Max Gawn reveals how ‘devastated’ Dees plan to cover Angus Brayshaw retirement

Melbourne skipper Max Gawn has revealed how he and his great mate Angus Brayshaw celebrated the premiership-winner’s career, and how the club is hoping to cover his spot on and off the field, while also providing an update on midfielder Clayton Oliver.

The iconic photo of Ed Langdon, Max Gawn and Angus Brayshaw after Melbourne’s premiership in Perth in 2021. Picture: Michael Wilson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn says he is “devastated” his great mate Angus Brayshaw will not be part of the club’s premiership campaign as he stopped short of predicting Clayton Oliver would be ready to take on Sydney next week.

Brayshaw had confided early in Gawn about his likely retirement due to concussions and the pair shared tears late last week over a bottle of Grange shiraz to celebrate Brayshaw’s career.

The Demons will attempt to cover Brayshaw’s loss with Tom Sparrow, and are hopeful the eventual return of Clayton Oliver will help the club’s midfield mix.

But for Gawn on Monday there was no sugar-coating how much he will miss Brayshaw both as a canny midfield organiser and as the glue who helped bond the Demons change room.

“Yeah, I’m not going to undersell that. That’s a big loss for us, both on and off the field,” he said.

“On field he is obviously a terrific player that can play almost any position on the ground at any time as well. And off the field he probably is that guy that generates all the spirit in the change room, so it’s certainly a gap to fill. We’ll put that to the players in due course.

“As a diehard Melbourne supporter, I am quite devastated about the fact that we’re not going to be going through with Angus Brayshaw this year and as a friend, I’m also very devastated in terms of what’s happened.

“There is a tiny bit of relief in terms of the concussion battles he’s had, that is now no longer. But he’s just signed a five-year contract and he’s a very very good friend, and it has been cut short.”

The iconic photo of Ed Langdon, Max Gawn and Angus Brayshaw after Melbourne’s premiership in Perth in 2021. Picture: Michael Wilson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Gawn said last week he was inspired by the return of Oliver after two years of off-field difficulties but he will not play against Carlton in Wednesday’s community series game.

His skipper said he was set to play four quarters in the VFL instead as he worked towards putting himself in the frame for the opening round.

The Demons’ VFL affiliate Casey plays Carlton’s VFL side on Wednesday morning so Oliver could still play against Sydney on Wednesday week with a eight-day break.

“Clayton Oliver is so day to day that round zero being (10) days away is still too far away,” Gawn said.

“At the moment he’s training really well. He played a pretty good three quarters against Richmond the other day and we’ll play another four quarters this week against Carlton, I think in the VFL. I’m not sure if I’m breaking any news there But then we’ll sit down as a group with Clayton to talk about how he’s going and how he’s feeling. I want to set Clayton up for an unbelievable season. I want to set Clayton up for the rest of his life.”

Gawn said the Demons players had so much to be proud about after the 2021 flag but admitted a pair of straight-sets exits had stung the group.

“I don’t think the external storyline necessarily makes us want to prove anything that certainly. It is our own storyline of losing four finals in a row as well. We want to prove something

we have put ourselves in great positions, which I love the fact we put ourselves in those positions, top four is incredibly hard to do. And we’ve done it three years in a row.

“But we’ve sort of been embarrassed on the final stage four times at the MCG and twice against sides that aren’t from Melbourne. That’s what we want to prove to our supporters and those in the external world that we have improved over the last little bit. We have looked at those finals. And it’s something we want to get right.”