AFL 2023: The huge Max Gawn challenge facing Reilly O’Brien and the Crows

Max Gawn was utterly dominant against the Lions last week as a solo ruckman, so how does Reilly O’Brien handle the full Gawn experience, and help the Crows get back on track for finals?

Simeon Thomas-Wilson

@Simeon_TW

7 min read

July 21, 2023 - 11:57AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

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For the first time since 2019 Reilly O’Brien will get the full Max Gawn experience.

Last year, Gawn missed Melbourne’s 29-point win at Adelaide Oval, with O’Brien smashing Sam Weideman and Mitch Brown in the ruck contest with 48 hit-outs to a combined 13.

The year prior it was Gawn and Luke Jackson against O’Brien in the Crows thrilling one-point win, and when the sides met again later in the year, Kieran Strachan was getting his opportunity at AFL level.

In 2020, the Dees were rolling with the Gawn and Jackson combo.

So ahead of a date with a solo-rucking Gawn at the MCG on Sunday, O’Brien will have to cast his mind back to Round 11, 2019 at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Max Gawn dominated Oscar McInerney and the Lions last week. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

On that day, while his side went down to the Crows by two points, Gawn showed why he has been one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant, ruckman in recent years.

He finished with 25 disposals, seven marks, 13 contested possessions and 30 hit-outs.

In his 11th game for the Crows, O’Brien had 34 hit-outs himself, but just seven disposals and one mark.

Four years later, the task still looms as a tall one for O’Brien.

Now solo ruck again for the Demons, after they dropped Brodie Grundy for their clash against Brisbane last week, Gawn sent a reminder to the competition about just how good he can be when he is deployed by himself.

“Gawn leads from the front,” Crows senior coach Matthew Nicks said.

“It looks like he is playing a lot more around the footy so that will be our challenge around what he is able to do with his midfield group and how we can match that.”

It will be a challenge for the Crows just to match Gawn.

His game against the Lions in the Demons’ thrilling one-point win was;

– The highest rated performance by any ruckman this season,

– Gawn’s highest rated performance in his past 74 matches, and

– Just the second player to record 25 plus disposals and 15 plus hit-outs to advantage and 10 clearances in a match, the first being him in 2019. ‘

“I think Maxy had a point to prove,” former Crows ruckman Rhett Biglands told this masthead.

While the Demons senior coach Simon Goodwin continued to stress that there was a place for both Gawn and Grundy in his side, the Melbourne captain gets another chance to showcase his dominance as a solo ruck.

The differences in numbers when Gawn is a solo ruck to when he has been sharing the load with Grundy this season is stark.

From Rounds 1 to 17, Gawn averaged 15 disposals, 9.6 contested possessions, 6.1 hit-outs to advantage, 3.5 clearances and 4.2 score involvements per game.

Against Brisbane, Gawn had 29 disposals, 21 contested possessions, 17 hit-outs to advantage, 10 clearances and six score involvements.

Can Reilly O'Brien restrict Gawn on Sunday? Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Brisbane’s Oscar McInerney didn’t do all that badly against Gawn when it came to the ruck contest, only going down 33-39 in hit-outs.

But Gawn did his damage around the ground, with McInerney only taking one mark compared to his five, and seven contested possessions compared to the Demons skipper’s whopping 21.

Biglands said he thought McInerney “did pretty much everything right”.

“You can see what the instruction would be when you are playing Max, you want to push and try and expose him going the other way if you go offensively and Oscar did that and was able to kick a goal by pushing forward deep on him,” he said.

“But the problem with that I reckon against Gawny is that it takes such a big workload to do you have to have such a big engine to do it and after Oscar kicked that goal he was gassed for about five minutes and Max picked up about six possessions.”

But in O’Brien, the Crows have a ruckman whose big strength is his aerobic capacity.

“He matches up pretty well, not only with his strength and height but his engine to be able to run with him,” Biglands said.

So far this season, O’Brien is rated elite for rucks when it comes to intercept marks (1.6 per game) and hit-outs to advantage (11.4).

