Demons skipper Max Gawn admits he would’ve preferred Simon Goodwin simply said he “got smashed” by North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri instead of disclosing personal matters as an excuse for his performance.
But Gawn emphasised he had no problems with his coach’s intentions in revealing there was a “backstory” to the Dees star’s down showing as Gawn deals with a long-time illness in his family.
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Gawn, 33, defended Goodwin against criticism towards the 2021 premiership coach for lifting the lid on his personal issues, saying it came from a place of “love” and care”.
“I love that my coach loves me, it clearly shows he cares,” Gawn told Triple M radio on Tuesday morning.
“He is 100 per cent right — there are reasons behind performance issues for some players. That wasn’t me on the weekend, I got myself to a really good point to be able play.
“I just got beat, we all just got beat aside from Kade Chandler to be honest.
“I won’t hide behind that, but I understand that my coach was doing. He is a father figure for me, he was showing love and care. I appreciated that.”
But the seven-time All-Australian did note: “I think if we all went back to the start of the press conference we’d potentially just say I got smashed by Xerri. But I also don’t mind how it’s played out.“
Gawn confirmed a member of his family had been dealing with an illness “for about 24 months” that worsened over the last few weeks, but said things had settled.
“I’ve put myself in a really good spot throughout that whole 24 months, played some good footy. Got some great people at the club and great people in my family,” he said.
“I’ve turned up every single day ready to be a captain and player and turned up at home ready to be a husband and dad.
“I’m in a really good spot and so is the family member at this point. It did sort of escalate over the last three or four weeks, but back to a steady state now.”
Gawn (11 disposals, 27 hitouts) was well beaten on the day by Xerri (20 touches, 29 hitouts and 12 clearances and a goal) in a contest seen by some as a changing of the guard for who holds the No. 1 ruck title in the AFL>
It came after Melbourne’s bruising 59-point loss to the Kangaroos as Simon Godwin’s side fell to 0-2 on the season — a season the club has publicly declared it’s ready to put a stormy 12 months of off-field issues behind.
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Melbourne legend Garry Lyon suggested Goodwin’s comments were “unwise” despite, like Gawn, acknowledging he would’ve had the right intentions.
“All that did was invite scrutiny and questions,” Lyon on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
What I would say is Max Gawn has never looked for an excuse. I don’t reckon Simon needed to provide one. He perhaps didn’t he just provided some grey area.
“I think that was a mistake.”
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley suggested it was a “slippery slope” to reference players’ personal lives.
“Firstly, I think Simon Goodwin’s intention and heart was in the right place to support and defend his captain, a leader, a bloke he’s travelled the majority of the journey with,” Buckley told On The Couch.
“The two things I think of: Was Max OK with that being said in the presser? I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have been aware of it … And the second one is if you’re going to start that around a player had something going on off-field and that affected his on-field performance, that speaks to professionalism and that expectations of every player that takes to the field.
“I don’t mean to be callous about it, but part of being a professional is being able to compartmentalise and turn up for that group of people that you’re with in that time.
“We’ve come a long way with the way that we view the players and what we expect of the players and they’re humans going and playing a game for us. But I just think if you’re stepping into that space, I’d say a handful of players from every club, every week have got something that they’re dealing with in a personal sense off-field – and half of your challenge as a professional is to front-up and do that.”
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