AFL 2021: Max Gawn, Kysaiah Pickett star as Melbourne defeats injury-riddled GWS
Melbourne giant Max Gawn was at his dominate best against GWS, but coach Simon Goodwin says his influence is really only capitalised on when it’s a united effort in the midfield.
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While the ruck debate rages, Simon Goodwin says every team would love to have a player like Max Gawn in their side.
Following Collingwood’s loss after the siren on Thursday night against the Lions, Nathan Buckley said the hit-out stat can be a furpy after the Pies won it 63-4.
Melbourne won the hit outs against GWS 41-32 and won clearances by nine, and while Goodwin agreed the stat doesn’t translate to wins, he said the importance of Gawn’s ruck work was a crucial part of the Dees’ success.
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“If you look statistically hit outs aren’t a great correlation to wins,” Goodwin said.
“What you need to be able to do is to maximise it at ground level to make sure the impact of our ruckman is significant.
“I think every coach would love to have a great ruckman, it’s an important area of the ground to get right. It gives you first look and first look at your supply and it really is about maximising it.
Goodwin said it was a total midfield effort to make the most of Gawn’s dominance, not just the 29-year-old’s tap work.
“That’s a team effort, it’s the midfielders, it’s Max, it’s all those guys contributing together to get a result around the footy,” he said.
“The ability to maximise his work is really important for us, I think that goes for every team.”
KOZZY, CAPTAIN FANTASTIC DOMINATE INJURY-HIT GIANTS
Melbourne sits at 3-0 for the first time since 2005 after running over the top of a GWS side decimated with key injuries by 34-points.
In a horror second quarter for the Giants, they lost their former skipper Phil Davis and current skipper Stephen Coniglio both to ankle injuries.
Captain Fantastic Max Gawn made the most of his matchup against third-gamer Matt Flynn, owning the airways at Manuka Oval.
It wasn’t just his marking and tap work that was a feature of the Dees’ dominance, but the 29-year-old’s ability to drift forward and kick goals was vital.
There wasn’t a player on the ground that could stop the Melbourne skipper in the air as he pulled down five contested marks.
Gawn finished was one of the best on ground and finished with two goals, 24 disposals and five contested marks.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said the combination he formed with youngster Luke Jackson was a key aspect in the win.
“I thought his (Gawn’s) leadership was brilliant tonight,” Goodwin said.
“I thought Luke Jackson gave us some really good grunt around the ruck set up at times.
“Max forward of the ball was significant for us and we needed it. It was one of our areas at quarter time we lacked a bit of inside 50 finish and I thought Max gave us enormous contest when he was down there.”
It was all Melbourne in the first quarter in general play, but it was the Giants who were able to capitalise from fewer inside 50s as they jumped out to a 16-point lead at the first break.
But the GWS injury toll proved too much in the second quarter as the Dees piled on four goals to two, despite Matt de Boer tagging Clayton Oliver out of the game, to cut the margin to just two points at the main break.
Another four goals for Melbourne, including a Kysaiah Pickett special from the forward pocket, looked to have put the game beyond the wounded Giants’ reach heading into the last quarter.
But the three goal three-quarter-time lead quickly dwindled to a straight kick on the back of two Toby Greene goals, before the Dees pulled away late to leave the Giants licking their wounds.
The Dees sit at 3-0 for the first time since 2005 and Goodwin credits his coaching staff for coming up with a new brand over summer for the turnaround.
“It’s really important to get that belief and that confidence in the way you play, our players are really confident in our method,” he said.
“The coaches have done a great job over the summer to build a brand that’s now recognisable that our supporters can understand and see.
“The challenge is still there, we’ve won three games and have plenty of learning and improvement to go.”
And after a career-best four goals, Goodwin issued a warning for opposition defenders that Kysaiah Pickett is only going to get better.
“He’s exciting, I think last week was a great example and he’s backed it up again this week,” he said.
“He’s just a kid who wants to learn and improve and get better. He’s built some really good habits since he joined the footy club.”
“The supporters are really going to learn to love Kozzy as we do as coaches and players, and he’s only going to get better.”
GIANT INJURY LIST
At five goals to two heading into the second term the Giants were in perfect shape to cause an upset, but how quickly things changed.
From the first centre bounce former skipper Phil Davis pulled up short after chasing Luke Jackson on a lead and was immediately subbed out of the game with an ankle injury.
And it went from bad to worse for the Giants as current skipper Stephen Coniglio’s ankle twister under him in a tackle just minutes later, ruling him out of the game.
Another ankle injury, this time to Brent Daniels, saw him miss a large part of the second half of the second quarter before returning after halftime albeit not at 100 per cent.
