As it happened AFL 2021 Gawn kicks five as Demons march into first grand final in 21 years with win over Geelong
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Thatâs all we have for tonight everyone. Thanks so much for all the comments and for joining us as Melbourne sealed its place in the AFL grand final for 2021.
Ronny Lerner and myself will be back again tomorrow night to live blog the preliminary final between Port Adelaide and Western Bulldogs with the blog getting underway at around 6.40pm AEST so please join us then.
Bye for now.
Scott: I will take a few questions. Our guys are waiting on the bus. I will be as short with my answers as possible.
Q: You talked about you ran out of steam. Did you pick that going into tonight, or not till the game had started and things were progressing?
I knew we had some issues but again itâs not something that I dwell on. Iâd hate it to appear like an excuse but weâre really aware of some of the difficulties we had, even today, and over the last couple of weeks, that probably the last five or six weeks it feels like weâve been plugging gaps a little bit and as I said before, when you get to this stage of the year, you really need to be hot and need to have everything up and going and we just werenât quite good enough to get ourselves in a position where we could play our best footy and we came up against a team who was the opposite.
Q: A lot has been made about the age profile of the team that you fielded tonight. Does that play into the sort of running out of steam, running out of momentum at all?
I think thatâs always going to be an observation and has been the observation over the years that when you get beaten, you look old, and when you win, itâs because of your experience. I donât think either are necessarily true. We need to dig down and be really clear that the things we need improve on are real rather than just sort of jumping at the superficial analysis. But I can understand why you would say it.
Q: Do you think this group with its age demographic has another tilt and year left at a premiership or do you think you need to look at readjusting to perhaps match with what looked like now the Grand Final teams?
I donât think itâs the right time to talk about it now, because, to be really honest, Iâm not quite at my best and Iâve - if I go into too much detail, I have no doubt that I will misspeak. But we have had a plan over a period of time that wasnât dependent on, you know a good win or a bad loss at the end of the season so weâre always considering ways in which we can tweak our plan, weâll go away with the right people and put some work into that, but, again, itâs not really for me to defend right at the moment, but what I will say is in my time and probably the - I guess the end of 2010, Geelong had a bad loss in a prelim final, it was the end then. So thatâs our challenge.
Q: What does it take to bounce back?
Thatâs an impossible question to answer, effectively right at the moment because it involves so many things and thereâs so much detail. Weâve got to get the next couple of months right and I think while it hurts at the moment, the easy response is to say weâre going to fight and work really hard as quickly as we can, but I think theyâre missing the fact that the last two years have been really hard on people in the game. I think our players deserve a break and what they will get this time is enough time to regroup, get the requisite amount of work in, and give ourselves a chance. That is one thing that Iâm proud of at the Geelong footy club and itâs been going on since before I got here, and that is, we do everything we can to look our players in the eye at start of our year and say weâre going to give you the best chance. Weâve fallen short so weâre bitterly disappointed at that but I would be surprised if our response is going to be that weâre not going to give them every chance next year and the year after and the year after.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin spoke to the media after the game...
Congratulations. Youâre into a grand final. How does it feel?
Yeah look, I think it feels terrific for our footy club. Weâve worked incredibly hard to be involved in these games and significant games. I sit here and I think of all of our supporters back home. I think of all the hard times theyâve been through and we get an opportunity now to do something really special and weâve earnt that right and I think this level of excitement but thereâs a level of still job to do and we will progress that way.
What did you make of Max Gawnâs efforts tonight, especially that third quarter when he kicked those four goals?
I think he typified tonight why heâs the skipper of the footy team. He played his heart out. Wasnât just his impact on the scoreboard. I thought his ruck work was strong. But the thing that stood out for me was the chase down tackle of Gary Rohan in that third quarter. I think that is the way we want to be seen as a footy club, the team that never gives up, continues to play the right way for as long in the game as possible. Max demonstrated that as did all of our leaders. So he was incredible. He impacted the game in a lot of ways and heâs a big character and a big figure in our footy club.
To win by such a margin, like to dominate the way you did, what does that do for everyone heading into a grand final?
