Max Gawn on setting standards, the pursuit of happiness and being the face of the Melbourne Demons
Max Gawn will make his 250th appearance at the MCG on Sunday as the defining figure of Melbourne’s modern era and, for many, the most influential ruckman of his generation.
It’s a milestone that speaks not only to Gawn’s longevity, but also to his dominance, resilience and reinvention during one of the most unstable periods in the Devils’ history.
Gawn has nothing to do with being one of those old guys who’s expired.
As he approaches this milestone, the Melbourne captain measures his career not by the seasons survived but by the standards maintained; He underlined this philosophy in the first round when he defeated St Kilda ruckman Tom De Koning with a decisive game-changing performance in the final quarter.
That’s why Gawn is drawn to sporting outliers like LeBron James, Novak Djokovic and Lewis Hamilton; not only because of their longevity, but also because they refuse to fade.
“The best thing about these guys is they’re still performing,” Gawn said.
“So I don’t want to just be on the list in terms of longevity.
“If that happens, and I don’t want to name players because that would be rude, but if I play like one of those guys who lasts a little too long, I’d like to be tapped on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, you don’t want to be that guy.’
According to Gawn, this milestone is not a sign of endurance. This is a test of relevance.
This mentality contrasts with that of fellow 250 player and close friend Tom McDonald; His journey to the same number is defined by sheer persistence.
According to Gawn, football “gave me the world”. For McDonald, 250 games were built on something much less flashy: the ability to consistently find a way.
McDonald doesn’t talk about his career as a linear rise. It’s more like a negotiation with the game itself – a sometimes uneasy negotiation.
Even in his 15th year, he couldn’t make it to the opening two runs. His breakthrough came as junior defender Daniel Turner suffered a hand injury.
McDonald has played key full-back, forward (he scored 53 goals in 2018) and reserve move against Gawn, but has only once had a contract lasting more than two years.
“So I’ve always been on two-year deals… and then it was a bad 2020, I wasn’t playing well and I was looking for a trade.”
He remembers meeting with Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley at the end of that season, but a transfer to the Magpies never materialised.
“We couldn’t make the exchange, so I had to find a way to play well again and then I came back in 2021 and we won the flag.”
McDonald speaks in terms of survival. “It’s always been an internal competition for me,” he said.
“Whenever I’m like, ‘Oh, shit, they should pick me,’ it never works out well. But when I say, ‘Okay, there’s going to be an opportunity… be ready,’ that’s when it works.”
Gawn admires McDonald’s resilience and candor.
“He’ll talk openly about how it’s going and his feelings,” Gawn said. “That’s why being on his journey is so fascinating.”
Even though Gawn is a varsity captain and one of the game’s most recognizable names, he’s still searching for what he sees as success.
“I think success is happiness in the end, and I’m not happy,” he said.
This is due to lack rather than dissatisfaction; Even after 250 matches, the feeling that something is left unfinished.
He was the face of the club in good times and bad.
He was the physical and spiritual leader of the 2021 finals series, which broke the premiership drought.
He was the glue that held the playing group together when fights, factions and bickering arose over many seasons.
He was the man at the forefront of the media when world-class players such as Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Steven May left the club.
But he never complained. He chooses not to.
“When I held a press conference at the Auskick launch on the same day as Joel Smith’s launch [drug suspension] “When it’s released, yes, it’s a grueling 10 minutes,” he says.
“Immediately afterwards I went to a dark corner and said to myself: ‘God, that was so hard.’ But there are also 10 magazines there that are interested in what I say. “What a great job this is.”
This perspective extends beyond football.
“Footy gave me the world,” Gawn said. “So when someone asks me… what was taken away from me? There’s actually a very simple answer. It was taken away from me without me doing anything. I lived one of, if not the, life that most young boys want to live. And I loved every minute of it.”
“Yes, I worked on that mentality but… football gave me a unique chance to enter a community that I love so much.
“There are some good things and some bad things there, but the bad things are things I would still rather do than work at a Domino’s Pizza like I did when I was 16.”
Gawn and McDonald did not immediately connect when they arrived in Melbourne; Gawn was a self-described “youngster” and McDonald was more reserved, almost studious. They were operating on completely different wavelengths.
“I thought Tom was a nerd,” Gawn laughed.
“To be fair, I was,” McDonald admitted.
“We both needed to center a little bit,” Gawn said.
The distance between them was increasing due to the environment they were walking in. McDonald still shakes his head at the state of the club in those early years.
“I don’t think people remember how bad the 2011-2013 period was,” he said.
“They forget very quickly how bad the club is financially, how terrible it is, how bad everything is.
“Trying to get people to come to the game and play here in front of 9,000 people was truly evil.”
This context is important. Both careers were shaped by instability; It shaped what Melbourne is today as well as what it was then.
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Sam McClure is an award-winning AFL journalist and broadcaster.Connect with: X or email.
