Demons captain Max Gawn opens up on Melbourne’s AFL premiership journey
Three years ago Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca wouldn’t have sacrificed their game for someone else. Here’s how the Dees went from best friends to great teammates.
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Max Gawn has cemented himself in Melbourne Football Club folklore as the Demons captain in charge when they finally ended their infamous 57-year flag drought. The lovable larrikin and AFL superstar talks to MARC McGOWAN
Marc McGowan: Max Gawn, Melbourne premiership captain – how does that sound?
Max Gawn: It sounds pretty good (laughing). It wasn’t something I was ever thinking I was doing, up until the point I was announced captain. Premiership player was always a dream but premiership captain wasn’t something I was thinking. It hasn’t necessarily sunk in extremely yet, because I haven’t really had that Melbourne dosage yet, if you know what I mean?
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M.M: Was there a heavy burden on the players to make the most of this opportunity, given the 57-year drought?
M.G: I don’t think so, just with the way millennials are. To myself, Nathan Jones, Michael Hibberd, Steven May, some of these guys who know what the club’s been through, but I doubt anyone under the age of 24 would even have been thinking about the drought. It’s just another game for them. For me, personally, I wanted to do it. I definitely wanted to take the drought away – I’m a lover of the club, I’m a history nuffie when it comes to this football club.
M.M: What do you think the feeling is going to be like when you get to present the cup to the Demons’ Melbourne-based fans?
M.G: It’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, and especially once we won the cup on Saturday and hearing the support from back home. I was still hoping there could be some people at the airport, or we could drive by a group of people at Yarra Park. As much as Perth put on one of the best shows I’ve been involved in, it was one thing I was thinking of when I was doing the lap of honour with the trophy. I would’ve loved to bump into my wife or family, some Melbourne supporters, board members or past players around that lap and really soak it in. Then the next day what I dreamt of was popping into Yarra Park or the MCG, or wherever Melbourne would host a Sunday event. Lifting the cup up in front of 30,000-40,000 people would’ve been something special. We still got a good one – we got about 5000 at the mall in Perth and that was special – but like I said to you at the airport, it gives you a little bit of inspiration to go again.
M.M: I remember watching you walk over to Nathan Jones in the change rooms after the qualifying final win over Brisbane, and literally bear hug him and lift him off the ground. He means a lot to you and this club, doesn’t he?
M.G: He definitely means a lot to me and certainly if you ask anyone involved at the club, he’s seen as the warrior who’s lifted us from where we were to where we are now. The most unfortunate thing amongst that is he wasn’t there on the final day, but to have a legacy that you’ve brought a club on its knees back to the top of the table – literally – I think is almost a better legacy than any of the guys who have a medal around their neck.
M.M: What was the FaceTime call with Nathan Jones like straight after the grand final?
M.G: The issue with FaceTime is you can’t hear what anyone else is saying. We couldn’t hear him but we could see him – and that’s all that really mattered. We were able to share that moment with him. I can understand how much he probably would’ve hated it at the same point. It would’ve been incredibly hard for him sitting in Melbourne, seeing his teammates go through so much joy and for him to miss out. So, I can understand how much he would’ve hated it and I’m glad he accepted the phone call, because it’s something we really wanted to do. There are more people we wanted to do that with, too – obviously some staff members we left back home. We’ve got a guy, Jimmy Plunkett, who’s been involved in our club since I’ve been at the club, in our leadership space. He’s someone we had to make the tough call with in the 75. I think he was No.76 to get over and we couldn’t get him, so he was part of the FaceTiming crew and a few board members as well.
M.M: You’ve mentioned how much you loved that hour spent with just the Demons crew after the grand final. What was that like?
