Bombers assistant coach Robert Shaw loves his fishing so the prospect of a trip to Darwin over the Australia Day weekend had him grinning like a Cheshire cat. Shaw was accompanying Michael Long and Dean Rioli to Darwin to offer the latter some support for his comeback match and to get a first-hand look at Port Adelaide – the Bombers’ first-round opponents in the Ansett Cup.

Shaw thought that around the football he might be able to fit in a quick visit to Deano’s parents on Melville Island and do a spot of fishing. But to Shaw’s dismay, Dean’s parents were in Darwin to watch their son play and his fishing plans went out the window.

With fishing no longer an option, Shaw settled in at Marrara Oval, Darwin to watch a feast of football. “There certainly wasn’t a shortage of football to watch,” Shaw said. “At 1.30pm we had the NTFL Under 18 squad play Southern Districts and at 3.00pm the Northern Territory Football Association took on the Katherine District Football League. At that stage we were only halfway through the day. Next we had the Tiwi Islands play the Desert Warriors and at 7.30pm the NTFL All Stars played Port Adelaide.”

While Shaw’s hunger for football was well and truly satisfied he was still somewhat dejected that he would be returning to Melbourne minus his beloved Barramundi. Enter Michael Long. Aware that Shaw wouldn’t be able to go fishing, Longy organised his brothers to go out and catch Shaw something to take home and they didn’t let him down. The Long brothers presented Shaw with two magnificent Barramundi and a dozen mud crabs. Needless to say, “Seafood Platter” is likely to be on the menu for quite a few weeks at the Shaw residence.