I think it reaffirms a lot of belief we have got in the way we play. Clearly we base our game around our contest and our ability to defend. I think there is a potency in the way we attack and we can hit the sktd. So I think tonight we build belief again. We understand we handled the moment well and the moment was about being ourselves and making sure people saw who we were and being true to ourselves and we were that tonight. But you know, weâve still got work to do. There is a really big challenge that is sitting right in front of us and we want to make the most of it.
What is the initial prognosis on Steven May?
Steveâs just got a tight hamstring. Clearly he came back on the ground for a period of time. But we think it might be back related. He could still move. So we will assess that over the next few days but weâre quietly confident that he will be OK. But it is back-related sort of tightness in the hamstring so we will have to assess that and see what it looks like over the next few days.
Mindful you would have managed that really carefully tonight, what was the thinking about bringing him back on, given the initial injury is there a risk you exacerbated that or are you comfortable with that decision?
The game was still in the balance. Heâs an important player to us. He felt like it was OK. They felt like it might have been back related. So at that stage of the game, it was worth taking the risk. He got a little bit tighter as the game went on so we didnât want to take the risk and we obviously subbed him out of the game.
Does the two weeks between now and the grand final help him? Do you give him extra time off, is it difficult to manage and how do you manage him over that two weeks?
Look, it certainly wonât hurt, that is for sure. Gives him a chance to really rest and recover in the next three or four days, as will our whole group. We will do a very similar program to what we had heading into this game and take three or four days away from the game and reset ourselves and build ourselves up come the back end of this week. So that will help Steve, there is no question about that. Heâs a full pro now and he will look after his body and give himself every chance.
From the end of the qualifying final to the grand final, a month would have gone past and you would have played one game of footy. How tough is that to manage compared to the normal workload of your players?
Yeah, Iâm not concerned one bit. That is what trainingâs for. Our players have had great continuity and they have got a great level of fitness amongst them as a playing group. We will train hard over the next eight to 10 days. That is how we do it as a footy club and we will prepare as best we can. So that doesnât - that wonât hinder us at all. We have our whole playing list here, we will be able to get some match simulation here and get as much as training as we can.
Nathan Jones has got twins due fairly shortly, what are the considerations there, will he go back home or stay with the group?
That is a decision that will be left with Nathan. Obviously heâs really close to selection, it is a really tough situation. Heâs so proud of his footy club right now. Heâs given so much. And heâs in a really tough situation. His wife is due with twins and obviously could come at any stage. So we will continue to liaise with Nathan and his wife about what that looks like. But he is close to selection, heâs pushing his case and he certainly wants to be a part of it.
Geelong captain Joel Selwood spoke to Channel Seven after the game...
It certainly wasnât the performance nor the result that you were hoping for tonight.
No, definitely not. If we could rewind six hours, it would be nice. But they were outstanding tonight. They gave it to us to from the word go and we expected it. To our boys, I mean, we just - Iâm so proud of them to be honest. Theyâve been up for so long. And, yeah, we would have all loved to have played better but it wasnât the case.
Where was the breakdown for you tonight? Obviously the Dees were so dominant around stoppage and when they were able to get speed on the footy, they were so hard to stop.
Where did you highlight those areas?
Contests they were really good, outside the contest they were also good. They beat us all over the ground to be honest. Forward, back half, through the middle. I mean, they have got class. They are going to be really hard to beat next week.
As you just said, you are so proud of this group, another prelim final, youâve been up for a
very, very long time. But how do you summarise the season?
Oh, I mean, like I do most, itâs just one that I would rather be a part of a club that just keeps knocking on the door and having a go at it. The final four again this year. Some people look at it as why donât you just drop back and go back to the start, but I would rather be in a club that fights tooth and nail right to the end. That is what Iâve got. A group of guys around me and especially a coaching staff, I mean, weâre obviously all going to cop it but I canât thank the work that theyâve done and the extra staff that weâve had, not only this year, but last year too. Itâs been a huge 18 months that weâve gone through. So just so proud of the club to be honest which might sound funny right now.
Another challenging year. Youâve been on the road, youâve got family, friends, supporters, members back home in Victoria. Iâm sure youâve got a pretty big message to them?