M.G: Once the family and friends who were there and supporters left the change rooms, we were able to go into our dressing room part with all 75 and we belted out probably the 10 most sing-a-long songs you could possibly find, and it was honestly a great moment. There were people leaving from there. We’ve seen Neville Jetta, Darren Burgess, these sort of people. They were there in that circle and that was their last time to be in the dressing room, and we sort of knew this was the last time this group of 75 people would be together. We’ve done something special for five weeks in a hub away from our families. It’s a pretty cool moment. It went well from there onwards, as you can see with some of my stuff that’s gone viral on Instagram, but that moment there – I reckon it would’ve been about 9pm-10pm Perth time, was something really special.
M.M: Speaking of that, one moment we caught was you, at 208cm, dancing on someone’s shoulders.
M.G: ‘Tommo’ (Adam Tomlinson) is set back another couple of months, unfortunately, with his knee reco because of it (laughing). That’s the thing – I did nothing that whole night, then went downstairs and got one photo on top of someone’s shoulders and I got best-on, which is great. ‘Hibbo’ (Michael Hibberd) hates the fact he’s actually been best-on and isn’t getting any recognition, but anything I did, any of those moments, were all on instinct, adrenalin and the joy of winning the flag. We had Melbourne supporters there, which was great, so we were able to celebrate with the people who were there – and celebrate we did.
M.M: What was it like seeing your wife again? You two have a big moment coming up in the next couple of weeks and you’ve been away from each other for five weeks.
M.G: I got back in just after 7pm (on Thursday) after a long drive down the coast and was able to see Jess and the pup. She’s got a couple of weeks to go (before giving birth to their first child). I’ve been saying she’s got two weeks to go for a while, but I think she actually does have literally two weeks now. It is getting close and it’s quite nerve-racking, to be honest, that I’ve just gone and partied like a 19-year-old and now I’ve got to be a grown-up 30-year-old within a couple of days, so I’m waiting for that transformation.
M.M: I asked you earlier about how ‘Max Gawn, Melbourne premiership captain’ sounds. How about Max Gawn, daddy?
M.G: Right now, I speak about being nervous and excited, but the joy comes from when I see him or her. We’re not sure what sex the baby is, but I think the joy that’s going to come, once it happens, is going to be better than the joy from the premiership. Or people tell me. Jess will be horrified if I say it wasn’t, so I think my first reaction is going to be to say it will be better, but it might not actually be better (laughing). But that will happen, obviously, in those first few days when we meet little him or her – or probably big him or her, judging by my size. It will be an exciting little chapter to build over the off-season and the summer, then I’ve got to get back into training, unfortunately.
M.M: Simon Goodwin entered the season as arguably the coach under most pressure and finishes it as the safest coach in the land. Can you give us an insight into Simon and what he’s done for the club?
M.G: That is a funny way it’s worked out. I’ve had so many coaches and not many of them are still in the system. You don’t just get jobs like that, and now ‘Goody’ looks like he could be in the system forever or as long as he wants to be. He’s done a miraculous job. He’s such a cool, calm, composed leader. The members get a bit annoyed by him and media, because he’s very much one message in his press conferences and quite monotone – he just tells the media that one line that protects all his players. I think that builds trust. We got challenged in all of our finals at different points and we were able to respond with massive quarters. I think it comes off the back of him telling us how they’re challenging us and how to fix it, really cool, calm and quickly, so his on-field stuff is superb. But don’t underestimate how much batting for your players externally builds trust, especially with the young guys. I’m extremely happy for him.
M.M: Tell us about the players-only campfire chat at Greg Stafford’s farm pre-Christmas. How significant was that in hindsight?
M.G: We had a couple of nights. Initially we had one at the golf club in Cranbourne, near Casey Fields, and that was a night where we were able to really set out how we wanted to be viewed as a playing group. We didn’t involve coaching or support staff. It was just the playing group. The little story here is potentially the hub last year. What hubs do is they show you what’s going well and what’s going bad – and they magnify that. We got given a really good reality check on what was going well, and it was our football. Our football was going good, we were performing really well on the field. We were 6-3, or maybe even better in the hub. There was some stuff culturally we thought could change. That got magnified in the hub, then the first chance we could, we got together as a playing group, whenever we got the draftees and the traded players in. We addressed how we wanted to be viewed internally and externally and we backed that up with all the staff, all at Greg Stafford’s farm down at Rye. We were able to play a cricket game down here as well, which was good. That was the tipping point on it, but the building blocks were done a little bit before that, and almost in the hub last year as well.