His score involvements (5 per game) are rated above average, while his clearances (3.3) and disposals (13.5) are rated as average.

“ROB (O’Brien) is playing some really strong footy,” Nicks said.

“He definitely gives us a hand on the ball.

“One of our work-ons at this point, we have been working on it for a long period of time, is that connection between our ruck and mids.

“That is one we still have to be better at, and that is connection and cohesion with our mids.”

O’Brien has been in some pretty good form of his own. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

But how should the Crows use O’Brien against Gawn?

While he has a strong aerobic capacity, Biglands said the Crows should not have O’Brien just run with Gawn.

“I still think they (the Crows) will need him (O’Brien) to try and play a kick behind but then not just allow Max to link up through the midfield because that is where he gets the majority of his disposals,” he said.

“So Reilly O’Brien probably playing a kick behind the play is more of a value to Adelaide than what Gawny is picking up those possessions in the midfield.

“But he (Gawn) is such a good user of the ball and that is the problem, we used to have the same problem with Dean Cox he used to get a stack of the ball through the midfield and he wouldn’t turn it over.

“So if big ROB can get back and they can chop it off after that sort of possession then you aren’t too fused about it, Gawny can have his 30 but if he is using too well and hitting targets across the front half then that is a problem.”

Biglands said O’Brien having Taylor Walker and Riley Thilthorpe around him would help his quest to nullify Gawn.

“What Brisbane didn’t have was a Tex, a big strong forward, doing forward line ruck work,” he said.

“So if Adelaide sit ROB a kick behind when Gawny comes up against Tex in the front half for Adelaide normally Gawny has worked pretty hard to get there so he will be rooted and Tex can score or get a free kick from that.”

Crouch in for injured star as Nicks looks for ‘spark’

Adelaide will make at least three changes to its side for its clash against Melbourne at the MCG as the Crows look to keep their finals chances alive.

With Rory Laird out due to a AC joint injury, like-for-like replacement Matt Crouch and Harry Schoenberg have been flung into the Crows engine room, while Brayden Cook is set to come in on a wing for Matthew Nicks’ side.

Crouch, 28, has only managed one AFL game this year, as the tactical sub against Geelong in Round 8.

The prolific ball-winner, who is out of contract at the end of this season, gets his chance to remind the league of why he was an All-Australian, with the 2017 Malcolm Blight Medallist getting a lifeline.

Rory Laird will miss this weekend’s clash with Melbourne. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos

Matt Crouch gets an AFL lifeline as Laird’s replacement. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Nicks said Crouch had shown strong form in the SANFL.

“Crouchy has been a standout,” he said.

“Guys like (Jackson) Hately, Schoenberg, there are a number of guys I could talk through that have been pushing for an opportunity.

“It’s disappointing Lairdy won’t be there, but the pleasing thing is we’ve got guys ready to come in that deserve an opportunity.

“We’ll try and bring in a little bit of freshness and a spark.”

Hately, Patrick Parnell, Elliott Himmelberg and the untried Luke Nankervis have been named on the extended interchange for the clash on Sunday, along with Ned McHenry who was the tactical sub in the Crows’ loss to GWS.

Josh Rachele starts the first of his two-game ban for striking, Lachie Sholl has been dropped, while first-year player Max Michalanney has been managed.

Despite being rested last week, Jake Soligo returns to footy via the SANFL.

Brayden Cook has been named on a win. Picture: Dean Martin

The Crows will be looking to find a rare away win to keep their finals chances alive after they were dealt a big blow when they went down to the Giants at Adelaide Oval last week.

This was despite going into the final quarter with a lead, which Nicks said his side would learn from.

“The fact we were up and in the position we were in at three-quarter-time, it was always going to be a tough game and we were up for it for the majority of the night, but just didn’t have it when it mattered in the last quarter,” Nicks said.

“We go through that (last quarter), have a really good look at it and learn from it, as we look to respond against a quality side this week.”

Adelaide goes into Sunday’s game with an 8-9 record, hoping to upstage the 11-6 Demons and boost its finals hopes.