{"id":628193,"date":"2026-04-24T16:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628193\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:21:15","slug":"the-rise-of-melbourne-demons-star-kysaiah-pickett-even-has-captain-max-gawn-in-awe-after-their-big-win-over-the-richmond-tigers-on-anzac-day-eve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628193\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of Melbourne Demons star Kysaiah Pickett even has captain Max Gawn in awe after their big win over the Richmond Tigers on Anzac Day eve"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sam<\/p>\n

April 25, 2026 \u2014 12:56am<\/p>\n

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Melbourne captain Max Gawn has seen plenty in his decorated career, but even he is running out of ways to describe Kysaiah Pickett.<\/p>\n

After the Demons\u2019 hard-fought 54-point win over Richmond<\/a>, Gawn could only shake his head when asked about the electric small forward-turned midfielder who is rapidly becoming one of the most damaging players in the competition.<\/p>\n

\"KysaiahKysaiah Pickett has cemented his place among the game\u2019s elite \u2013 just ask his captain, eight-time All-Australian Max Gawn.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the stuff he\u2019s doing at the moment … it\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Gawn told this masthead.<\/p>\n

Pickett\u2019s numbers were eye-popping \u2013 29 disposals, six clearances and four goals \u2013 but it was the way he amassed them that had his captain most impressed. This was not a cameo performance inside forward 50. This was a full-bodied midfield display, built on work rate, accountability and a two-way running capacity that has taken his game to another level.<\/p>\n

He also possibly took mark of the year \u2013 a hanger for the ages \u2013 in the dying stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing I like about \u2018Kozzie\u2019 is players like him around the AFL will get forward from stoppage, then someone else comes and defends their man,\u201d Gawn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got players all around the competition that are like that, high half-forwards coming to centre bounce and [they] spit forward. Bailey Humphrey, \u2018Trac\u2019 [Christian Petracca], \u2018Bont\u2019 [Marcus Bontempelli] is awesome when he does that role.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Kozzie\u2019 doesn\u2019t. It looks like he does, but he doesn\u2019t. He\u2019s actually a hard-working, two-way midfielder, which is the bit I love the most.<\/p>\n

\"PickettPickett takes a mark for the ages.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s in the All-Australian team, I\u2019ll be shattered if he\u2019s in the forward pocket because that\u2019s not his position any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Steven King<\/a> revealed after the game that Pickett spent time in Darwin earlier this week for his daughter\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe afforded \u2018Kozzie\u2019 the luxury of going up to Darwin earlier in the week to see his daughter for her birthday on a five-day break,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way he looked after and managed his body \u2013 then to do that tonight, it is pretty amazing to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a player and performer, the package he has got, it\u2019s inspiring, and it really is a pleasure and a treat for me to coach. What he does on the footy field is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a game that was anything but straightforward, Pickett\u2019s influence proved decisive.<\/p>\n

Richmond\u2019s pressure and contest work turned the match into a scrap for three quarters, forcing Melbourne into a grind that was far removed from the free-flowing style that dismantled Gold Coast a week earlier. The Tigers were combative, organised and more than capable of taking advantage of any lapse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took it to us in the first half. They probably could have been in front, to be fair,\u201d Gawn admitted.<\/p>\n

Up until the final term, the result remained in the balance. But when Melbourne needed composure, they found it through class \u2013 and increasingly, through Pickett.<\/p>\n

His ability to impact at stoppage, surge forward and then work just as hard defensively has become a defining feature of his game. It is also, in Gawn\u2019s eyes, what separates him from others in similar roles across the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s turned himself into a pure mid,\u201d Gawn said.<\/p>\n

\"RichmondRichmond coach Adem Yze with legendary coach and former Tiger Mick Malthouse in the rooms pre-game.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt he even played forward today, and he kicked four goals with 29 touches. That\u2019s unbelievable. And I guarantee he stopped goals the other way as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a transformation that Melbourne always believed was possible, but one that required both physical development and a shift in mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we wanted from him \u2013 that was the ceiling,\u201d Gawn said.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIf you can be a full-blown mid, you can take your game to a whole other level. Kozzie\u2019s done that. He runs incredibly well, runs hard [on] offence, runs hard [on] defence. He\u2019s a pleasure to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickett made high contact with Richmond\u2019s Jacob Hopper at one stage during the clash, but it looked to be low impact as he attempted to evade a sliding player.<\/p>\n

Richmond coach Adem Yze struck a defiant tone despite the loss, making it clear Richmond\u2019s internal standards won\u2019t be diluted by a competitive showing that ultimately fell short.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a winning footy club, we\u2019re not a losing footy club,\u201d Yze said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be happy with [just] a competitive performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

While the Tigers matched Melbourne for large stretches \u2013 particularly across the first three quarters \u2013 Yze was adamant that simply \u201cstaying in the fight\u201d is not enough for a club trying to rebuild its identity. The frustration, he said, was not just the final-quarter fadeout, but the inability to sustain the level required across four quarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re disappointed,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to expect to not play a four-quarter performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I do expect is our players to walk out of here with a bad taste in their mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yze acknowledged the reality of a young list and the challenges that come with it, but refused to lean on that as an excuse for their 0-7 season start. Instead, he framed it as a learning phase that must still be underpinned by high expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys will be disappointed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019ll] take the positives out of the first three quarters \u2026 but there just were things in the last quarter just weren\u2019t good enough and we\u2019ve got to get better at.\u201d<\/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":"April 25, 2026 \u2014 12:56am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-628193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628193","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=628193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}