“I’m not going to go into the details, but he’s someone that … there’s footy, and there’s some stuff in life. We’ve just got to understand that people have backstories, and he’s someone that we love dearly and will certainly be part of the response” – Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin on his captain Max Gawn, after the skipper was beaten in the ruck duel by North Melbourne’s Tristan Xerri on Sunday.
Simon Goodwin’s motives can’t be faulted. The senior coach put Max Gawn’s private travails into the public domain in an attempt to provide the champion with a partial alibi for his performance on Sunday.
Max Gawn was not at his best against North Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images
Goodwin wasn’t asked, “what was the issue with the skipper?” The question was simply one of how Gawn was feeling about being eclipsed by Xerri, and whether his pride had been dented.
Gawn has been dealing with family matters. Goodwin knew the background and wanted to provide the football public with some context, without any specifics.
It is difficult to be critical of a senior coach who is being truthful and also showing care for his captain. Was this intervention necessary? No, it wasn’t. The outcome of Goodwin’s burst of empathy was to create a considerable curiosity about the “backstory” behind Gawn’s apparent struggles.
The cliched, dead-bat answer would have been along the lines of, “Max had his colours lowered by a good up-and-coming ruckman in Xerri, he’s a proud man and I’m sure he’ll respond” and to sidestep the backstory altogether.
The problem with raising the idea that Gawn was affected by personal matters is that a million people immediately wanted to know what Max was dealing with; if you raise the personal, folks will crave the gossip, even if it’s innocuous.
Gawn will have his say on Triple M on Tuesday, and it’s unclear whether he will provide further information on his family situation. I would venture that the skipper, as an elite player who seldom makes excuses, will likely give credit to Xerri and downplay the impact of private distractions on his performance.
Wayne Carey was regularly beaten by Glen Jakovich. The greatest midfielders are tagged out of games occasionally. Gawn, 33, has been shaded before and will be again. He did not need an alibi.
But Goodwin had reason to err on the side of showing care for a superstar and club leader.
Back in June, when Christian Petracca suffered those dangerous internal injuries and was sent back on the ground on King’s Birthday, we later learned that Petracca had been in a terrible state and that, to some extent, he did not feel that some people at Melbourne showed him sufficient care. Then-president Kate Roffey acknowledged to SEN that she had not spoken to Petracca in the days that followed that awful affair.
The Demons also had some splinters or rifts within the playing group and club in 2024, to the point that they went up to Bright and had a truth-telling session, in which Petracca and Gawn spoke and there were some powerful statements from players.
Goodwin was not one who had failed Petracca, but it is not too much of a stretch to suggest that the coach’s public show of love for Gawn is not unconnected to the traumatic events of last year.
No contemporary Demon has represented the Melbourne Football Club with more distinction than Gawn, not simply as a footballer, but in putting himself up as a spokesman for the club when it has faced scrutiny over salacious matters like the drug suspension of Joel Smith, Clayton Oliver’s behavioural challenges and even the slings and arrows that the senior coach has faced externally.
If Goodwin had a time machine, would he still let out that his skipper was dealing with private difficulties? He’d want Gawn’s blessing.
On the whole, if the Demons have learnt anything about the past 18 months, it is that it is preferable to care too much for each other than too little, and not to be afraid of coming clean about what’s under the hood.
