Not until this weekend.

This Saturday night Shanahan will coach his first game of elite-level ball.

He will also play.

Despite earlier insisting he had no intention to take to the court, Shanahan this week gave in to his desire to join the action and sought clearance to suit up for the Ballarat Miners in their Round 1 clash with Kilsyth.

After 14 consecutive seasons in the national league the South Dragons star could be forgiven for allowing himself a break; instead, Shanahan is set to follow in the footsteps of Dragons teammate Shane Heal and take on the role of player-coach in the SEABL.

“I figured with me coming out of the NBL season and being in good shape and still having some good things to provide playing-wise, it was a bit like Shane, it was kind of silly for me not to play as well,” Shanahan said.

“Watching Shane was a way to learn and I’ve learned a lot. Being organised is a big thing you have to concentrate on, especially when you’re out there on the floor.

“You also have to have a good assistant coach, which we have at the Dragons and at the Miners as well.”

Like Heal, Shanahan considers the chance to join his team on court a positive.

“I think you get a better feel for the game out on the floor and I think Shane would agree with that,” he said.

“You get a better feel for the game when you’re out there with the team so I think that’s enough of a positive for me to play.”

The Miners’ new-look team features just six of the players who last year helped the team to an impressive 20-6 record in the home-and-away season.

But with Shanahan and Sydney Kings tall Anthony Susnjara set to join the line-up, there is cause to be optimistic about the year ahead.

“I’m definitely excited, we’ve been going since December now with our pre-season and it just seems to be going on forever and the guys would probably agree,” Shanahan said.

“I’m just really looking forward to Saturday night, it’s an old team of mine that we’re playing against so it would be nice to get a win.

“We’re pretty optimistic about the year, it’s a new team this season but we’ve made up for the guys we lost with some good players so hopefully we can go that one step further this year.”

Shanahan, who this season amassed 201 points, 52 rebounds and 57 assists for the Dragons, will add valuable firepower to the Miners’ camp.

The NBL veteran has played with, and under, some of the biggest names in Australian basketball including former Miners’ coaches Brian Goorjian and Brendan Joyce.

Shanahan represents not only a wealth of tactical expertise, he remains one of the finest exponents of the game.

Not to be daunted by his role as player-coach, Shanahan will take his A-game into battle on Saturday night.

“I’ll just play my usual game, I’m not going to try to change my game just because I’m the coach,” he said.

“I think what I can provide as a player will help the team so I’m just going to stick to what I usually do and hopefully I can lead by example for the other guys.”

Shane Heal this year showed just how effective a player-coach can be, taking the South Dragons to the playoffs in their debut season in the national league.

This weekend Matt Shanahan sets out to continue the success story, with glory all his own in the SEABL.