the options that were on the table after I was delisted from St Kilda and Port Fairy ticked all the boxes.

There's a wonderful vibe about the town and it looks a great spot to raise our children.

Where did your footy journey begin?

I played juniors at Noble Park and then the Dandenong Stingrays before being drafted when I was 17 years old to Hawthorn.

I was drafted at number 75 in the 2008 draft.

I must admit I was happy that I stayed in Melbourne.

It can be very daunting for a young bloke to get drafted interstate.

They go away from their family and friends.

I can fully understand why so many young blokes get homesick when they move interstate.

I ended up playing 56 games for the Hawks from 2009 to 2013.

I was traded by the Hawks at the end of the 2013 season.

The Hawks had offered me a contract but it was my decision to make the move.

St Kilda proved to be a great fit for me back then.

Can you remember much about your first senior game with the Hawks back in 2009 ?

It was against Adelaide at the MCG.

My first opponent was Crows superstar Andrew McLeod.

He was my boyhood hero when I was growing up and here I was playing against him.

He might have been in the twilight of his career but believe me he was still a champion.

What was it like playing under Alastair Clarkson as your coach at the Hawks?

Clarko is a very good coach.

His record is outstanding.

He loves his footy and can think out of the box.

He knows what buttons to press to get the best out of players.

He's a very good people's person.

COMMENT: Coup for club is a coup for competition

I played in an era at the Hawks with star players including (Jordan) Lewis, (Sam) Mitchell, (Lance) Franklin and (Luke) Hodge to name a few.

I played in a losing grand final as a substitute for Hawthorn against Sydney at the MCG in 2012.

The game was in front of 90,000 people.

It was an awesome experience - you can't hear yourself think because of all the crowd noise.

I came on halfway through the third quarter.

Sadly, we lost the game by about 20 points.

The Hawks defeated Fremantle in 2013 to win the flag but I was the first emergency.

Shane, the history books show Alan Richardson was your first coach at St Kilda in 2014. What did you think of his coaching style?

I thought 'Richo' was excellent.

He backed me to the hilt. He's a real family man and was like a father-figure to me.

He's a genuine bloke - just a level-headed person.

He coached me for five years and I was very sad to see him lose his job.

Richo understood it's all about getting wins on the board.

It's a cut throat business in the AFL; it doesn't matter whether you're a player or coach.

The performance of coaches and players relates to how the side performs on the field.

Brett Ratten, who was the assistant coach to Richardson, took over as the senior coach at the Saints in 2020. What was your relationship with Ratten like?

My relationship with Ratten was not as good as with Richardson. I don't think he backed me in.

I was coming off a career-best season.

I just had the two games in 2020.

St Kilda was based at Noosa for 100 days because of COVID.

I was lucky because I had my family there with me.

Initially we were to be there for five weeks.

I can assure you it was not a holiday at Noosa for the players or their families.

It was a very demanding time on everyone.

There was no leisure time.

Shane, St Kilda delisted you from its list in late November. Were you surprised that you were delisted?

Yes. I had no idea that was going to happen.

My exit meeting at the end of the season included Ratten and the list manager James Gallagher.

I was out of contract.

I thought the exit meeting was really positive.

I asked in the meeting if I was in the top-22 going forward or was I going to be an also ran for 2021.

I was assured I was in the top-22 and then to get a phone call to say I was going to be delisted weeks later was a total shock.

Let's say the anxiety crept in because I've got a wife and two young children to think of.

It took me a couple of weeks to digest everything and after long discussions with Sarah we decided on Port Fairy.

I'm really interested in helping out with the junior development side of things at the Seagulls.

The club is looking forward to put a junior pathway for young players in the future and I want to be involved in that side of things as well as playing.

My family and I are looking forward to moving to Port Fairy in late January.

I was very impressed with the facilities and the future plans for the Gardens Oval.

It's an exciting time to be on board at the Seagulls.