Going, going, Gawn sheds 8kg

MELBOURNE ‘S new-look ruckman Max Gawn concedes there’s a chance his dramatic weight loss could work against him, but he’s been encouraged by pre-season games.

Gawn, who shed 8kg from his 208cm frame with a strict summer diet, got the better of North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein and St Kilda’s Tom Hickey in his two JLT games. But the bearded Demon acknowledged the danger of competing against the biggest bodies of the competition.

“Obviously someone my size needs a lot of power. You can’t be my size and just get pushed over because your strength then becomes a weakness,” Gawn said.

“I still need to be as strong as possible and sometimes a little bit of extra weight can help that, so that could be one sort of problem.

“If you’d told me so-and-so lost 8kg last year I wouldn’t have blinked an eye and I’m sure no one really cares what I’ve done, but when you actually do it you really notice it. The change in your body, the change in how you play, the change in your running ability. I’ve never done anything too hectic with my diet before, so to have a chance to play at this weight is exciting.”

The 26-year-old is determined to regain the form that won him an All-Australian spot in 2016, fuelled by the disappointment of an injuryplagued 2017 and Melbourne’s agonising last-round failure to make finals.

Gawn said he was relishing the prospect of piloting a blossoming Melbourne midfield.