‘It was over’: Max Gawn on the end of an era, and his surprise choice to succeed him

“I guess I just want to get some fresh air,” Gawn told this imprint when asked about the biggest change King has brought to the Demons.

“Many of us Simon [Goodwin] He was carrying a lot of baggage because he didn’t make it to the finals in 2022-23, hit rock bottom, and didn’t do well in ’24.

“The fact is, it’s a completely new start; we have a coach who has nothing to do with it, a CEO who has nothing to do with it, and a president who has nothing to do with it. We have multiple players who have nothing to do with it.”

“It’s like we’re past that era if you’re still stuck in that era.”

On the eve of his seventh season as captain, Gawn said vice-captain Jack Viney, Jake Lever, Tom Sparrow and Trent Rivers were capable of replacing him as captain but appointed Langdon to that role. Langdon was up front for the Dees in last week’s friendly against North Melbourne.

On who he would choose as Melbourne’s next captain, Gawn said: “If I were to opt out today I’d like Jack Viney, if I were to opt out next year I’d like Ed Langdon.” “I think he knows a little bit about it.”

Gawn has no plans to leave office.

“I still love the captain part of this job,” Gawn said. “What I love is interacting with my teammates. That’s what I love about football.”

“I love the practices. Casey is great because no reporters come to Casey, so it’s literally just 45 players and their coaches. I can lead my guys, they force me to act like an 18-year-old in Generation Z, [it’s] very fun.

“That’s the part I love. I love training, chatting and interacting with young men. I love leading, I love the job, I don’t take the job lightly.”

‘I knocked him out’: Toby Greene reveals he punched his father after AFL match

Greater Western Sydney captain Toby Greene has revealed he punched his father in the post-match rooms after he was embarrassed by his drunken behaviour.

Greene made the statement in the first episode of the Amazon Prime Video series The Last Siren: Inside the AFL here she details her troubled relationship with her estranged father, Michael Greene.

Greene’s father was sentenced to nine months in prison, but had his sentence reduced on appeal, for assaulting a female police officer while his son watched the Giants’ heavy defeat to Richmond in the 2019 grand final.

The Giants star’s locker room encounter with his father happened early in his career.

“I knocked him out in the locker rooms because he was drunk and carrying on,” Greene said in the series, which premiered Wednesday night.

“He’s pretty loud and boisterous and extremely drunk. So I got embarrassed and told him to fuck off and punched him. So, yeah, it’s tough.”

“It’s like the reason I love football is because of him and I got into football. I’ll take that with me and then you learn from some of the things he did that you couldn’t do.”

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Greene spoke publicly about her father’s troubles in 2020. Phil Davis PodcastIn the speech, hosted by former GWS captain Phil Davis, he said his father had a “profound influence” on his career but “some of the things other than that left something to be desired”.

He was more sincere in the series.

“Ten, 15 years of alcohol and drug abuse probably took a toll on his body and his brain,” Greene said.

Greene is among the best players of his generation but has an extensive criminal record, racking up $47,850 in fines over his 14-season career. He has also been suspended for 16 matches, with his most recent suspension coming in the Sydney Derby in July last year.

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The series follows a conversation between Greene and his wife, Georgia Stirton, in the days after the derby, in which the player was berated for what he described as his latest “brain fart”.

Stirton outlined the impact of the player’s poor discipline on the pitch on their family, saying it had led to online abuse from trolls.

“People say, ‘I hope family members die,’ or ‘You should kill yourself,'” Stirton said in the documentary. he said.

“Or ‘You know, I saw him cheating on girls’ and ‘Did he beat you?’ I get a DM saying:

“It probably affects me more than Toby.”

Lions feast, new Sun threatens in goal-fest

AAP

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Jed Walter made waves for the Gold Coast but Logan Morris defended the two-time AFL premiers to ensure the Brisbane Lions emerged victorious in the Springfield clash.

The Suns started their final pre-season match at near full strength ahead of next week’s Opening Round matches, but the home side rallied to win 19.12 (126) to 11.11 (101) on Thursday night.

Hulking Suns forward Walter (two goals, five points) had two strong points in the first quarter and perched a major from well outside the arc before his impact faded in the second half.

But the 20-year-old may have undone his good work following reports that he fired a high shot at young Lions Zane Zakostelsky and could miss the Suns’ first game against Geelong next Friday.

Ugle-Hagan, who faced the Western Bulldogs but did not play at all last season because he was dealing with off-field issues, kicked two goals and took a number of effective touches around goal without making one of his many great marking tries.

Lions young gun Morris (four goals) took the spoils, prevailing in his challenge against Mac Andrew, who gave away two 50-metre penalties for chatting from behind.

Suns powerhouse Leo Lombard (severely injured last year when a shoulder attack went wrong) finished with three goals; including a superb effort from the line on the final play of the match.

“We got what we wanted…we went against a tough opponent,” Suns assistant Shaun Grigg said.

“HE [Ugle-Hagan] He hasn’t played football in over 400 days. Get used to our ball movement to adapt to our system… We are excited about what he is doing.”

Lions stars Cam Rayner, Dayne Zorko and Harris Andrews did not participate in the game, while Oscar Allen and Ryan Lester missed the contest due to concussions last week.

In their absence, the fit-again pair of Keidean Coleman and Lincoln McCarthy have impressed to give coach Chris Fagan some welcome headaches ahead of next Saturday’s appointment with the Bulldogs at the Gabba.