M.M: What were the big changes at Melbourne this season, to go from an under-performing footy club to suddenly becoming the AFL’s best team?
M.G: There are multiple things. Going from best friends to best teammates is almost what we’ve tried to do. It’s been only 12 months and we’ve won a flag, but to create something I really want to be part of is to be able to do this over a long period of time. We’re all great pals off the field and that’s continued, but to be able to be great teammates and accountable to each other. We saw some great examples throughout the finals series but on grand final day, Clayton (Oliver) was able to do some good stuff on ‘Bont’ (Marcus Bontempelli), while Christian Petracca went and dominated the game. Those two, it’s fair to say, both wouldn’t have sacrificed their game back in 2018 or 2019 for someone else. They were always stars but now they’re genuine stars and genuinely good teammates and team players. There is more – the way (Steven) May, (Jake) Lever and (Harry) Petty defend. Lever was getting done by (Josh) Schache and he just allowed Petty to flourish in his role or May to flourish in his role and there are so many examples. ‘Kozzy’ (Pickett) had a quieter numbers game but some of the vision I’ve seen, Kozzy allows ‘Nibbler’ (Alex Neal-Bullen) to have one of his better games for the year. That’s the sort of stuff we preached during the year.
M.M: How have you changed personally, as a person, player and now as a captain? It’s been a fair old journey from the outside looking in?
M.G: I like to think when I go to sleep at night or when I finish my career at some point, I’ll be able to say I didn’t change. I probably have in some ways, but I like to stay true to the person I walked in as, as an 18-year-old. I’ve obviously grown up and I’m not a kid anymore – I’m a man, I wasn’t a father then and I will be now. So, there are obviously some things that have changed. I’ve had to learn how to be selfless in my role as well. I’ve now got a rucking partner (Luke Jackson) who’s coming on in leaps and bounds, and maybe the old Max would’ve been someone who would have tried to hide how good he’s going to be and try and keep myself in the ruck. But I love playing with him and I love sharing that role and we saw what he was able to do at the end of the third quarter (in the grand final), which I would’ve loved to be able to do myself. But at the time, ‘Jacko’ was the man for the moment and I just sat at full-forward and watched the ball go over my head.
M.M: Can you go back-to-back, Max?
M.G: I’ve always been someone that hates the traditionalists and hates the, ‘We need everyone to be at 100 games to win a flag’ but it’s funny how it’s worked. Everyone is in and around the 100-games mark, we’ve had a group that’s been together for five years, so it looks like that point is us for now. But we’ve seen many a team over the last decade or so who’ve come out and won one then slipped away or get close. To get to grand final day is extremely hard, then to win it is even harder, so we’re well aware of the challenge ahead of us, but the motivation will definitely be to win one in Melbourne.
M.M: Thanks for the chat, Max, and massive congrats on what you’ve achieved.
M.G: Good man. Thanks, mate.
Dees ready to put premiership on repeat
They’re the men who became Melbourne legends by snapping the longest premiership drought in the AFL.
And now they’re home.
The premiership Demons have flown into Melbourne Airport, their feet firmly on the ground with the coveted premiership cup in their safekeeping.
SEE THE PICS
The #AFL premiership cup is back in Victoria 🆠pic.twitter.com/zigQQdo17a
— Marc McGowan 🗣âœï¸ðŸ‘¨ðŸ»â€ðŸ’»ðŸ“° (@ByMarcMcGowan) September 30, 2021
Repeating Melbourne’s historic premiership victory in front of the club’s long-suffering supporters next year will be the perfect hangover remedy, captain Max Gawn says.
