Shiels embracing different challenge at Roos at Hawks reunion awaits
He won three premierships at Hawthorn, but Liam Shiels is relishing the new challenge of helping the Kangaroos climb Everest as he prepares to play his old side on Saturday.
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North Melbourne veteran Liam Shiels texts former Hawthorn teammates Luke Breust and James Sicily ‘nearly every second day’.
The subject matter is never football, but the three-time premiership-winning Hawk admits it will feel odd to line up against his old club at Launceston’s UTAS Stadium on Saturday.
The 31-year-old hung up the boots at the end of last season, his 14th and final year at Hawthorn featuring 255 games.
But his retirement lasted just 12 weeks when his Hawthorn premiership mentor Alastair Clarkson came knocking after he was appointed Kangaroos coach.
Shiels knows full well his days of winning flags are gone, but is relishing a different challenge of helping nurture the young Roos into a heavyweight.
Life at Arden Street has begun brilliantly for Shiels, with North Melbourne boasting a shock 2-0 record.
“It’s definitely going to be strange running out against Hawthorn, I spent so long there and can’t thank the footy club enough for everyone they’ve done for me,” Shiels said.
“I caught up with a couple of really good mates (recently) in Josh Breust and James Sicily. We text almost every second day, but never about footy.
“It’s swings and roundabouts, I’m lucky to get another opportunity to play footy under Clarko. He’s had an enormous influence on me, not just footy but life outside footy. He’s someone I really look up to, he’s taught me a lot about life as well.”
Shiels was making plans for life under football, but couldn’t resist a new challenge under Clarkson.
“The initial talks with North Melbourne were more based on life after football,” he said.
“I wanted to get into recruiting and list management so I sat down with (Kangaroos’ general manager of football talent) Brady Rawlings. But once Clarko got the job, I was one of the lucky ones where my body was still feeling really good and I was still passionate about playing.
“Once this opportuity came up I was happy to help this club in any way.
“It’s all about getting games into these young kids and if that means I go back to the VFL or be an on field coach for a period of time, I’m happy to do that.”
Shiels can see the similarities between Hawthorn and North Melbourne when he first arrived at both clubs.
The Hawks were a non-finals team but were built into a four-time premiership-winning dynasty.
“There’s definitely some similarities between the clubs and I’ve seen first hand how quickly it can happen,” he said.
“I think we were in a bottom four side and within three years after a couple of good drafts they were contesting a premiership.
“It can happen very quickly, and we’ve seen already the players we’ve brought here from the draft are going to be good players for a long period of time.
“There are some similarities and hopefully we can progress at a similar rate that Hawthorn did.”
Originally published as Shiels embracing different challenge at Roos at Hawks reunion awaits
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