Health Shaw has lifted the lid on the turbulent final weeks of GWS’ 2020 season, which saw captain Stephen Coniglio dropped, some staff made redundant as a result of COVID cuts and free agent Aidan Corr announce his intention to leave the club.

In the lead up to the Giants’ must-win clash against Melbourne in Round 17, the club shocked the footy world by dropping their skipper.

Speaking at length about the final weeks of his time at GWS, Shaw revealed that Corr, who went on to sign with North Melbourne, was “flustered” after being told to immediately depart the club once he told them he wasn’t prepared to sign a new deal.

“The last two weeks of the season was tough for everyone in the hub,” he said on Sportsday.

“Even more so when you’re looking forward to 2021 and then the staff cuts happen and potential player cuts, the end of years are usually messy but for the Giants it was messier than most.

“We had two games where we had to win to play finals, we dropped our captain for one of those and one of our players told the club he was leaving in Aidan Corr, he got told to leave and here’s a good friend of mine.

“I remember that night and that situation where he was a bit flustered and he didn’t think it would pan out that way.

“In the last two weeks, there were staff being told they didn’t have a job and some (left the hub) immediately. It was really messy.

“Looking back at it now, football was like the last thing (we were thinking about) but it’s everything.

“It was hard and for someone that wants to win every game and a bit of a competitive beat, we lost our focus which is playing football and winning.”

Shaw expressed his hope that 2021 would see the Giants put the troubles of 2020 behind them, but he feared there may still be “scars” from the disappointing year that emerge throughout the upcoming season.

“The scars from last year are going to be there slightly,” he said.

“It is a new year, it’s a fresh year so hopefully we have a clean year so there’s no hubs or anything of that sort of stuff so the boys can play football."