Australia national cricket team captain Tim Paine says he has his uncle Robert Shaw to thank for his allegiance to the Bombers.

Shaw played 51 games for Essendon before stints as senior coach at Fitzroy (1991-94) and Adelaide (1995-96).

He was an assistant coach at the Bombers in their 2000 premiership year, returning to the club last year in a part-time recruiting role.

Speaking as a guest on Working Through It, Paine said his uncle was someone he’s always revered.

“The Essendon Football Club’s quite a big part of my family’s life,” Paine said.

“It goes back to uncle Rob … He was brought to the club in 1974 or 1975 as a 16-year-old out of Sandy Bay (Tasmania).

“As you do when you have people in your family like that, we sort of followed him around to Adelaide and Fitzroy, but he was someone that our whole family looked up to.

“When he was an Essendon player, my mum, my sister, my nan and all my family were always Essendon people. They still are. There aren’t too many Paine or Shaw household dinners where we’re not talking about the Essendon Football Club. It’s become a big part of our lives.”

While Shaw had a reputation for delivering some famous coaching sprays, Paine said he was largely exempt from being on the receiving end of one.

But there were several experiences from his childhood in Hobart that he won’t forget. 

“I do have one memory as a youngster - it was Tasmania versus Northern Territory at Bellerive Oval in a state of origin game. He got one of the trainers to take me and my brother out of the change rooms before he gave his last speech,” he said.

“It was down at Bellerive Oval which back then wasn’t developed as a great stadium, so we were literally standing out the door waiting to run out with the team. He absolutely let them have it for about five minutes, and I’d never heard language like it. It was certainly an eye-opener and I’ve heard some famous stories about Rob’s sprays.

“I’ve been lucky enough to steer clear of them, but occasionally if you got on his nerves when I was a youngster and he was trying to fish and not having much luck, you’d want to stay away from him.” 

Paine has been revered for his leadership since taking over as captain after the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket in 2018. 

He’s guided the Test team to No.1 in the world, retaining The Ashes on enemy soil in 2019 and rebuilding the culture alongside new coach Justin Langer.

Listen from 20:15 below as he shares lessons on leadership, culture and overcoming setbacks.