Max Gawn sheds more light on ‘really poor' exchange with Steven May after Melbourne's loss to Collingwood

7NEWS

17 hours ago

Melbourne captain Max Gawn has leapt to the defence of teammate Steven May after the pair were involved in a fiery post-siren exchange following their loss to Collingwood on King's Birthday.
The Demons fell short by one point in a thriller on Monday, but much of the fallout has centred around the post-siren confrontation between the two veterans.
Gawn marked the ball deep in his defensive 50 and attempted to bring the ball back through the corridor in a bid to launch one final attack.
No one faulted Gawn for the decision, but his shanked kick landed straight into the arms of Will Hoskin-Elliott, which allowed the Pies to run down the clock.
As the siren went, cameras picked up the spicy confrontation, which showed May appearing to confront Gawn aggressively before the Melbourne captain pushed his teammate away.
A second exchange between the pair was picked up by the goalpost camera, which showed May saying more words to Gawn.
Speaking to 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary in the rooms after the match, Gawn said it was something that happened in the heat of the moment.
'We're just both competitors and we both wanted to win the game,' he said.
'Unfortunately, with 30 seconds to go, I put the ball in Hoskin-Elliott's lap, and I'm pretty sure all 17 of my teammates were pretty angry with that decision.
'I felt like we had a chance to potentially win the game still with 30 seconds to go, as did a few other people, and that sort of iced it.'
Gawn shed more light on the incident on Tuesday morning, but couldn't reveal exactly what was said to him.
'I can't confidently tell you what he actually said. I think it says [a bit about] both of us; we were both extremely disappointed in that last 30 seconds,' Gawn said on Triple M.
'I thought my reaction was really poor. 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 kick the ball through the corridor]. I agree with him in hindsight that my decision was poor. It was a killer of a kick.
'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.'
Coach Simon Goodwin said Gawn and May soon sorted out their differences.
'Two competitors, frustrated - two leaders (who) have an incredibly strong relationship, obviously disappointed with the outcome,' Goodwin said after the match.
'They've moved on pretty quickly - they're in there having a good chat about it.'
Gawn added that they have been exchanging text messages.
'We were always going to be 'all good',' he continued.
'I've got a lot of respect for him, and he has respect for me. We're currently still talking through it via text.'