The 74-point grand final victory over the Western Bulldogs in Perth on Saturday night ended the Demons’ agonising 57-year flag drought, which was the AFL’s longest.
They returned to Victoria on Thursday to a subdued welcome from health officers, police and a media throng rather than the thousands of fans they hope to celebrate with in the not-too-distant future.
The lure of winning a premiership in front of those supporters at the MCG might prove the key to avoiding any potential complacency, a fate that’s befallen many a premier.
“One hundred per cent, I think it will. I think that’s what we’ll touch on when we bring the message to the playing group about what we want to get out of 2022,” Gawn said.
“I feel like that’s a given that that will be mentioned at some point.
“(But) what I’m thinking about now is making sure everyone can get a chance of either seeing the cup or getting to somewhere, at some place, maybe later in the year that they can celebrate with us.”
The wild post-grand final scenes included Melbourne’s larger-than-life premiership skipper dancing with the premiership cup while sitting atop someone’s shoulders in a packed nightspot.
But he said he gladly would have caught the “red-eye” flight out of Perth following a “pretty special” hour rejoicing with the Demons’ 75-strong crew immediately after the match.
Gawn, whose wife Jess is due to give birth to their first child any week now, said the grand final was unforgettable despite the experience not quite being what he dreamt about as a kid.
“Obviously, it’s (usually) at the MCG and a day grand final, so those things were different,” he said.
“I would’ve loved to run into someone who’s supported the club for 50 years, or (club great) David Neitz sitting there, or my wife at some point during that lap of honour, but everything else was pure bliss.
“It really was a moment to savour.”
The plan for Gawn and coach Simon Goodwin to hold the premiership cup aloft to the Melbourne-based Demons fans is still being formulated around Covid-19 rules.
“We’ve been away for five weeks, so I’ve got to debrief myself on what we’re actually allowed to do,” he said.
“I’m presuming we’re allowed to be home and not much else, so I’ll go home, then I’m sure we’ll talk to the club to see when we can show it to the 60, 70 staff who didn’t come.
“That’s pretty important, then obviously some board members and some supporters who’ve been supporters for (many) years would love to see it – but that will be in due course.”
Gawn and several teammates have already visited a Perth tattoo parlour to ink a permanent reminder of their achievement.
Max on a high as first bubs nears arrival
Premiership captain Max Gawn expects the impending birth of his first child will quickly replace Melbourne’s drought-breaking grand final triumph as his “greatest memory”.
Gawn and his bleary-eyed Melbourne teammates, as well as coaches and staff members, landed back in Victoria from Perth on Thursday at a largely empty Melbourne airport.
The Demons’ big friendly giant had the honour of carrying the premiership cup, but Covid-19 health officials, police and media greeted them instead of a massive horde of adoring fans.
“One of the coaches’ kids was here to pick them up and that’s all we got – apart from you unlucky (media) crew who didn’t get the trip over to Perth,” Gawn said.
Melbourne officials remain unsure when they will be able to hold the cup aloft in front of their Victorian fans, but are hopeful it will be before Christmas.
“Perth was super for us … I’m not sure if they were real Melbourne supporters or just Melbourne for the week, but they gave us a lot of support,” Gawn said.
“It was a really good day on Sunday, when we went down to the mall and were able to show the cup off to the supporters who were there, but this is where our team name is and this is the city we’re from.”
Gawn’s wife, Jess, is due to give birth in the coming weeks, with the 208cm big man joking he had suggested naming their child ‘Petracca’ after his Norm Smith Medal-winning teammate.
“It’s pretty exciting. I’ve been telling everyone it’s been two weeks for six weeks,” he said.
“There could be a kid there now, when I get home. I’m hoping not – I’m hoping I just got back in time. I think I’ve still got a couple of weeks.
“The greatest memory of my life so far is about to be trumped in two weeks.”
Originally published as Demons captain Max Gawn opens up on Melbourne’s AFL premiership journey
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