Gawn addresses Goodwin criticism amid personal battle

UPDATE

Melbourne captain Max Gawn has defended Simon Goodwin after the Demons coach was heavily criticised for going public with his star ruckman's personal struggles.

After Melbourne's defeat to North, Goodwin indicated that Gawn was dealing with a personal issue which has since been confirmed to be an illness in the family.

SEN's David King described Goodwin's comments as a "balls-up" but Gawn has since defended him.

"I love that my coach loves me," Gawn told Triple M. "I love that he cares.

"He is a father-figure for me, he was showing love and care.

"I am OK. There’s an illness in the family, it’s been there for a while, about 24 months. I’m in a good spot and so is the family member at this point. It did escalate the last three or four weeks but we’re in a steady state now.

"We (Gawn and Goodwin) spoke a lot yesterday, there's no issue with me and 'Goody', I can clearly see what he was trying to do, I don't mind. I spoke to that family member yesterday, they don't mind. It's fine. I don't mind how it's played out.

Gawn didn't deny that his family issue had impacted his performance before adding that he is now "in a good spot".

"He’s 100% right there is reasons behind performance issues for some players," he said. "That wasn’t me at the weekend I got myself to a really good point to be able to play – I just got beat to be honest.

"I won’t hide behind that but I understand what my coach was doing."

EARLIER

David King wonders why Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin created further questions relating to captain Max Gawn on Sunday.

The Demons coach indicated that Gawn is dealing with a personal issue after his side was beaten by North Melbourne on Sunday.

“In life there are other things that are going on,” said Goodwin post-match.

“We’ll support Max, he’s a great person, he’s a great leader and there’s a backstory to everyone’s performance.

“I’m not going to go into the details, but there’s footy and there’s some stuff in life, which you’ve got to understand that people all have backstories.”

King feels that what Goodwin said only opened Gawn up to the rumour mill.

“It’s a balls-up, really. There’s no way Simon Goodwin should have broached this in the post-match,” King said on SEN Breakfast.

“Just (say), ‘Max got beaten today, he’s been pretty good for a decade, we take the mulligan and we move on’.

“There’s no need to put this out in the public sphere, and now all this does is have everyone hunting after a story.”

AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich said it was an “illness in the family” that Gawn is dealing with.

King also had some damning news for Melbourne fans - “the era is over”.

The Demons were crushed to the tune of 59 points by North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, despite producing more inside 50s (56-53).

Kangaroos great King believes the invincibility and the fear factor once held by Goodwin’s Dees has now dissipated, and wonders if the love they rediscovered in the off-season has any substance.

“It was a tale of two cities - the era is over for Melbourne,” King added.

“They’ve lost their invincible appearance. That genuine fear factor is now gone. They look a shell of what we have seen the last few years.

“Let’s see how long the love lasts now. It’s easy to talk about, love, but when things tip and turn like they have and like they are, it’s a long way back.

“They know this. That’s why they’re playing so many youngsters in this line-up at the moment. They’re aware of this, they’re rebuilding on the run.

“I think that this is no surprise to Melbourne, but where does that leave them at the end of this year if this is a so-so season?”

Co-host Kane Cornes questioned the club’s plans to renovate the game style, seemingly moving away from their destructive stoppage and contested game which was ripped away from them by the Roos.

He was alarmed by the fact that they scored just 66 points against a North side that conceded 100 or more on 18 occasions in 2024.

“Where does it leave them after the extensive review that detailed their game plan, the issues with that and how they’re going to have to revamp it,” he said.

“(President) Brad Green has released statements about that, Simon Goodwin has spoken about the fact that it was a too-brutal style of play.

“If you lose your brutality around the football, your damage from stoppage - they were absolutely destroyed - so you lose that and then you’ve always had the inefficiencies going forward.

“How many entries and they kicked 66 points. North Melbourne never keep anyone under 100, and they did that under a roof yesterday with as many entries as Melbourne had.

“That was alarming.”

The Demons will be doing some soul-searching this week after starting the season with two defeats.

They find themselves sitting 15th on the ladder ahead of a crucial clash with the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.