Shaw wants Ball as a teammate

COLLINGWOOD defender Heath Shaw believes former Saint Luke Ball would be a valuable addition to his side's midfield.

Ball, who failed in his attempt to be traded to Collingwood last month, has nominated for Thursday's NAB AFL Draft.

Shaw, 23, said the Magpies would welcome the 142-game player into the fold if he found his way to the Lexus Centre this week.

"He'd fit into any midfield pretty nicely, I'd think," Shaw said from Melbourne airport on Monday.

"He's obviously a quality player, he's been around the traps for a while and he's been captain of his former club.

"He'd definitely bring a lot of experience to the club."

The Magpies don't enter the draft until selection No.30 and could face competition from clubs such as Essendon (picks 10, 24 and 26), Melbourne (11 and 18) and the Brisbane Lions (27) in their bid to recruit the 25-year-old.

Shaw said his teammates had not spoken to Ball but remained hopeful of playing alongside him in 2010.

"We leave it up to our recruiters and the people that make those decisions to see whether we get him or not," he said.

"You never know. It's out of our hands and we'll find out on Thursday.

"There's 15 other clubs that would want his services so we'll just have to wait and see on Thursday."

The Magpies left Melbourne for their annual training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona on Monday.

Shaw added that the players were looking forward to the opportunity to boost their fitness base before Christmas.

"This is our fourth year now. It's always been a pretty good trip and it's something we look forward to because it breaks up the pre-season," he said.

"The boys are really looking forward to it. There are a couple of boys that haven't been over there before so they're excited about it.

"You want to get the best out of yourself fitness-wise and what we do over in Arizona for two weeks, I think we get the benefit of four weeks training here."

Log on to afl.com.au on D-day, Thursday, November 26, for the most comprehensive coverage of the 2009 NAB AFL Draft. We’ll have live chats, live audio streams, in-depth player profiles, club reaction and our famous afl.com.au Draft Tracker.