Shane Biggs, the Western Bulldogs' other trade recruit

[BulldogBelle]

Shane Biggs, the Western Bulldogs' other trade recruit, eager to make fist of second chance

Date
October 23, 2014 - 4:30PM

Daniel Cherny


Shane Biggs had limited chances at the Swans.

When the Western Bulldogs pulled off one of the biggest recruiting coups in years to land a teenage No.1 draft pick on a seven-year deal, it's understandable that the club's other recruit, from a New South Wales club, would get little attention.

Shane Biggs, who was moved on by Sydney in the final hour of the trade period last week, has no qualms about his place in the public pecking order.

"I'm surprised I got a call off you!," Biggs says, laughing.

The acquisition of Tom Boyd should not, however, detract from the circuitous journey of Biggs - the 23-year-old who did not play in the TAC Cup and arrives at the Dogs via Warrandyte, Mulgrave, Bendigo and Sydney.
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Adept in heavy traffic, the half-back/wingman plugged away for six games off the rookie list in three season at the Swans, including two finals during the club's injury-ruined 2013 campaign. Finding the ball at senior level was not an issue - Biggs averaged 17.5 disposals per game from his limited sample - but finding openings in the jewel-encrusted Sydney line-up was not as straightforward.

He said that the club tried its best to keep up the spirits of Biggs and his fellow fringe-dwellers.

"Most of the feedback was, 'You've just got to be ready when the time comes'."

While Biggs "had a great time up in Sydney," the move back to Melbournewas welcome.

"It all happened pretty quickly, and I didn't have much time to think about it, but I'm really happy it happened in the end, so no complaints."

There was someone for Biggs to share his transfer with as well. New Gold Coast Sun Nick Malceski is not only like Biggs in terms of position and style, but the two share a bond stemming from the mentor program at the Swans. They texted each other during the maelstrom of trade period, in which both their futures were altered.

"We're pretty similar sort of people, so we paired up pretty well and caught up outside of footy. I couldn't have asked for a better mentor. He was a hard-working, high-standard player and I had a great time with him over the last three years."

Biggs joins Lin Jong, who only three years ago was a teammate at Eastern Football League side Mulgrave. "If you had have told me that when we were knocking round for Mulgrave, I would've politely said you're joking."

Biggs is also familiar with Tom Campbell and Tory Dickson from time shared at the Bendigo Bombers in the VFL.

Alongside the behemoth-like figure of Boyd, the less mainstream Dogs will look to take the club back into the finals for the first time since 2010. They might not have a captain or coach, but Biggs is nonetheless chuffed "to join a really exciting young group".

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...23-119v2v.html

[LostDoggy]

Biggs is a real sleeper for our side. With Higgins going and our young small defenders at a similar level of development and age i think, at this early stage, he's close to, if not best 22.

[GVGjr]

Biggs is a real sleeper for our side. With Higgins going and our young small defenders at a similar level of development and age i think, at this early stage, he's close to, if not best 22.

Probably just outside of the best 22 but I'd say he is right in the plannings for the season ahead.

[Mofra]

Biggs is a real sleeper for our side. With Higgins going and our young small defenders at a similar level of development and age i think, at this early stage, he's close to, if not best 22.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him play round 1.
A genuine rebounder who can get his hands dirty? Yes please. Decent size at 187cm too.

[jeemak]

Does anyone know his back story and why he wasn't a feature in the elite junior competitions?

[LostDoggy]

After receiving a phone call from Swans Manager - Player Personnel, Kinnear Beatson, on Monday night, he had an inkling he may be picked up in the rookie draft, but still went to work on Tuesday regardless.

On a building site in Melbourne while the rookie draft was taking place, Biggs was oblivious to his name being put through with pick 13 - the Swans first overall selection.

A few text messages from mates and a couple of phone calls later, he downed tools and made the 1000 kilometre move up the road to ply his trade at the Swans.

“I just thought it was a bit of a gag,” Biggs told SwansTV.

“I got a call the night before (from Kinnear) to say “you’re a chance, but I can’t promise anything”. Then I got a few texts from mates (while I was) at work and I just had to make a few phone calls and it was all true.

“I said (to my boss) “I’m off to Sydney mate!”’’

Biggs grew up playing football, but has been described by Beatson as the perfect example of a late developer. After a growth spurt in his late teens and good form in Melbourne’s Eastern Football League, Biggs progressed to the Bendigo Bombers in the VFL and now gets his shot with the Swans.

“He went through school with Sam Blease and Jordan Gysberts from Melbourne, and Andrew Moore from Port Adelaide, but at that stage he was quite small -in fact he didn’t grow until after year 12,” Beatson said.

“That’s where his confidence has come, as his body has started to fill out, and he’s now got a body where he is able to compete.”

Biggs didn’t go through the normal process of the AFL Draft Combine or TAC Cup competition, so the Swans conducted their own testing session and were impressed with what he could offer the club.

“He tested very well, with a 14.6 beep test and a sub three-second 20 metre sprint,” Beatson said.

“He just fitted the bill for what we needed - a smart decision maker when he’s got the ball, runs hard, and runs long.”

Biggs has temporarily moved into Jesse White’s place until Christmas, and admits that the last few days have been a whirlwind experience.

“It’s really full on, but what I expected” he said. “Everyone’s following you and telling you to do stuff. It’s usually mum, but now I’ve got about ten other mums!”

