Soon-to-retire Sydney defender Rhyce Shaw reckons he would have ended up as a brickie's labourer rather than an AFL premiership player had he not moved from Collingwood to the Swans.
The dashing halfback announced on Thursday he will hang up his boots at the end of the season, having already played 232 games since 2000 - 94 with Collingwood and 138 with the Swans.
Shaw 33, who played in the Swans' 2012 premiership-winning team, said the move from Collingwood to Sydney before the 2009 season changed his life.
"I probably didn't have a great time at the Pies but played in a grand final (in 2003) and come up here and that's probably the best move I've ever made, both on the field and off the field," he said.
"I was playing pretty bad at the Pies, I was very inconsistent.
"My life probably wasn't great off the field as well there. I was probably making poor decisions.
"Then coming up here and just being part of a footy club, they really wrapped their arms around me and brought me into the team and the culture.
"It's just set my life up and I'll be forever thankful to Roosy (former coach Paul Roos) and Horse (current coach John Longmire).
"I had one year left on my contract when I left Collingwood and I thought If I stayed at the Pies that would have been it.
"I probably would have been a brickie's labourer, or something, in 12 months."
He revealed Roos gave him a lift by once telling him he would never be dropped while he remained coach at the club.
Declaring it was the right time to finish, Shaw joked his body felt "cactus" between Sundays and Thursdays.
"You don't really just want to just drift off and end up playing bad footy and injuries catching up to you," said Shaw, who has played every game this season.
He downplayed his worth as a player, saying he got the best out of himself for as long as he could.
"I'm just an average player, who's probably made the most of it and was very lucky in certain circumstances," Shaw said.
He gave a similarly modest assessment of the Swans' 2012 flag-winning side, which upset highly fancied Hawthorn in the grand final.
"We probably weren't the best team, the most skilful team in the competition at that stage, but we got together and had one focus and that was to win the premiership," Shaw said.
Longmire praised Shaw for being a great clubman with a high level of consistency and for his mentoring of young players.
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