‘I had to respond': Gawn's reaction to ugly incident involving teammate and rival Xerri
The Demons snapped a five-game losing streak with a hard fought win, but the contest was marred by the incident that sparked Sparrow's teammates to fly the flag for him.
'I thought it was high,' Gawn later said on Fox Footy of the incident.
'I haven't seen any vision of it since. Xerri, I know as a ruck, he's following up [from a ruck contest] as hard as he can, and he's the best in the comp at doing it, so there's definitely an element of that.
'But once I saw my teammate down, I had to… respond.'
The Demons were spurred on by veteran forward Jake Melksham, who booted five goals – including three in the final quarter. The Roos were within striking distance, trailing by 16 points at three-quarter-time, before Melksham's star turn snuffed out their hopes.
But the clash between Xerri and Sparrow will dominate the post-match discussion. The 25-year-old Demon immediately fell to ground motionless after copping the blow from the North big man, and Melbourne players, including Gawn, seemingly tried to stop the Roo checking on Sparrow.
Sparrow didn't move for some time after the incident at the 25-minute mark of the final term, but he did give a thumbs up to the crowd as he was stretchered off. Xerri is certain to face scrutiny from the AFL's match review officer.
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