Biggs’ addition to the rookie list has capped off a Swans-related year for the 20-year old, having been coached by former Swan Shannon Grant at Bendigo and captained by 2005 premiership player Luke Ablett at EFL club Mulgrave.

http://www.foxsportspulse.com/club_i...cleID=18214983

[LostDoggy]

To say Shane Biggs became an AFL footballer by accident would be underselling his obvious talent and late-blooming desire. But even his father admits there is an uncommon amount of luck and coincidence in his happy tale. Biggs may yet make way for various returning Swans on Friday night, yet his appearance against Hawthorn a week earlier was eye-catching not simply for the composure of his 18 possessions on debut.

Few footballers are playing division-three suburban football aged 19, and AFL at 22. Tony Biggs remembers his son attending an Eastern Ranges under-16s trial day, getting knocked out, carted off to hospital, and thinking that was that. He had nice skills, and didn’t look out of place playing school footy for Yarra Valley Grammar alongside future draftees like Sam Blease, Andrew Moore, Jordan Gysberts and Kieran Harper. But he lacked size, and with it confidence. They wondered when he’d grow into his big feet, and when he finally shot up to 187 centimeters late in secondary school he remained desperately slight. He started a plumbing apprenticeship, and seemed happily destined for a life where sport filled the weekends, cricket season rolling into football and back again.

It was here that his footy struck two people, who independently nudged a crack in different doors, that would ultimately open and land him in an unforeseeable world. Sports editor of the Warrandyte Diary, Robert White, was photographing an Eastern Football League division-three game and couldn’t believe the talented blond kid who kept appearing in the frame. ”I didn’t know Shane Biggs from a bar of soap, and he weighed about five stone wringing wet, but every time he got the ball he did something with it,” White says. A long-time journalist, he started nagging son Adam – of RSN and ABC radio renown – to come down for a look. ”He always tells me, ‘Dad, you’re in the past, you don’t understand modern football’.” Son eventually listened to father, agreed Biggs had something about him, and spoke to Adrian Dodoro at Essendon. Robert White still hadn’t met Biggs, but was soon sitting alongside him in a Windy Hill office. Dodoro said they’d keep an eye on him, then pointed to a pile of DVDs in envelopes and asked Biggs if he realised how many wannabes were out there.

Meanwhile, Warrandyte coach Michael Tout had been on the phone to an old mate, Sydney recruiter Kinnear Beatson. When Biggs lobbed at training two weeks before the first game of 2010, having missed the whole pre-season because he was playing cricket, Tout told him sorry, you’ll have to prove yourself in the under-18s. ”He’d been half-keen but not really bursting at the seams to play,” Tout recalls. Soon, his football demanded he play seniors; soon after, Tout was telling Tony Biggs they had to get his son out of EFL division three, ”he’s just too good for this standard”. The Swans weren’t in the market for a speculative running player with a big tank who could take a mark but looked like he might get blown over in a stiff breeze.

A year later, as Beatson was watching VFL footage of Bendigo Bomber Ben Duscher, a skinny blond kept distracting him. ”I remember thinking, ‘Who’s this kid who keeps doing stuff?”’ Beatson says. Dodoro’s pledge to keep Biggs in mind had led to late-season appearances in 2011 for Bendigo, having spent the early winter months using EFL division-one side Mulgrave as a stepping stone. The Bombers were happy with what they saw, and interested in where another year in the VFL – and just a second pre-season of his life – would leave him. Before they had a chance to find out, the Swans rookie drafted him. Having forgone his apprenticeship so he could drive from Croydon to Essendon to train, Biggs was working as a labourer. Even he wasn’t expecting to be taken, and was digging on a Box Hill building site when word filtered through. ”He looked up and said, ‘I’ve just been drafted, I’ve gotta go!”’ his father recalls. Beatson says not everyone has to come via the mainstream pathway, and when someone hasn’t you just need to know why.

At 62, Robert White might have found a new career as a talent-spotter. ”Personally I’m proud, I actually saw somebody who could play – in the third division of a suburban league.” Tony Biggs still can’t get over how much luck is involved in making it. ”He always had talent, but I’m fully aware of how far a good suburban player is from playing AFL. But on the other hand, you can be quite close.

http://www.vidafooty.com.au/into-the...-the-back-way/

[Murphy'sLore]

I love these stories. And you always feel with a player who hasn't followed the red carpet pathway straight into a club, they are that little bit more grateful to be there and might work that little bit harder. Good stuff.

[jeemak]

Thanks M.R.M

[Bulldog Joe]

It is a fantastic story and made even better that Essendon had first crack and let him slip.

Given his time in the system you would think there is plenty of improvement to come.

BUT what is it with journos giving preference to Essendon.

[azabob]

It is a fantastic story and made even better that Essendon had first crack and let him slip.

Given his time in the system you would think there is plenty of improvement to come.

BUT what is it with journos giving preference to Essendon.

Essendon supporters would be the reason.

[Remi Moses]

I think Adam White follows the bombres.
Shane Biggs has done the hard yards

[boydogs]

None of that talks about why the Swans traded him away, and so cheaply. Looked like the perfect time for him to step up with Malceski going, perfectly groomed to take over his role. What happened?

[GVGjr]

None of that talks about why the Swans traded him away, and so cheaply. Looked like the perfect time for him to step up with Malceski going, perfectly groomed to take over his role. What happened?

They couldn't maintain him as a rookie any longer as he had been on their list for 3 years. They had a number of players coming in via their academy and I don't think they had the spots to list him.

[boydogs]

They couldn't maintain him as a rookie any longer as he had been on their list for 3 years. They had a number of players coming in via their academy and I don't think they had the spots to list him.

Too many quality rebounders to fit him in I guess? Nick Smith, Rhyce Shaw?