Melbourne captain Max Gawn defends teammate Steven May amid fallout from MCG clash between duo
Melbourne captain Max Gawn has further moved to defuse any speculation of a relationship breakdown with defender Steven May, declaring his own reaction was 'poor' after a post-siren exchange at the MCG on Monday.
Gawn confirmed the pair were 'still talking' via text and said it was important to 'defend' May after the clash.
After a Gawn miskick in the final seconds sealed a one-point loss to Collingwood, the premiership-winning teammates clashed, with cameras catching the Demons captain looking angry after what appeared to be a serve from May.
In the aftermath, both Gawn and his coach Simon Goodwin declared the incident was just two passionate and competitive teammates, and on Monday morning the seven-time All Australian cleared the air once and for all.
While he couldn't remember what May 'actually said', Gawn said he should have known his teammate's words were coming from a place of 'care'.
'I think it says (a bit about) both of us; we were both extremely disappointed in that last 30 seconds. I thought my reaction was really poor,' Gawn said.
'I had a teammate showing care, his version of care from a long history with Steven May. I know that. I'm really agreeable with how strong his feedback and terminology and body language is on-ground because he gets the best out of his team.
'I can't confidently say what was said. It was definitely around my decision (to centre the ball). I agree with him in hindsight that my decision was poor. It was a killer of a kick.'
Gawn said he reacted badly because he was 'sick of losing to Collingwood' and other close losses and wanted to stick up for May.
'It was all going on in my head. I was extremely disappointed. We had a chance to win the game, and that played out in the goalsquare,' he told Triple M's Mick in the Morning.
'I'm here to defend Steven. He's copped it a little bit in the media over the last 24 hours. If he had his time again, he might not do it on the final siren with a camera there.
'That's both of us throughout the whole game, and unfortunately, that's been caught on camera. I make it a bigger thing by pushing him away, and I'm slightly disappointed in how it's played out.'
Gawn said the duo were 'all good'.
'I've got a lot of respect for him, and he has respect for me. We're currently still talking through it via text,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
21 minutes ago
- News.com.au
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon suggests local media frenzy over Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera in Adelaide could impact his contract decision
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is adamant he's 'not losing any sleep' over the looming decision from off-contract star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera after a personal trip to Adelaide in which he was 'terrorised twice' by local media. The South Australian-born 22-year-old, who is bound for All-Australian selection in 2025, is believed to be at the centre of a bidding war between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, with the Saints also hopeful of hanging on to him. His manager, Ben Williams, denied a report suggesting Wanganeen-Milera wouldn't join the Crows due to a racism incident involving former Adelaide captain Taylor Walker in 2021. Wanganeen-Milera has close links with Port players, including Jason Horne-Francis, and the pair were spotted together at a frozen yoghurt shop in Adelaide where Wanganeen-Milera spent the bye week catching up with 'fam' according to Lyon. While there have been reports that Wanganeen-Milera, who has played 75 games with the Saints since his debut in 2022, has issues living in Melbourne, Lyon said the 'melting pot' in Adelaide, which included TV cameras following the young gun at the airport, showed what life could be like if he moved. 'What's interesting is the environment over there,' Lyon said on Tuesday. 'He's been doorstopped twice and terrorised twice (by media). It talks to the intensity over there, getting doorstopped at the airport during the bye. It's interesting how a non-story becomes a story. Clearly it's good to have competitive tension.' Lyon said the Saints were confident the development and support Wanganeen-Milera had been offered at St Kilda and their plans to be a 'great club' were the best way to ensure he remained on a deal that could reach seven figures annually. 'Build it and they will come. Develop our players, support them, make it a safe environment and then at the end of the day you are either good enough to keep them or you're not,' he said. 'I'm not losing too much sleep over it. 'We want to make St Kilda great. We've got a lot of hard work to do over a long period of time.' Lyon was also unmoved by the catch-up with Horne-Francis, a fellow Indigenous star, adamant St Kilda did a lot of work for its own First Nations players. 'The brother boys, they love getting together,' he said. 'We've got Pauly Vandenbergh (AFL diversity pathways manager) coming into the club today who works closely with our First Nations players. 'That's just one aspect of the game.' The Saints will tackle the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night just 52 days after copping a 71-point smashing in round 6. Midfielder Jack Macrae is set to push for selection against his old team after recovering from a punctured lung.
