page_title: Shane Edwards
section_title: 2020 season
hierarchical_section_title: Shane Edwards / AFL career / 2020 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Shane Edwards at the AFL State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match at Marvel Stadium in February 2020.
context_page_description: Shane Edwards is an Australian rules football player for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League. He is a two-time premiership player, an All-Austalian and has three times placed in the top 5 in Richmond best and fairest awards. He holds the Richmond record for most games in the number 10 guernsey and is the longest serving Indigenous team member in club history.
context_section_description: Over the 2019/20 off-season, Edwards was rated by AFL statistics partner Champion Data in the top-tier "elite" category among midfielder-forwards. He played his first match for the year in the AFL's fundraising State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match in February, representing his home state of South Australia as part of the allied All-Stars side. He sat out Richmond's first pre-season match that same weekend but returned for the club's final pre-season match against Greater Western Sydney a week later. Despite an uninterrupted pre-season, the rapid progression of the coronavirus pandemic into Australia by mid-March saw the future of the season in doubt, including Edwards and Richmond's premiership defense. The AFL commission eventually announced the start of the season would proceed as scheduled, but without fans in attendance due to public health prohibitions on group gatherings. With the expectation that a significant break would be necessary mid-season, the league also announced the season would be completed with a modified 17-round fixture and with quarter lengths reduced by one fifth in order to reduce the load on players who would be expected to play multiple matches with short breaks in the back half of the year. Edwards kicked the opening goal of the season and was named by AFL Media among Richmond's best players under those conditions in round 1's win over Carlton. Just three days later however, the AFL commission suspended the season after multiple states enforced quarantine conditions on their borders that effectively ruled out the possibility of continuing the season as planned. Edwards recorded 13 disposals in a draw with Collingwood when the season resumed in early June after an 11-week hiatus, and was among his side's best players with 24 disposals and a goal in a loss to St Kilda a fortnight after that. He played one further match before a virus outbreak in Melbourne caused the club to relocate to the Gold Coast. With a heavily pregnant partner, Edwards elected to remain in Melbourne where he trained with other non-travelling club mates while awaiting the expected birth of his child in August.
caption: Edwards kicks during the 2020 State of Origin for Bushfire Relief match
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