I do. Loved ones obviously. We will get home before we wanted to, but we will look forward to getting home and seeing them. But sponsors, members, they came again and they helped us out big time, especially when they couldnât get to the footy and crazy year that itâs been, but letâs just hope next year is a little bit different and we can all get back to a bit of normal.
The Melbourne Football Club, the gameâs oldest and holders of the longest stretch without a premiership, have never had such a team since that last flag under the great Norm Smith in 1964.
It is a team that has been brilliantly assembled over several years, and which has the kind of prodigious talent that could produce multiple premierships, although those of the red and blue hue will be happy with just one in a fortnight after so many letdowns, false dawns and failures.
Click here to read the full match report.
Max Gawn celebrates with teammates.Credit:Getty Images
Christian Petracca was one of Melbourneâs best as usual, and he spoke to Channel Seven...
Congratulations. I want to starts with Max Gawn. We were just having a laugh about you laughing at Max during that third quarter.
It was a different one. I just couldnât believe it the whole time. He just led from the front the whole way. Heâs such a special player, special teammate. Right from the start in pre-season, he hasnât taken a backwards step and to step up in the third quarter where I think we were up by 30 points at half-time, it is still a very gettable margin in this game so to put them away early and him to be on the front foot just leads us all.
So just for the record, you were laughing at how good he was in that third quarter.
We were all just speechless to be honest. Something Iâve never seen on the field for to be honest. Someone dominating that much in such a short period of time.
It was ridiculous. Congratulations. Can I talk to you about your relationship with Clayton Oliver? You are obviously good mates, you hear out on the field sometimes you are giving each other strong feedback but you seem to know where each other are. Talk us through that.
Weâve been playing footy with each other since 2015. We played under-12 state footy together when we were 12 years old. But heâs a great friend on and off the field. We are constantly building that relationship with each other. I feel like we do balance each other out really well. Heâs such an aggressive person, aggressive player which I love playing with. I felt like our balance at stoppages, not just him, but I thought Jack Viney played an unbelievable game too, and guys like Tom Sparrow, James Harmes, allowing myself and Clayton to play our role.
You knew you were playing the grand final from midway through the third quarter. Mentally do you start drifting to the big dance?
Yeah, Iâm not going to lie, a little bit to the honest. I got taken off early in the fourth. So yeah, I feel like if you want to be in that position, I think, but at the same time, our whole mantra this year has just been staying in the present, staying in the moment and not worrying about the future. Itâs hard to sort of focus on the future but we did a really good job this week in the second half just playing our way, being really honest with the footy defensively and offensively, we came out winners.
So your game tonight, incredible, 32 disposals, a goal, we know Maxâs role, it was incumbent on all of the leaders to be strong tonight. You clearly set yourselves for that task and everything went your way from the very start.
Yeah, I was nervous before the game. I think I fumbled it a fair few times in the first couple of minutes so defensively what I pride myself on in terms of getting myself into the game, just that tackling pressure and from there, I felt like I got more comfortable as the game went on, I thought the heat was on really early and we pride ourselves on contested possession and being around the footy. Just kept telling myself try to get as many contests as I can and I got myself into the game.
You really pride yourself on driving out of the stoppage.
Yeah, I do. Yeah. I feel thatâs a strength of mine and Clayton Oliver is driving contest and tackle and I felt like Geelong is such a great tackling team, so if we contest the tackle, open them up on the outside, we would have space to run into.
What about whatâs ahead now. Two weeks in Perth, it must be a good feeling knowing you donât have to travel. Although we know you would love to be home at the MCG obviously. But to have the full house here, firstly on the crowd, what about having 60,000 here tonight for a prelim?
Oh, itâs special. Melbourne-based team and all our fans are in Melbourne, I want to give a shout out to all the fans outs there who canât come to WA, it is really frustrating, my family, all my mates who are Dees supporters, everyone who has been waiting since 1964, so itâs frustrating but the support we had from Melbourne fans tonight was unbelievable. I didnât really expect it to be honest. I thought it was going to be a neutral crowd but to have the majority of it Melbourne was pretty special. Secondly, weâre out of quarantine which is good. Huge win. So good to get to a beach or cafe which will be awesome. So the last two weeks, the next two weeks will be really important with our preparation. We did a really good job in the semi-final. Getting it right and we had a match seven days before it. So we will probably take the same preparation.
