Melbourne captain Max Gawn has given rare insight into his goalkicking demons and the fascinating tactic he is trying to use to overcome it.
Gawn was at his absolute best in the 20-point win over Richmond on Thursday night, racking up 25 touches and nine marks, including five contested, in a dominant performance.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Max Gawn’s fascinating new goalkicking tactic.
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Perhaps the one down point on his night was a missed set shot in the last quarter that would have put the cherry on top of his stunning individual game.
It was by no means a straightforward shot, but the miss was a familiar story for Gawn and Demons fans.
Gawn has always been a danger up forward thanks to his aerial prowess, but his kicking has often been his downfall.
He has been prone to the odd miss from close range, which continues to play on his mind as he thinks the crowd is saying bad things when he is lining up.
However, instead of trying to block that out, Gawn has been advised by highly regarded assist coach Mark Williams to believe it.
“He is trying to work on my goalkicking at the moment. I have an issue in front of goal,” Gawn openly told Channel 7 after Thursday night’s win over Richmond.
“His tactic is ... I get a bit nervous, I think the crowd is talking about me. And he said, ‘yeah, the crowd are talking about you, but I want you to tell yourself they’re all calling you a bad goalkicker’.
“So when you walk in, I go ‘crowd’s calling me bad, crowd’s calling me bad,’ and I still missed it so I don’t know what’s going on.”
When asked specifically if he thinks the crowd is talking about him, Gawn replied: “Yes”.
The new tactic came after he missed a simple set shot during last week’s win over Fremantle.
“We tried it this week. I missed one at the top of the goalsquare last week,” he continued.
“You get nervous at the top of the goalsquare. I just felt like everyone was going, ‘Max is bad from here,’ and then I started believing that. Choco (Williams) said, ‘how about you believe your own story’.”
Gawn has a catalogue of close-range misses, highlighted by a final-minute spray that would have delivered Melbourne a win over Geelong way back in 2018.
Of course, he mastered his demons for arguably the most important set shot of his career when he sunk the Cats after the siren in the final round of the 2021 season, which secured top spot en route to the premiership.
Gawn is happy to admit his struggles, but won’t shy away from taking the responsibility.
“I haven’t been a great shot from inside 30m my whole career,” he said.
“I train a lot, but nothing can put you in front of match conditions. You take a mark at the top of the goalsquare, it’s a close game, you have to be made of the right stuff. I think I am, but sometimes I just hook it left.
“I love it. I still try to put myself in those situations. I still try to take marks in the top of the square with five minutes to go. I still love giving myself the opportunity.
“In fairness, I kicked one that won the minor premiership after the siren (in 2021).”
