Melbourne Demons captain Max Gawn opens up on how he looks after mental health as an AFL star
Gawn, 33, is in the twilight years of his glittering AFL career, currently in his 16th season with the Melbourne Demons after debuting as a teenager.
The Demons captain is no stranger to the pressures that come with playing a professional sport and in a season where his side has underperformed, he has been forced to face up to the scrutiny again, alongside his teammates.
Just a fortnight ago, stories about Gawn emerged in the media off the back of his side's one-point loss to the Collingwood Magpies in the annual King's Birthday clash, after he was seen having a fiery exchange with teammate Steven May.
Gawn admitted the scenes were "poor", while his coach Simon Goodwin also conceded the pair "got it wrong".
But teammates clash regularly, on the training paddock, before, after, and during games sometimes.
Speaking on the incident and the press attention it received, Gawn said he tried to move on from it as quickly as he could and "get away" to take his mind off the chaos it invoked.
"You get home and you go, geez, media is going to come for us. We've lost again by a point. Me and my very, very good friend and vice-captain of the football club have had a bit of a fight on the ground. They're going to come for us in that space. What's my tactic here? My tactic was to get away," he told SkyNews.com.au at an event for Your Reformer, a pilates brand which he has recently proudly partnered with.
"First I had to shut it down because I'm a captain of a football club so I can't just go and hide. So I got on the front foot and talked about the relationship me and 'Maysy' have, I also said it's not a great look which I agree with.
"But then you go jump in a sauna - I've got kids which is very easy, they don't know that I'm in the media, they know that me and Maysy had a fight on the ground. So to go and play cards with (my son) George, to get yourself really present inside that. I'm passionate about it and mental health is a big space and I think it's because we're all becoming more aware of ourselves."
It's been a difficult season so far for the Demons, as they face the prospect of a second consecutive season without finals football, just four years after winning the premiership in 2021.
The proud club currently sits 14th on the ladder with five wins and nine losses to their name with nine fixtures remaining.
While it doesn't make for pretty reading, there have still been positives throughout the year, including the emergence of young talent such as Harvey Langford, Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup, and Xavier Lindsay and the electrifying form of Kysaiah Pickett, who has also just signed a long-term contract worth about $12 million.
The Demons' King's Birthday clash was also another special occasion, as it was the 11th Big Freeze, a cause devoted to fighting motor neurone disease and led by Melbourne legend Neale Daniher who was diagnosed in 2013.
Gawn said the occasion is always one he appreciates being a part of, especially for a man he understood as a legend well before he became the face of the ultimate fight.
"When I first walked into Melbourne Football Club, two things were very evident - and Neale wasn't sick here - was the club loved Neale Daniher, he was like the reverend, he was the guy and (that) the club love the King's Birthday game," he said.
"We were a struggling club that got given an annual blockbuster and we loved it. And then Neale got sick and then the MND game came and then this game.
"Neale's an incredible person. I've got to know him extremely well. I've been involved in all 11 Big Freeze games. I missed one maybe in terms of playing, but I was certainly there. They're just getting bigger, better, raising more money. More people are coming. They're becoming great games. It's just a standalone fixture on King's Birthday, which I really love."
Not one to pass up a challenge, the Melbourne captain has nothing but belief in himself and his teammates to put in a late charge to produce something incredible in 2025.
While the Dees cannot afford to lose many more matches, Gawn says the message the team could contribute towards a miraculous story will play a part in their inspiration and motivation for the rest of the season.
"There's multiple things that are going to happen. We may be out of finals contention soon. We're not there yet, so we're still aiming for finals. But when I look back at 21, I then look back in 2018, 19, and 20, and they're all like great years with great memories., and 19 and 20 we missed finals. So it's like. We might just be in one of those... '23, '24 and '25 might be building for '26, if you look back at it like that," he said.
"So that'll be the message when we get further into the year, but right now 25, like if we do something pretty cool from here on in, it's gonna be one of the best stories ever written and that's the message you're gonna send and that is the message I want to be involved in.
"To keep our season alive, we have to beat Gold Coast in Gold Coast and Adelaide in Adelaide over the next two weeks. It's pretty exciting. You're versing two of the top four teams at probably the biggest fortresses of football. Gold Coast is very hard and Adelaide in Adelaide is quite hostile.
"If you win them and then all of a sudden you're back in finals contention... it's going to be a pretty cool story.
"Everyone thought the Hawthorn story was cool last year... we have to do something I think even better than what Hawthorn did to be able to play finals from here on in so yeah I'm not, I'm certainly not a give up person, if they're going to tell me it's mathematically possible, it's mathematically possible."
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