Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn concedes losing 8kg has an element of risk

MELBOURNE ruckman Max Gawn feels like a new man after shedding 8kg but he concedes his dramatic weight loss could work against him against the bigger bodies.

NEW-look Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn concedes there’s a chance his dramatic weight loss could work against him, but has been encouraged by pre-season games.

Gawn, who shed 8kg from his 208cm frame with a strict summer diet, got the better of North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein and St Kilda’s Tom Hickey in his two JLT games.

But the bearded Demon acknowledged the danger when competing against the biggest bodies of the competition.

JLT SERIES: SUPERCOACH STARS AND FLOPS

RISING DEE: MEET THE MAN WHO WILL REPLACE WATTS

DOCKERS ROLE: LYON CONFIRMS HIRD JOB OFFER

“Obviously someone my size needs a lot of power. You can’t be my size and just get pushed over because you’re strength then becomes a weakness,” Gawn told the Herald Sun.

“I still need to be as strong as possible and sometimes a little bit of extra weight can help that, so that could be one sort of problem.”

Gawn was unveiled as a Sunday Herald Sun columnist at a gala Herald Sun Fox Footy season launch at Prahran’s Flying Duck Hotel on Thursday night.

“If you’d told me so-and-so lost 8kg last year I wouldn’t have blinked an eye and I’m sure no one really cares what I’ve done, but when you actually do it you really notice it,” he said.

“The change in your body, the change in how you play, the change in your running ability.

“I’ve never done anything too hectic with my diet before, so to have a chance to play at this weight is exciting.”

New Sunday Herald Sun columnist Max Gawn outside the Flying Duck Hotel. Picture: Ian Currie

The 26-year-old is determined to regain the form that won him an All-Australian spot in 2016, fuelled by the disappointment of an injury-plagued 2017 and Melbourne’s agonising last-round failure to make finals.

Gawn said he was relishing the prospect of piloting a blossoming Melbourne midfield.

“When you strip it right down, the role of a ruckman is to aid the midfielders in getting a good clearance,” he said.

“So it definitely helps me if you’ve got the likes of (Christian) Petracca, (Clayton) Oliver, Jesse Hogan at times, (Christian) Salem. Those four guys alone were all top 10 picks. Nathan Jones, Jack Viney and Dom Tyson I didn’t even mention.”

“It’s pretty exciting, but you can have all the talent in the world and if you don’t work as a team in there you’ll get absolutely trounced. We’re looking forward to building some chemistry between the seven or eight people that go through there.”

A leaner Max Gawn during pre-season training. Picture: Getty Images

The Demons finals drought dates back to 2006, but Gawn said 11 years in the September wilderness combined by last year’s near-miss was not weighing down the players.

“How much pressure does that put on? To be honest, in-house it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot. I don’t read into it too much,” he said.

“But I don’t like people talking our club down and that could be the supporter side of me. I get a little defensive when people attack the club.

“We want to improve and improving on last year is obviously playing finals. Hopefully last year will be a motivating factor in certain parts of this year.”