AFL Fremantle v Melbourne 2022: Max Gawn confident Luke Jackson will resist Dockers to stay
Max Gawn has weighed in on Luke Jackson’s future at Melbourne, declaring a sign during Friday’s win over Fremantle suggested where the young ruckman’s future would be.
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Melbourne captain Max Gawn is confident his premiership teammate Luke Jackson will knock back a huge offer to join Fremantle, declaring the young ruckman was the “happiest person out there” after the Demons took down the Dockers last Friday night.
Jackson, who is from Perth, has put off contract talks until the end of the season amid rampant speculation he’s headed back to Western Australia, and the Dockers, on a monster deal.
Local fans taunted the Melbourne players last Friday night by hanging a Fremantle jersey with “Jackson” written on it over the race. The jersey was snatched and then thrown away by Jackson’s teammate Jake Melksham.
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On Monday, Gawn conceded his opinion was going against the grain of what most were saying about Jackson, but he thought the 20-year-old would remain at the Demons.
“Luke’s a talent and he’s got every right, as every player does, to look at any offer that’s coming his way,” Gawn told reporters on Monday.
“I’m pretty confident he’s going to be a Melbourne player still and I know that’s very far from what the consensus is out in the media.
“He was the happiest person I’ve ever seen (last Friday night) beating Fremantle, who is the team that he’s supposed to be going to.
“He seemed the happiest person out there.”
Jackson was the centre of attention from the moment he touched down in Perth last week, but Gawn joked the youngster was the “ best character” to handle it.
“I actually think he doesn’t know he’s out of contract,” Gawn said.
“That little bit helps him. He doesn’t read anything, he doesn’t look at anything, he just continues on his merry way and I think his performances are showing that.
“If you go out there and watch him, he doesn’t look like he’s over-thinking. He’s just out there playing football.”
Last week, Melbourne re-signed midfield star Angus Brayshaw to a six-year deal having also secured best and fairest Clayton Oliver on a on long-term contract.
Jackson, however, remains the No. 1 priority and Gawn said he was hopeful of continuing to build on the partnership they had formed, on and off the field, since the youngster arrived at the Demons in the 2019 draft.
“I love playing with him, I love being his leader, I love being his friend, I love coaching him and I love seeing little bits that I‘ve told him during the week come out on game day,” Gawn said.
“I’m really excited, especially for the next seven weeks, to play with Luke and then hopefully for the next few years.”
JACKSON PUTS DEES CONTRACT TALKS ON HOLD
Jon Ralph
Melbourne star Luke Jackson has officially put off contract talks until the post-season as the Demons prepare for their third-year forward to depart for Fremantle.
Jackson’s management has informed the Demons that he wants until the end of the season to consider his future.
It is understood Jackson would need to change his mind to play at the Demons given he is keen to return home to play for the Dockers.
But the Demons’ football boss Alan Richardson told News Corp he believed Jackson was still invested and was holding out hope he might commit.
“He has a lovely family over in Perth. We have met with them and we are respecting the call that Jacko and his team need as much time as they think is appropriate to make such an important decision,” he said.
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“When you have friends and family talking about your future it would be naive for it not to be swirling around somewhere. But he’s quite a unique kid so he’s been able to stay on track.
“We don’t expect any answers until the season is finished and hopefully he sticks with us.”
The Demons are hopeful swingman Tom McDonald (lisfranc injury) will be ready to play a game in the week before the AFL finals after encouraging progress from the foot issue.
McDonald is back in training after having a plate inserted in his foot and could play a scratch match or VFL contest for Casey Demons to give the club more options leading into the finals.
‘Ruthless’ Dee-fence returns as inclusions on the way
Simon Goodwin believes Melbourne’s defensive game has returned to where it needs to be to win big games.
After losing three consecutive games going into the Round 14 bye, the Demons claimed their fourth win in six games with an impressive 46-point win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
They gave up only five goals to the Dockers, who kicked 14.10 in Round 10 at the MCG to hand the Demons their first loss for the season.
Fremantle’s tall forwards Rory Lobb and Matt Taberner were starved of opportunity and failed to kick a goal between them.
Goodwin said he thought his side rose to the occasion.
“I think it was right back to where we expected it to be,” he said.
“We’re second in the comp for points against. But tonight, it was to another level.
“It was all over the ground. It was in the front part of the ground, in the back half and our desperation to win contests was back to its highest level and the level you need to win big games.
“We knew the quality of the team against us; we saw it earlier in the year when they beat us at the MCG.
“I thought our boys rose to the occasion.
“Defensively, this week to last week was completely different. We were ruthless with how we wanted to defend.
“Tonight was the urgency and intensity we need as a football club and it was on show tonight.”
Melbourne kicked 12.13 in the win. Bayley Fritsch was the main target in attack and didn’t disappoint, with three goals.
Kysaiah Pickett was dangerous throughout and too also booted three, but two came in the last quarter when the result was out of question.
Sam Weideman had a tough night out though, with one goal from one disposal.
The Demons tall forward stocks are likely to be bolstered by the return of Ben Brown from a knee injury for Friday night’s clash against Collingwood at the MCG.
Their strong midfield is also likely to be strengthened by the return of James Harmes, who missed the trip West due to health and safety protocols.
Even with the return of Harmes, Goodwin said he is likely to continue using Angus Brayshaw in the midfield.
Brayshaw had 28 touches and four clearances and was a among Melbourne’s best, with Clayton Oliver kept relatively quiet.
“We didn’t have James Harmes available,” Goodwin said. “We’ve been looking for an opportunity to bring Angus back into the midfield and this was the opportunity to have a look at it.
