Power co-captain Tom Jonas fined for crashing into Max Gawn but says it was all part of Port Adelaide’s plan

Port Adelaide co-captain Tom Jonas says he’ll turn his couch upside down if he has to pay a $2000 fine for crashing into Max Gawn and his team’s collective barrage on the All-Australian ruckman on Saturday was a sign of respect.

Tom Jonas celebrates with fans after Port’s win over Melbourne on Saturday. Picture: Michael Dodge (Getty).

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Port Adelaide co-captain Tom Jonas says he’ll turn his couch upside down if he has to pay a $2000 fine for crashing into Max Gawn — and that his team’s collective barrage on the All-Australian ruckman on Saturday was a sign of respect.

The Power physically and verbally targeted Gawn at the MCG as Scott Lycett and Paddy Ryder broke even with him in Port’s surprise 26-point win.

Jonas cannoned into Gawn and sent him to the ground as the ball was coming down on the wing in the second quarter, and the AFL’s match review charged him with rough conduct and offered a $2000 with a guilty plea.

The incident was graded intentional conduct with low impact to the body.

“It (targeting Gawn) was definitely a focus for us, that’s what happens when you’re a dominant ruckman in the competition, you can really tear games apart, and in some respects it’s us showing our respect,” Jonas said on The Advertiser’s new podcast The Lowdown.

Max Gawn battled hard against Scott Lycett (right) and Paddy Ryder on Saturday. Picture: Daniel Pockett (AAP).

“There was a big focus on it and it was awesome to see the first years and younger boys getting right into him because it’s easy for the big fellas and older heads to do it but when you get everyone on board it really makes a statement and I think we executed the plan pretty well and it went a long way towards us getting the result.

“It was long down the line and the ball was coming that way, he did fold like a deck of cards, but it (being cited by the match review) will probably happen, I’m used to it so I’ll lift up the couch cushions and get a couple of dollars out and that should sort it.

“But at the end of the day I was doing what we focused on as a team to help us get the win and that’s what counts.”

Angus Brayshaw of the Demons takes a contested mark under pressure from Port co-captain Tom Jonas. Picture: AAP Image/Daniel Pockett

Gawn played down the treatment on Monday saying he was used to it.

“It doesn’t really bother me, I had it pretty much all 25 games last year, probably a little bit more intensified on the weekend but I’m happy to have zero impact and zero touches if we win, so there’s a whole lot more problems than just my role on the weekend.”

But Gawn’s co-captain Nathan Jones said the Dees would look at ways to return fire next time it happened.

“Can we target the opposition ruckman as the Port players did with Max, and can we protect Gawny more when they come at him? That will be a question we look into today,” Jones said.

Two players at Adelaide were also fined by the match review on Monday — Bryce Gibbs was offered a $1000 fine for making careless contact with an umpire and Matt Crouch the same for pushing Hawthorn’s Jarryd Roughead into the path of an umpire in their loss to the Hawks.

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Originally published as Power co-captain Tom Jonas fined for crashing into Max Gawn but says it was all part of Port Adelaide’s plan