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

“I think a breath of fresh air,” Gawn told this masthead when asked about the biggest change King had brought to the Demons.

“A lot of us, Simon [Goodwin] himself, were carrying a lot of baggage after not nailing our finals campaign in 2022-23 and bottoming out and not going well in ’24.

“The fact that’s been given a whole new fresh start – we’ve got a coach who wasn’t involved in that, a CEO who wasn’t involved in that, and a president who wasn’t involved in that. We’ve got multiple players who weren’t involved in that.

“It’s almost like if you were still stuck in that era, we’ve moved past that.”

On the eve of his seventh season as skipper, Gawn said vice captain Jack Viney, Jake Lever, Tom Sparrow and Trent Rivers all were capable of succeeding him as skipper but anointed Langdon for the role. Langdon led the Dees in their practice match last week against North Melbourne.

“If I gave it up today, Jack Viney, if I gave it up next year, I like Ed Langdon,” Gawn said of who he’d opt for as Melbourne’s next skipper. “I reckon he’s got a bit about him.”

Not that Gawn has any plans of vacating the post.

“I still love the captain part of it,” Gawn said. “The thing I love is interacting with my teammates. That’s the bit I love about football.

“I love training. Casey’s great because no journos come to Casey so it’s literally just 45 players and their coaches. I get to lead my men, they get me to act like an 18-year-old with the Gen Zs, [it’s] so much fun.

“That’s the bit I love. I love training, having conversations, and I love interacting with young men. I do 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 rooms after a game, embarrassed by his drunken behaviour.

Greene made the revelation in the first episode of the Amazon Prime Video series Final Siren: Inside the AFL where he details his troubled relationship with his estranged father Michael Greene.

Greene’s father was jailed for nine months, reduced on appeal, for assaulting a female police officer while watching his son’s Giants in their heavy loss to Richmond in the 2019 grand final.

The Giants star’s dressing room confrontation with his father came earlier in his career.

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

“He’s pretty loud and boisterous and he’s extremely drunk. And I was just embarrassed and just told him to f— off and punched him. So, yeah, it’s hard.

“Like the reason I love footy is because of him and got into it. That’s what I’ll take with me, and then you learn your lessons from some things that he’s done that you can’t do.”

Greene spoke publicly in 2020 about his father’s troubles in The Phil Davis Podcast, hosted by former GWS captain Phil Davis, saying his father had a “profound impact” on his career but “some of the stuff outside of that left a bit to be desired”.

He was more candid in the series.

“Ten, 15 years drinking alcohol and drugs probably taken a fair toll on his body and brain,” Greene said.

Greene is among the best players of his generation but has an extensive tribunal rap sheet, racking up $47,850 in fines in his 14-season career. He has also been rubbed out for 16 games, his most recent suspension coming in last year’s Sydney Derby in July.

The series shows a conversation between Greene and his wife Georgia Stirton in the days after the derby, where the player is berated for what he describes as his latest “brain fart”.

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

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

“Or I have a DM saying, ‘You know, I saw him cheating with girls’ and, ‘Has he bashed you up?’

“It probably affects me more than Toby.”

Lions forward feasts, new Sun threatens in goal-fest

AAP

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Jed Walter teased for Gold Coast but Logan Morris delivered as two-time defending AFL premiers the Brisbane Lions prevailed in a Springfield shootout.

A near full-strength Suns started hot in their final pre-season clash before next week’s Opening Round matches, but the hosts rallied on Thursday night to win 19.12 (126) to 11.11 (101).

Hulking Suns forward Walter (two goals, five marks) took two strong first-quarter marks and roosted one major from well outside the arc before his influence waned in the second half.

The 20-year-old may have undone his good work though, on report for a high shot on young Lion Zane Zakostelsky that could see him miss the Suns’ opener against Geelong next Friday.

Ugle-Hagan, who came across from the Western Bulldogs but didn’t play at all last season as he dealt with off-field issues, kicked two goals and had a string of impactful touches around goal without sticking one of many big marking attempts.

Lions young gun Morris (four goals) took the spoils though, dominating in his battle with Mac Andrew, who gave away two 50-metre penalties for back chat.

Suns dynamo Leo Lombard – badly injured in the corresponding game last year after a shoulder-charge gone wrong – finished with three goals, including a brilliant effort from the boundary with the last play of the game.

“We got through what we wanted … minuted into guys against a hardened opposition,” Suns assistant Shaun Grigg said.

“He [Ugle-Hagan] hasn’t played footy for over 400 days. To fit into our system, get used to our ball movement … we’re thrilled with the work he’s done.”

Lions stars Cam Rayner, Dayne Zorko and Harris Andrews all sat out the clash while Oscar Allen and Ryan Lester missed the contest with concussions sustained last week.

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