Advertisement

Luke Shuey almost changed newborn baby's name to Norm

Last September was some kind of month for West Coast Eagles star Luke Shuey.

First he and partner Dani Orlando had baby Oliver on September 14, right in the middle of the AFL finals.

Fifteen days later mum and son watched from home in Perth as Shuey won the flag and earned the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the MCG.

Celebrating with a FaceTime call during the lap of honour, the family had to wait to be reunited but it was all worth it.

And after Shuey’s extra honour, well, almost anything was possible.

“I think we joked after you won the Norm that we would rename Oli to Norm,” Dani revealed with a laugh.

View this post on Instagram

And on that note… thanks 2018 🥂

A post shared by Dani O (@danielleleeo) on Dec 30, 2018 at 10:47pm PST

That didn’t happen but it would have been fitting after Oli helped provide Shuey with the inspiration to bring the cup home.

‘Away we go again’

West Coast skipper Shannon Hurn is confident his side won’t be a “flash in the pan”, saying the group are determined to build on from last year’s premiership success.

The Eagles bucked the odds to win the 2018 premiership, overcoming the loss of stars Nic Naitanui, Andrew Gaff, and Brad Sheppard to win the club’s fourth flag.

West Coast have never won back-to-back premierships in their 32-year history, but the club is determined to achieve the feat this year.

However, just getting back to the grand final shapes as a massive challenge.

Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs are recent examples of how quickly the wheels can fall off. The Bulldogs won a surprise flag in 2016, but haven’t reached the finals since.

Adelaide won the minor premiership in 2017 and went on to reach the grand final, but fell to 12th last season.

Luke Shuey took home the Norm Smith Medal for his performance in the grand final. Pic: Getty
Luke Shuey took home the Norm Smith Medal for his performance in the grand final. Pic: Getty

West Coast players returned to pre-season training on Monday, and Hurn was happy with the fitness of the group.

The 248-game veteran says his team are well and truly over their premiership celebrations, and are squarely focused on achieving success in 2019.

“That’s the balance the group’s found quite well,” Hurn said

“Yes, the week after, two weeks after (the premiership) you enjoy what we did. But then you understand you have to move on.

“It’s all hands back on deck and away we go again. You don’t want to be a flash in the pan. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

“It’s just making sure you’re always staying up to date with the game, still trying to play as a team.

“If we do that, I think we’ll be able to put ourselves in a good position to be able to compete.”

with AAP