MANY AFL players who went to local footy games at the weekend would have shuffled through the gates with heavy hearts, feeling dread at the prospect of small talk with the great unwashed on AFL community weekend.

But Rhyce Shaw almost skipped into the ground as he embarked on his community outing. Shaw went to the Frilay Reserve in Hurstbridge, on the outskirts, to see the Northern league (formerly Diamond Valley league) game between Diamond Creek and Greensborough.

On a mild and overcast afternoon, there were few places he would rather have been. "I love the local footy," he said.

In 1998, when Shaw was a 16-year-old at Diamond Creek, he had a month he will never forget. It began with an under-17 grand final, which Diamond Creek lost. The following week he played in a losing semi-final with the club's under-19 team.

Then the senior team called him up for the Diamond Valley league's division-two semi-final and grand final. Shaw spent the first half of the grand final on the bench.

In the third quarter he came on and received a whack as Lower Plenty rivals set about bullying him. Brawls punctuated the match, and both teams were severely depleted by send-offs.

At the final siren, Shaw was still on the ground, still standing, and he was a senior premiership player. Having played in Collingwood's grand final loss in 2003, he still relishes his achievement with Diamond Creek.

"Don't worry, mate, I could talk about it all day," he said.

Shaw watched Saturday's match with old teammates as well as present Collingwood teammate John Anthony. Anthony played four years in the Diamond Creek juniors as a teenager (mostly as a forward) but he rarely sees local footy these days.

On Saturday he appreciated the setting of the Hurstbridge ground, but he was more impressed by the passion of the fans. "The crowd gets so involved," he said.

Anthony left during the second quarter while Shaw remained among fans on the top wing. No one dagged him. They just said hello and let him watch the game.

In recent years, Shaw was in the habit of seeing the odd Diamond Creek game with his best mate Caine Lowrie, who on Saturday was the Diamond Creek reserves captain.

But this year he's been watching Northern league rival Bundoora because his father Ray has taken on the coaching job there and his cousin Brayden, the son of Tony, is the star midfielder.

"He's killing them," Rhyce said of Brayden, who spent a few years at Collingwood before being delisted.

Steven Legg, the centre half-forward and captain in Diamond Creek's 1998 team, said it was always expected when Rhyce was a teenager that he would end up at Victoria Park. As the son of a Magpie captain, he qualified to be drafted via the father-son rule, and from an early age appeared good enough.

Legg said that part of the reason that Diamond Creek played Rhyce in the 1998 finals was to have him play senior football with the club before he went on to bigger things. "He was always going to Collingwood," Legg said.

Diamond Creek is a famous Collingwood club (despite wearing Melbourne guernseys) because Gordon and Syd Coventry were recruited from there. Both returned to the club after their Magpie days had ended.

On Saturday Diamond Creek president John Woolcock dug into the back of his four-wheel drive and pulled out two team photos featuring Gordon Coventry.

In the 1952 photo, Gordon is the Diamond Creek coach. He sits in the middle of the middle row, a bullish figure in a gabardine coat. In 1957, he sits off to the side of one row. He's no longer coach but he's still involved.

At half-time of the senior match, Shaw had a kick with a bunch of kids. He lolloped around in his new Diamond Creek shirt as the kids tried to claim a mark from one of their heroes.

The match ended in disappointment for Diamond Creek, losing by six points. By then, Shaw was off to the MCG to watch brother Heath play for Victoria. A good day's footy was halfway through.