News.com.au
35 minutes ago
- News.com.au
NRL round 15: Origin 19th and 20th men cleared to play, SuperCoach live Q&A
The second big bye round of the season was always going to be a tough one for SuperCoaches. And I'm sure many heads dropped when NSW coach Laurie Daley announced that SC stud Keaon Koloamatangi had won a place on his extended bench of the game in Perth. But I have the pleasure of being the bearer of good news - NSW's 19th man (Koloamatangi) WILL be available to play for Souths on Sunday. The 20th man (Lindsay Smith) would also be available but his side, Penrith, do not play in round 15. Annoyingly for Bulldogs fans - and his 8,158 SC owners - 18th man Matt Burton is not available for his club. For Queensland, none of the reserves - Mam (18th), Howarth (19th) and Horsburgh (20th man) were scheduled to play club footy this round anyway. Now for some quick Buy/Sell comments and then let's talk trades, captaincy choices or just general life advice via the comments section below: Jacob Kiraz - He might be rocking a 105 BE but that's no reason not to buy Kiraz. Even in a tough matchup Kiraz's position-leading offloading and superb tackle busting pretty much guarantees he'll reach 60 points. And round 15 features a positive matchup against Souths who are conceding the second-most points per game to CTW. If he doesn't hit his BE he'll go close. With the Dogs covering this big bye round and round 18 too it's easy to see why Kiraz is the most popular buy of the week. BUY Scott Drinkwater - As a non-owner I rejoiced in Drinkwater's round 11 shocker against Manly where he was held to just 14 points, and pencilled in this week as the one to pick him up at a reasonable price. Now $744K IS a reasonable price for a guy who is averaging 81.9PPG, but I'd be lying if I didn't write that I thought/hoped the Storm would do a slightly better job of containing the Cowboys fullback, but even with his 105 points last week Drinkwater still dropped $160K in the past three rounds and is a strong buy this week. Covers both major byes - BUY James Tedesco - For $100K more than Drinkwater you could get James Tedesco instead. Similarly to Drinkwater the Roosters skipper covers both major byes and he has some very juicy match-ups on the immediate horizon in the Knights (Round 15) and Wests Tigers (Round 18). It would be remiss of me not to mention that despite languishing in the bottom four both those teams have defended against fullbacks really well in 2025. I'm backing Teddy to buck that trend and average 85+ over the next month. BUY Haumole Olakau'atu - The Manly man mountain has been in beast mode the last two weeks scoring three tries, busting 13 tackles and averaging better than 100PPG over the span. Like many an edge forward, Olakau'atu can have the odd quiet game (he has scored 55 or fewer points five times this season) but the high ceiling (six scores of 80+ and three tonnes) more than offsets that for mine. Add to that a superb short term draw (Titans, Tigers, Souths), bye round coverage of rounds 15 and 18 and you have a strong BUY. Jamayne Isaako - The Dolphins winger went into last week's game as a bit of a buzz buy and he handsomely rewarded those that brought him in with a two try and eight goal thumper of a game. The Dolphins are definitely riding a wave of good form and have scored a combined 100 points in their past two games. This week they play a Cowboys team which is missing a slew of origin muscle and then they play the Knights and Rabbitohs. Plenty more points look up for grabs and at $625K Isaako is a good short-term buy. I don't see him as a keeper till the end but for those with trades to play with - or head-to-head matches to win - then he's a BUY. Isaiya Katoa - As I mentioned above the Dolphins are flying and a large part of that can be put down to the excellent form of young half Isaiya Katoa. While I ultimately prefer the goalkicking upside of the likes of Nathan Cleary, Nicho Hynes and