‘Worn me down’: Demons captain on upheaval

1 week ago 23

Melbourne skipper Max Gawn has revealed the intelligence fatigue helium endured during different tumultuous play that intensified erstwhile superstar teammate Christian Petracca astir near the club, saying the ordeal started to “wear maine down”.

The Demons’ off-season was afloat of turbulence, with midfield prima Clayton Oliver besides linked to a determination to Geelong, adjacent gathering with Cats players and officials during the commercialized period.

He stayed put, with Melbourne officials adamant helium volition honour a declaration that stretches to 2030, arsenic volition Petracca, who it was claimed fell retired with elder Demons officials implicit the handling of his season-ending injury.

Petracca adjacent missed the club’s champion and fairest, choosing alternatively to be a Red Bull grooming campy successful Austria, with support from his coaches, and has subsequently made a committedness to being his champion successful 2025.

But successful a revealing podcast interview, conducted connected Brownlow Medal day, earlier the commercialized speculation astir Oliver intensified, Gawn, a champion of the club’s civilization that helped steer them to the 2021 premiership, said the walls were closing in.

He said aggravated absorption connected the club’s culture, heightened by Petracca’s privation to get out, took the heaviest toll that Gawn could remember.

Gawn said helium adjacent felt similar helium didn’t “trust” everything that was going connected astatine the club.

“The latest worldly with Trac, it’s worn maine down and I don’t similar that due to the fact that I consciousness similar I person ever been capable to grip it, but it’s starting to deterioration maine down,” helium told the Empowering Leaders podcast.

“It’s thing I’ve ever been arrogant of that I consciousness similar I person a bully grip of creating the astir palmy epoch and I tin spot it getting chewed, perpetually chipped astatine and chipped astatine and I’m perpetually trying to support it.

“I cognize what’s happening successful the 4 walls, but you are ne'er going to spot that with regular spotfires. It’s been a delicate small time.”

The Melbourne skipper defied the tumult astatine his ain club, which missed the finals, to triumph a seventh All-Australian blazer successful 2024.

Gawn revealed the speech helium had with Oliver aft the 2022 play erstwhile the four-time champion and fairest victor was sent distant from pre-season grooming aboriginal to woody with off-field issues and ended up surviving with his skipper for a month.

With the post-season commercialized talks astir Oliver coming aft the podcast interview, Gawn said helium saw affirmative alteration successful his teammate and friend.

“We had a truly agelong chat 1 nighttime and I said to him it had to happen. He said ‘yep’,” Gawn said.

“It was astir a month, it was off-season, I was going distant connected and off, helium astir came with maine to Fiji.

“It was thing we some felt similar needed to happen, we are truly close. Clayton was a truly bully infinitesimal for maine arsenic a leader, to spot that alteration happen.”

Petracca and Oliver volition some beryllium astatine Melbourne adjacent play and erstwhile skipper Nathan Jones has returned to the nine arsenic midfield manager and peacemaker arsenic the Demons effort to repair relationships with their cardinal midfielders.

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