{"id":570625,"date":"2026-03-28T20:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T20:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570625\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T20:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T20:05:17","slug":"max-gawn-on-setting-standards-the-pursuit-of-happiness-and-being-the-face-of-the-melbourne-demons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570625\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Gawn on setting standards, the pursuit of happiness and being the face of the Melbourne Demons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sam<\/p>\n

March 29, 2026 \u2014 5:30am<\/p>\n

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Max Gawn will walk into the MCG for his 250th game on Sunday as the defining figure in Melbourne\u2019s modern era \u2013 and, for many, the most influential ruckman of his generation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a milestone that speaks not just to Gawn\u2019s longevity, but to his dominance, durability and reinvention across one of the most volatile periods in the Demons\u2019 history.<\/p>\n

\"MaxMax Gawn, who plays his 250th game on Sunday, is the defining player of Melbourne\u2019s modern era.Justin McManus<\/p>\n

Gawn has no interest in becoming one of those veterans who linger beyond their used-by date.<\/p>\n

As he approaches the milestone, the Melbourne captain is not measuring his career in seasons survived, but in standards maintained \u2013 a philosophy he underlined in round one when he overpowered St Kilda ruckman Tom De Koning in a decisive final-quarter performance<\/a> that swung the game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why Gawn finds himself drawn to sporting outliers such as LeBron James, Novak Djokovic and Lewis Hamilton \u2013 not simply for their longevity, but for their refusal to fade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about those guys is they\u2019re still performing,\u201d Gawn said.<\/p>\n

\"MaxMax Gawn and wife Jess with children Louis and George. Tom McDonald and wife Ruby with children Hildie, Leo and Bella. Both players reach 250 games on Sunday. AFL Photos<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t want to be just on the list for longevity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m ever, and I don\u2019t want to name players because that would be rude, but if I\u2019m ever playing like one of those guys who just held on for a bit too long, I would like to be tapped on the shoulder and told, \u2018hey, you don\u2019t want to be that guy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For Gawn, the milestone is not a marker of endurance. It is a test of relevance.<\/p>\n

That mindset contrasts with that of his fellow 250-gamer and close mate Tom McDonald, whose journey to the same number has been defined by sheer persistence.<\/p>\n

\"GawnGawn has been the front man for his club in good times and bad.Justin McManus<\/p>\n

For Gawn, footy has \u201cgiven me the world\u201d. For McDonald, 250 games have been constructed on something far less glamorous: an ability to continually find a way.<\/p>\n

McDonald does not speak of his career as a linear rise. It sounds more like a negotiation \u2013 at times an uneasy one \u2013 with the game itself.<\/p>\n

Even in his 15th year, he wasn\u2019t selected for the opening two rounds. His milestone comes about because of a hand injury to young defender Daniel Turner.<\/p>\n

McDonald has played key back, key forward (he kicked 53 goals in 2018) and back-up ruck to Gawn, but he\u2019s only once had a contract lasting more than two years.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom McDonald celebrates the 2021 premiership with teammates. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019ve always been like on the two-year deals \u2026 and then it was a bad 2020, wasn\u2019t playing well, and it was, well, look for a trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembers sitting down with then Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley at the end of that season, but a move to the Magpies never eventuated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t get a trade done, so I had to find a way to play well again, and then I came back in 2021 and we won the flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald speaks in terms of survival. \u201cIt\u2019s always been an internal competition for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I\u2019ve had the attitude of, \u2018Oh, f— them, like, they should be picking me\u2019, it never goes well. But when I go, \u2018All right, there is going to be an opportunity \u2026 be ready\u2019, that\u2019s when it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gawn admires McDonald\u2019s resilience, and his candour. <\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll openly talk about how he\u2019s going, his feelings,\u201d Gawn said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why it\u2019s so captivating to be on his journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gawn, even as a premiership captain and one of the most recognisable figures in the game, is still searching for what he regards as success. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think success in the end is happiness, and I\u2019m not happy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It is not dissatisfaction so much as incompleteness \u2013 the sense that, even at 250 games, there is something unfinished.<\/p>\n

He has been the face of the club in good times and in bad.<\/p>\n

He was the physical and spiritual leader of the 2021 finals series that broke the premiership drought.<\/p>\n

\"GawnGawn with Steven May (left), who retired on the eve of the season for personal reasons. Getty Images<\/p>\n

He was the glue holding the playing group together when fights, factions and friction broke out across multiple seasons.<\/a><\/p>\n

He was the one fronting the media when premiership players, including Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca and Steven May, left the club.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s never complained. He chooses not to.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Bloodied:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I have a press conference at an Auskick launch the same day as Joel Smith\u2019s [drug suspension] gets released, yeah, it\u2019s a tough 10 minutes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cStraight after, I went into a dark corner and said to myself; \u2018Geez, that was f—ing hard.\u2019 But at the same time, there are 10 journos standing there all interested in what I\u2019m saying. What a great job that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

That perspective extends beyond football.<\/p>\n

\u201cFooty\u2019s given me the world,\u201d Gawn said. \u201cSo when someone asked me \u2026 what\u2019s it taken away? Well, there\u2019s a really simple answer. It\u2019s taken away f—ing nothing. I\u2019ve lived one of, if not the, life that the majority of young boys want to live. And I\u2019ve loved every minute of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2019ve worked on that mindset, but \u2026 football has given me a unique chance to get into a community that I deeply love.<\/p>\n

\"McDonaldMcDonald and Gawn did not immediately connect when they started at Melbourne.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some good things in there and some bad things in there, but the bad things are things I\u2019d still rather be doing than working at a Domino\u2019s Pizza like I was when I was 16.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gawn and McDonald did not immediately connect when they arrived at Melbourne \u2013 Gawn a self-described \u201clad\u201d and McDonald more reserved, almost studious. They were operating on entirely different wavelengths.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Tom was a nerd,\u201d Gawn laughed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fairness, I was,\u201d McDonald admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both needed to come into the centre a little bit,\u201d Gawn said.<\/p>\n

Any distance between them was compounded by the environment they walked into. McDonald still shakes his head at the state of the club in those early years.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Trade<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people remember how bad it was in that 2011-2013 period,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey forget really quickly how bad financially the club was, how much of a shitshow, just everything was.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to get people to come to the game and play here in front of 9000; it was diabolical, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

That context matters. Both careers were forged in instability \u2013 shaped as much by what Melbourne was then as what it has become.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"SamSam McClure<\/a> is an award-winning AFL journalist and broadcaster.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 29, 2026 \u2014 5:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-570625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}