The final nail in the coffin happened early in the third term, when Matt de Boer, who had completely nullified Clayton Oliver to halftime, did a hamstring.
CLARRY CLAMPED
Everyone knew it was going to happen, but that only made Matt de Boer’s tagging job on Clayton Oliver more impressive.
From the first bounce de Boer was all over Oliver, frustrating the midfield bull into giving away two free kicks to halftime while keeping him to just six touches.
It forced Simon Goodwin to move the 23-year-old forward, where All-Australian Nick Haynes picked him up and blanketed him out of the game.
To start the second term Callan Ward was given the job on Oliver while de Boer was tasked with stopping the red-hot Jack Viney, before the Giant didn’t his hamstring.
Oliver took full advantage of the switch and finished with 23 disposals, six clearances and three tackles.
TSUNAMI SWELLING
It was the main feature of the Giants’ success in years gone. When you saw the orange tsunami surge through the middle of an AFL ground you knew GWS was on.
Maybe it was more of a tidal wave, but there were glimpses of the tsunami building again at Manuka Oval.
Early in the first quarter the Giants washed the Dees’ defence away coming out of a halfback stoppage with a series of handballs involving de Boer, Tom Green, Josh Kelly before Brent Daniels delivered inside 50 to Greene.
Greene went back and kicked the goal in a moment that would’ve had coaches around the competition nervous.
SCOREBOARD
GWS 5.1 7.1 8.1 11.2 68
def by
MELBOURNE 2.3 6.5 10.7 15.12 102
GOALS
Giants: Greene 5, Kelly 2, Green, Himmelberg, Hopper, O’Halloran
Demons: Pickett 4, Fritsch 3, Gawn 2, Neal-Bullen, Jackson, Petracca, Spargo Brayshaw, Jordon.
JAMES MOTTERSHEAD’S BEST
Giants: Greene, Taranto, Hopper, Ash, Kelly
Demons: Gawn, Langdon, Viney, Pickett, Petracca, Brayshaw, Lever.
JAMES MOTTERSHEAD’S VOTES
3 — M. Gawn (Melb)
2 — T. Greene (GWS)
1 — E. Langdon (Melb)
INJURIES
Giants: Davis (ankle), Coniglio (ankle) de Boer (hamstring)
Demons: nil.
UMPIRES: O’Gorman, Williamson, Findlay.
VENUE: Manuka Oval, Attendance: 9563
KIDS TO HELP CAMERON COVER INJURIES
GWS will look at blooding two 18-year-old debutants next Saturday night against Collingwood as it looks to combat its injury crisis.
Speaking after his side’s 34-point loss to Melbourne, Leon Cameron said injuries to Phil Davis (calf), Stephen Coniglio (ankle) and Matt de Boer (hamstring) would open the door for young players.
While Cameron was reluctant to put a timeline on the three injuries, the quick turnaround before facing the Pies guarantees all three will miss the clash.
“The guys who didn’t play over the weekend trained really hard yesterday,” Cameron said.
“(Jake) Riccardi is probably just about ready to resume again back from an ankle, Conor Stone is really pressing his case, and Ryan Angwin, and that’s just to name a few.
“There are a lot of young fellas there that want to play footy and with those three injuries, you’d think they’d be out next week, there are three players that have to come in.
“Guess what, they get a great opportunity at the MCG next Saturday night.”
Jesse Hogan got through training for the Giants, but Cameron stopped short of saying the former number one draft pick would be an inclusion, while Jeremy Finlayson is in a similar position after being left out of the first three games to find form.
Coniglio will be dreading the next time he sees the Dees on the fixture after famously being dropped last season for the game and suffering the ankle injury on Sunday night.
Cameron said the Giants’ skipper was emotional in the rooms and that he felt he was getting back to his best.
“It’s a tough game and he started really well and then that happened,” Cameron said.
“Cogs was emotional, it’s an emotional game because you don’t like to see your captain down, let alone Phil and Dutchy as well.
“You want your leaders out there leading your young group through some challenges.
“I feel for him, because he’s had a tough 12 months and was on his way back, but in true Coniglio fashion, he’ll bounce back.”
The GWS coach said he was impressed with the way his young backline handled the absence of Davis after he suffered the calf injury in the second quarter.
“There was probably about 120 games between the seven of them after Phil went down,” he said.
“I thought Connor Idun took a step and Jack Buckley had to leave his post and play centre half back.
“They’re all learning their craft and at times we got it right and at times Melbourne’s defence foiled us and forced us down the line which meant Gawn can mark, but it’s all part of learning.”
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