AFL 2024: Melbourne ‘unpredictable’ without Max Gawn, says coach
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin gave an update on the Demons’ superstar captain with finals now firmly in their sights.
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Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says Max Gawn is “progressing well” as he attempts to recover from a chipped fibula in time for the Demons’ trip to Perth to face Fremantle.
If Gawn’s ambitious bid to return fails, Goodwin says he will consider shaking up the ruck combination of Jacob van Rooyen and Harrison Petty which worked effectively against the Bombers in the 17-point win in the wet at the MCG.
The coach hailed the selection ploy as a success but left the door open for unused recruit Tom Fullarton or potential debutant Will Verrall to play in the Sunday clash.
Following the upset win over the Bombers, Melbourne has the chance to overtake Fremantle on points with a victory in the west.
“It’s unpredictable for us, but it’s also unpredictable for the opposition. When you don’t have a dominant ruck like Max, you plan a little bit differently for the opposition,” Goodwin said after the victory.
“We always went in with a plan to share the load with Petty, van Rooyen, a little bit of Turner. We’ll continue to find different ways to do it. As long as Max is out of the team, we’ll continue to keep every option available to us every week.
“Tom Fullarton is there, Will Verrall is there, and we’ve got the boys tonight, so we’ll look at all those guys again this week.”
Petty struggled against Essendon ruck Sam Draper on his own in the first quarter but worked his way into the game as van Rooyen took more centre bounces following the first break.
The shift up the ground came after an impressive four-goal performance from the young forward against West Coast, and Goodwin said he had hoped to leave him in attack.
“Obviously we wanted to get him in the forward line as much as we could, but the night just demanded that we needed him up around the ball a little bit more than what we had planned,” he said.
“I thought by the end of the game, both Petty and van Rooyen were doing a great job for us.”
The Melbourne coach was thrilled with his senior players’ leadership in Gawn’s absence but also pointed out the prominent contributions of younger Demons.
Judd McVee and Andy Moniz-Wakefield had 15 intercept possessions between them as Steven May, Jake Lever and Tom McDonald all delivered rock-solid performances alongside them.
“I loved how we defended for a large part of the game. Our contest game was strong all the way up until the last 10 minutes,” Goodwin said.
“You combine that with the younger players continuing to evolve in our footy club and some of the leaders stepping up as well … it was a good night for our footy club.
“I hope our supporters leave the MCG tonight proud of their group, because they played the right way.”
Goodwin said the Demons had made a pointed effort to improve their game in wet weather after struggling in the same conditions last season.
“We’ve spent a bit of time on wet weather footy. It hasn’t been a forte for us last year, so we spent some time working on that, and I thought we adapted to the conditions really well,” he said.
“Not winning a lot of hit-outs was challenging, but I thought the midfield group did a great job enabling us to get some territory from that part of the game.”
Originally published as AFL 2024: Melbourne ‘unpredictable’ without Max Gawn, says coach
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