So the red and the blue. We know of all of the hearts in this room that beat true, yours I think is perhaps right up there. You love this jumper. This is a moment youâve dreamt of since you arrived at the club. Just tell us now, youâre in the grand final, what does that mean to you?
Oh, itâs probably hasnât really sunk in yet. We just won the prelim, went through to the granny, but Iâve been here since 2014, and I came at a good time I didnât see those dark days like Nathan Jones has, his demeanour at this footy club has been unbelievable. He can be frustrated but the way heâs shown his personality through the group has been unbelievable. His influence on the younger boys has been awesome around the group. So yeah, for my point of view, I havenât been here in those dark days but from my journey, it has had its ups and downs but mainly up. It has been frustrating. We have been inconsistent. But this all started back from pre-season day one where we sat down and every club puts words to paper and we wanted to sort of have those as actions as well. To sort of show it on the game and to sort of show our consistency throughout the year and to just play finals footy and our DNA stacks up in finals footy, it is awesome.
You might have the Brownlow in the mix next Sunday night as well. Thereâs a bit to think about coming up?
Not at all mate. Purely on the grand final. Clayton has got it. Itâs exciting two weeks. Weâve got to enjoy this journey. Weâve never been here before. We have got to embrace every single day. Weâve all never been here before. So itâs an exciting time, new to us, but like we have all year, weâve embraced every situation thatâs come in this COVID situation, so who knows. But yeah, itâs an exciting time for the footy club.
Oh, well. Looks like May will be playing in the grand final. No need for a medical!
Star Melbourne defender Jake Lever spoke to Channel Seven after the game...
Big congratulations. You are locked in. You are going to contest a premiership in a couple of weeksâ time. It was an incredible performance. How proud are you of the boys?
Thank you very much. I think that once that Brisbane game finished, we really turned our focus to obviously with the week off, it is such an advantage. But the footy club did such a great job considering the circumstances, weâre over here in Perth, locked down for 14 days, I thought the club and the boys, the attitude, not only of the 23 that played today, but the guys that come along with us, we brought our whole squad and our training session last Friday really set the tone for the week. What you saw in the first half especially, I thought that that was really built on the week that we had.
There was a real concern around Steven May obviously with that hamstring in the opening quarter. It was great to see him come back out on the ground. But defensively, to hold Geelong to one goal in a half of footy in that second half, not just your back six, but from a whole team perspective, it was just unbelievable.
It was amazing. I think that thatâs what we have prided ourselves on all year, our defence. Two years before that, I think that we were one of the worst in the comp. You work on it for a couple of years and it seems to come out in the big stages. Losing Steve early but I thought he was done for the day but second quarter, he rolls around and he come back out for us. So once again, with 60, 70 points, it was a great decision to take him off, he wonât be able to play golf this week, so he will be able to get it right and he will be there next Saturday.
Up the ground as well, your midfield did what they do best. They were sensational. But in the forward line as well, 10 individual goalkickers, Max Gawn with five, yes, Kozzy Pickett with three, but it must be so nice to have so many different avenues to goal and having so many people really share that workload.
Absolutely. I think that that is, again, what we pride ourselves on all year. There is not really been a dominant goalkicker in our forward line and I think what you saw tonight, you know, Maxy lined up and said heâs kicked five goals, I cannot believe it. It was fantastic effort from him. But when youâve got Ben Brown attacking the ball like he did tonight, Tom McDonald just competes hard all day, and when you bring the small guys into the game, itâs a pretty dangerous game.
Lastly, we can all see it and we can absolutely all feel it, but the bond of the connection that this group has, just talk to us about that quickly.
Yeah, I think it is something that we felt especially over the pre-season this year, but itâs been two or three years. I think that the way that we just want to play for each other, not really worried about stats, goals, disposals, whatever it is, I think it is really evident on the big stage. It stands up.
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