How Shane Woewodin’s feud with Melbourne was finally healed nearly two decades later

Hugs and tears were shared in a nondescript car park.

Taj Woewodin had been nominated and then selected under the AFL’s father-son rule to join Melbourne with pick 65 of the 2021 draft.

Taj’s rise into the Demons ranks, shortly after the club’s historic premiership, was a true full circle moment; two decades of water under the bridge and a favourite son finally returning home.

“I had a complete falling out with Melbourne, let’s be honest,” Woewodin says.

“I hadn’t really been back [to Melbourne footy club] until just before Taj was drafted. I had chats with Danners (coach Neale Daniher) a few years ago, and we sorted things out. So it’s been a long time. There were a lot of scars there.”

Just two years after an all-conquering 2000 season, when Woewodin won a Brownlow Medal and best and fairest en route to a grand final, he was unceremoniously traded to Collingwood, an ugly exit playing out as publicly as possible.

In happier times in the here and now, though, Woewodin’s own accolades – awards, 200 games and two grand finals at two big Victorian clubs – all pale in comparison to that proud moment late last year.

“October 12, is when we’re in (Taj’s) manager’s office with the club, we’re on Zoom, and the club’s nominated him,” Woewodin says, emotion plain as day as he speaks.

“He‘s accepted. Watching his face straight away was incredible.

“Out in the car park where we embraced each other, a few tears, that was unbelievable.”

Being nominated by the club was just one step in the process of becoming a Demon. Taj still had to get through any rival club bids before it was official.

“Draft night when his name is officially read out. And he’s on a list, on a primary list. That moment with the family and friends, his best friends going berserk in the lounge room. Yeah, they‘re the moments.

“Everything I did in my career pales in significance to those two moments. Because you live through your kids, you do everything for your kids, and you want them to be the best they can be and achieve everything they do in life. Those two moments far outweigh anything I ever did in my career.”

Which is saying something, because it was one hell of a career.

*****

Shane Woewodin’s football story is simply remarkable.

Drafted to Melbourne from Western Australia, he played more than 100 consecutive games from debut as he claimed the 2000 Brownlow and best and fairest to boot in just his fourth year at the club. A losing grand final rounded out an impressive campaign, but within just two years it all came crashing down against Woewodin’s will.

“As vice-captain, coming off a best and fairest and Brownlow Medal, then two years later … all of a sudden, you’re not wanted,” he reflects.

“Put on the trade table. You hear about it when you’re on your footy trip. You then come back and have a meeting with the coach (Daniher) and he says, ‘Yeah, everything’s fine’.

“We shake hands, we’ll see you in a couple of weeks for pre-season. I never stepped back in the footy club again.

“It was a horrendous time, I was trying to relax in Mauritius and have a bit of ‘me’ time, trying to enjoy the hot weather over there. I come back and I’m a Collingwood player.”

Twenty-four at the time, Woewodin took the trade personally and carried it with him for not just the rest of his career, but a long time afterwards as well.

“At a function after being traded to Collingwood, I let rip. I was filthy, not happy, not [with] how it all played out. Coaches revealing your salary in the media, [that’s] not ideal. There was bad blood.

“The thing was, I didn’t want out. I pleaded with the club. They were talking pay cuts and I was happy to do it. I went back to them three times with a reduced offer. Then eventually you just go, ‘Enough is enough. How much more do you want?’

“And then I thought, ‘Well, it’s never gonna be enough. They just want me out’.”

Not until the best part of two decades passed was the air truly cleared. With Melbourne’s first 300-gamer David Neitz helping to get them in the same room, Woewodin and Daniher chewed the fat, as well as coffee and a couple of meals, for about three hours.

“(Daniher) apologised. He said he was sorry, which felt really good to be honest,” Woewodin says.

“A bit of closure. I know it’s a long time ago and we probably should have done it years and years ago but we didn’t. No one picked up the phone.”

Laying it all on the line, Daniher took full responsibility for the decision to trade Woewodin, even though he probably didn’t have the final say.

“It should never have happened.” Daniher says now. “I didn’t have enough control. I regret it.”

That went a long way in Woewodin’s eyes.

“He owned the decision. You’ve got to remember, he’s the coach, not the list manager or footy manager at the time, but he owned it. It should never have happened.”

From that 2000 grand final loss to Woewodin’s exit two years later, the Demons started a deep spiral of frustrating decisions and performances across the next two decades, following on from the lengthy precedent dating all the way back to their last flag in 1964.

“I reckon that [his trading] was the start of the rot of Melbourne,” Woewodin says.

“Experienced players started to get shown the door. They were good players, they should have been able to go off in their own right. But the club made list decisions. It’s only in the last three or four years that the club’s started to make hay and it’s been terrific.”

Woewodin looks back now on Daniher as the best coach he played under. The Brownlow Medal celebrations and hullabaloo – that had him at the Crown Casino until 1.30am five days before the 2000 grand final and unable to go home because of media camped on his front door – as less than ideal. And that grand final as a missed opportunity.

Which made last year’s scenes in Perth all the sweeter. Back in his home state after coaching stints in the WAFL with East Fremantle and under Michael Voss at Brisbane for six years, Woewodin commentates with ABC Perth on weekends.

Having just repaired his relationship with Melbourne after 20 years of bad blood, he chose not to call the game and sat in the stands instead.

After all the animosity, Woewodin’s heart had always beat true for the red and blue.

“You still have that soft spot (for the Demons) and the grand final was just unbelievable,” he says.

“To watch them get their medals and then race down to the rooms and be around because they couldn‘t have families over. Adam Yze was an assistant coach, he’s a good mate of mine, my son Taj and his daughter were born two hours apart. So we’ve been mates for years and he didn’t have his family there.

“To get down there and celebrate with him and a couple of our former teammates that came over from South Australia. Just to enjoy and embrace that hour and a half in the rooms was unbelievable.”

For Woewodin, seeing the Demons claim the most historic of premierships was almost as good as winning one himself – which he’d happily trade each and every award he won for.

Regardless, he can still look back on his time with Melbourne and Collingwood and smile, especially at the little things.

“I look back on it now and yeah as much as I wanted to be a one-club player, I look back fondly now, to play across two very good footy clubs, historically big clubs.

“I got to experience Melbourne, who were struggling financially. The walk into Junction Oval, the showers are leaking. We’ve got a three legged card table. We’ve got killer pythons, tubs of yoghurt, oranges and muffins at post-training.

“And then I get to Collingwood. The first thing that‘s asked of me when I get screened, ‘Is there anything in this gym that we haven’t got that you need?’

And so after all that, the Woewodins have come full circle at Melbourne once more, which leads to the obvious final question.

Is Taj going to be a better player than Shane?

“I think he will. I think he‘s a better 18-year-old than I was. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter. He’s there and he knows now that he’s only at the front door. All the work is in front of him, he’s got to push it open and smash it in. Be the player he wants to be.”

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