Jamal Fogarty et al, Katoa has proven to be a very reliable HFB with nine scores of 60+ from his 13 starts and a season low of 42. Like Isaako above I'm not sure he's a guy you would ride with till the end but certainly a short to medium term option. TENTATIVE BUY Herbie Farnworth - Continuing on the Dolphins theme, those looking for a replacement for the injured KL Iro could do far worse than pivot to the reliable Englishman. Farnworth has scored a try in each of his past seven games - and grabbed a double last week. Obviously the streak will end at some point, but you'd probably back him to bag a few more four pointers in the next three rounds. BUY. Nathan Lawson - Firstly the good. The injury to Christian Tuipulotu could/should mean that the rugby union convert has decent medium-term job security. Now the bad. Lawson had a shocker against the Dolphins and his limitations under the high ball were brutally exposed. Coach Shane Flanagan loves to pull the trigger after a defeat and often it's a winger who cops the blame (even when those inside them probably deserve to cop it) so despite the aforementioned injury issues at the club Lawson's job security is just okay in my book. With a BE of 0 then if he is named on TLT, then I can see the case for grabbing him as a cheapie who potentially covers rounds 15 and 18. But beware Flanno. RISKY BUY Reuben Garrick - Grabbed an easy looking 82 points against the Knights last week and is a captaincy option this week against a severely depleted Gold Coast team. The axing of Daly Cherry-Evans from the Maroons, the return of Tom Trbojevic and the need to bounce back from a humiliating capitulation against the Knights last week, should have the Sea Eagles primed for this match and I'm expecting 100+ from Garrick. BUY Jacob Preston - Having served his four match suspension Jacob Preston will return this week for the Bulldogs. Preston was rocking a 5RA of 86.8 prior to his suspension and with just 2% ownership he looks like a great POD. It should be noted that Preston scores tries in four of his five previous matches - I don't know that he can maintain that rate. WEAK BUY. Tom Trbojevic - He's back! Again! But I can never trust Tom's body to hold up. PASS. Jaxson Paulo - A popular purchase after scoring 138 points in his past two games but there's definitely a case of caveat emptor here with Paulo only filing in on the wing for the injured Murray Taulagi. Add to that a shocking defensive lapse against the Storm and he's a PASS for me. Savelio Tamale - I was hoping to hold Tamale as a 6th CTW option to play on match-ups but a nasty knee injury looks set to rule him out for an extended period. SELL.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
WTC Final Australia vs South Africa Predictions – Pressure on Marnus & Scary Rabada!
WTC Final Australia vs South Africa Predictions - Pressure on Marnus & Scary Rabada! | Cricket Today Show, Tuesday June 10 - Episode 143 Cricket Today talk on all of the World Test Championship Final's biggest points as Australia vs South Africa with a debate on whether Marnus or Konstas should open and which South African bowler can get the most wickets! The panel full of banter talks up Josh Hazlewood and Aiden Markram for their sides, who can dominate in English conditions to take out the trophy and go through big calls for the Test ahead. Cricket Today panelists Liam 'Stats Guy' McAllion, Marcus Bazzano and Leo Mullaly talk all things Test cricket for the WTC Final! Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 02:05 - Predicted XI's 11:16 - WTC Final Predictions 17:17 - Outro ðŸ'¨ðŸ'» Cricket Today Podcast Expert Panel: Liam McAllion (Stats Guy) Marcus Bazzano Leo Mullaly ðŸ'' Subscribe to stay updated with the latest cricket news and exclusive content. Don't forget to like, share, and comment with your thoughts! Follow Cricket Today Pod's Social Media Channels. Spotify: TikTok: Facebook: X: IG: Our other Channels: AFL Today:
