Max Gawn suffers fractured larynx in painful pre-season injury blow

Melbourne captain Max Gawn is set to miss most of January after suffering a painful blow in the final week of pre-season training before Christmas.

MELBOURNE, AUGUST 2, 2024: 2024 AFL Football – Round 21 – Western Bulldogs V Melbourne Demons at Marvel Stadium. Max Gawn of the Demons drops his head after the loss. Picture: Mark Stewart

It will be a quiet Christmas break for Max Gawn after the Melbourne captain was dealt a nasty injury blow in the final week of pre-season training.

A “hit to the throat” during a session has left Gawn with a fractured larynx, with the skipper to take at least three weeks to rejoin full training once the Demons’ program resumes on January 9.

Melbourne fitness boss Selwyn Griffith said Gawn remained in “good spirits” despite the injury, which can cause trouble speaking and swallowing.

“Max sustained a fractured larynx following a hit to the throat during training this week,” Griffith said.

“As part of his recovery, Max won’t be able to exercise for the next two weeks, followed by a period of non-contact training for an additional four weeks.

“Despite the setback, Max is recovering well and remains in good spirits.”

Griffith said Demons premiership duo Bayley Fritsch and Christian Salem had returned to full training before the Christmas break after both underwent arthroscopes at the end of the 2024 campaign.

Max Gawn on the track earlier this month. Picture: Alex Ratcliffe/Melbourne FC

Gawn will be sidelined for at least two weeks. Picture: Mark Stewart

“They’ve done a fantastic job over the off-season and both have integrated into full training now, and coping really well with that,” he said.

Star defender Jake Lever, who also had a knee arthroscope before going for shoulder surgery, was getting “some good running loads up”, but yet to return to contact training while he worked on the range of motion in his shoulder.

“(Lever) will still be in a modified environment once we return from Christmas, more so from the shoulder perspective as we build his tolerance to contact training,” Griffith said.

“We expect that Jake will be full training, by the end of January.”

Griffith said small forward Charlie Spargo would be ready to resume full training when the Demons returned in the new year, after an achilles injury restricted him to a single senior game last season.

Recruits Tom Campbell (Melbourne) and Harry Sharp (Brisbane) began the pre-season on modified programs but had both been in full training before the break.

One of the club’s first-round draftees Xavier Lindsay will join full training in the New Year after being managed due to a knee issue.

“He came into our program with a good level of strength but hadn’t done a huge amount of running,” Griffith said.

“We’ve had him in the re-conditioning environment, and he’s just gone from strength to strength.

“He’ll go into the Christmas break on the draftee program, which will be unrestricted, and we’ll look to integrate him into full training shortly after returning from that Christmas break.”