“Jayden Hunt has been in good form in the VFL. He was ready for the opportunity down back. We might see a bit more of Angus in the midfield in the next few weeks.
“If opposition want to go to Christian (Petracca) or Clayton, we’ll use that the benefit the team.
“It’s not about the individual. As a group, they manipulated it well (against Fremantle).”
Dees sparked into action as Dockers slump continues
— Brad Elborough
A return to the scene of its 2021 drought-breaking premiership win looks to have sparked Melbourne back into action.
The Demons left a couple of months of inconsistent performance behind them and scored an impressive 46-point win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday night.
A loss to the Dockers at the MCG in Round 11 triggered the start to a poor period for Melbourne. It was the Demons’ first loss for the season.
Maybe the 12.13 (85) to 5.9 (85) win over the same team to kick off Round 20 signalled their return to form.
With just three wins from their previous eight games, the Demons ability to contend again this September was being questioned.
They answered many of those questions on Friday night, keeping the Dockers to just five goals on their home deck.
They kicked away to a 27-point lead by halftime, but this week there was no second-half fade out that has been a feature of the Demons’ recent losses.
Simon Goodwin’s side had criticism piled on them after last week’s loss to the Western Bulldogs.
The 10-point defeat highlighted consistent poor showings against sides in the premiership hunt.
That great 10-0 start to their season was against only one side who started Round 20 in the top 8 – the Bulldogs. And they struggled at the start of the season.
When the potential contenders started lining up, the Demons fell short. The losses have been to Fremantle, Sydney, Collingwood, Geelong and the Bulldogs.
Full team defence
In the early stages of the season, teams averaged less than 10 goals against Melbourne.
In the following eight weeks, that average blew out to almost 80 points per game, including the 110 the Western Bulldogs kicked against the reigning premier last week.
Jake Lever returned from a shoulder injury to play the Dockers and the Demons defence clicked.
Fremantle had just 40 inside 50s for the game (to Melbourne’s 60), meaning it was a tough night out for Matt Taberner and Rory Lobb.
But when the ball did head their way, Steven May, Lever, Christian Salem, Harrison Petty and Michael Hibberd generally had it covered.
Neither Fremantle tall forward kicked a goal for the night; Michael Walters looking the most likely to kick goals for the home side. And he did, two.
Classy stuff from Fritsch!#AFLFreoDeespic.twitter.com/Oh7KN8n8cd
— AFL (@AFL) July 29, 2022
Fancy Fritsch
There were only four players missing from the 22 Demons that claimed last year’s premiership at the same venue.
Two of them were noted goalkickers Ben Brown and Tom McDonald – the other two Jake Bowey and James Harmes.
There was a bit of rain around, which made the night a little tougher for tall forwards.
Even with the ball in his area, the Demons Sam Weideman had a tough night too.
He kicked a goal midway through the third term to give Melbourne a 34-point lead. It was his first touch of the game.
But Bayley Fritsch once again took on the role as key forward, booting three goals.
He hasn’t let his side down this season, kicking goals in every game, including four in last week’s loss to the Dogs.
He looks set to beat his season’s best of 59 goals, that he booted last season and that included six in the Grand Final win.
His three takes his tally this year to 43.
The Demons have three home and away fixtures to come, starting next week with another challenge against Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.
Brownlow boys on show
Three of this season’s top Brownlow Medal fancies were on show in this clash.
The Dockers Andrew Brayshaw was again very good, collecting 30 possessions. Along with James Aish and Will Brodie, he was prolific for the Dockers in the midfield.
But the size of the loss would surely make it hard for him to grab votes from the umpires.
Clayton Oliver had a quiet night due to some close attention coming from Aish.
Christian Petracca was the best of those three on the night.
Returning to the ground where he claimed last season, Norm Smith Medal, he was on from the outset.
He produced an outstanding long kick to hit Kysaiah Pickett deep inside attack to set up the first goal of the game.
Melbourne 13-point lead at quarter-time was on the back of his nine possessions, four tackles and three clearances.
Jack Viney would be his main competition for umpire’s votes, collecting a game-high 33 touches.
The pressure is now right on the Dockers
Having failed to win in their past three outings, they are set to drop back to the field.
They could be in seventh spot by the end of this weekend with Bulldogs waiting for them at Marvel Stadium next weekend.
It’s a tough competition, considering they were in third place at the end of Round 17.
How about that for a chasedown!@cryptocom | #AFLFreoDeespic.twitter.com/ue7ryBd4lj
— AFL (@AFL) July 29, 2022
SCOREBOARD
DOCKERS 2.2 3.4 4.5 5.9 (39)
DEMONS 4.3 7.7 10.11 12.13 (85)
ELBOROUGH’S BEST
Dockers: Aish, Brayshaw, Young, Mundy, Pearce, Walters.
Demons: Viney, Petracca, Brayshaw, Fritsch, May, Salem.
GOALS
Dockers: Frederick 2, Walters 2; Logue.
Demons: Fritsch 3, Pickett 3; Spargo 2; Jordon, Langdon, Melksham, Weideman.
INJURIES
Dockers: Nil. Demons: Lever (ankle), Salem (head), Jackson (knee).
UMPIRES: Rosebury, Hosking, Williamson.
VENUE 46,313 at Optus Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES
3 Viney (DEMONS)
2 Petracca (DEMONS)
1 Aish (DOCKERS)
Originally published as AFL Fremantle v Melbourne 2022: Max Gawn confident Luke Jackson will resist Dockers to stay
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