Max Gawn's cheeky confession about wife after Demons' back-to-back wins in Adelaide

Max Gawn was understandably in good spirits after his side's second consecutive win in Adelaide, with the Melbourne Demons captain even throwing in a cheeky joke about his wife and kids after Thursday night's victory over the Crows. Gawn (15 disposals, five clearances) led from the front as Melbourne kicked off AFL's Gather Round footy extravaganza in South Australia with a 15-point victory at Adelaide Oval.

The 10.18 (78) to 8.15 (63) triumph was the Demons' fourth straight win, making it back-to-back victories in the South Australian capital after despatching Port Adelaide last week. Not surprisingly, Gawn said afterwards that he's loved playing consecutive games in Adelaide and brushed off criticism about the two South Australian teams getting an unfair advantage due to the extra home game from the Gather Round initiative.

“I’ll put my hand up — I know there was a bit in the media today about two games in Adelaide or the Adelaide teams getting the (extra) home game — I’ll put my hand up to play two games in Adelaide back-to-back every year,” Gawn said after the game. “It really is a great concept, Gather Round. I love the (Adelaide) Oval, I love the city, they live and breathe footy, and I’ve really enjoyed my seven days here.”

The Demons skipper even found room for a joke about his wife and two kids after being asked about how the Adelaide experience was for the whole family. “I thought when it (back-to-back games in South Australia) first came out in the schedule, it was a good chance to get the week away from the family, but then they boarded the plane, and I was a little bit worried then,” Gawn joked.

“No, (the family has) been great, I’m sure they’re watching now. A lot of the (other players') kids are still here, which is surprising at 10pm. My kids, hopefully, would’ve went to sleep about three hours ago, but they’ll come out to the Auskick stuff tomorrow (Friday).

“I think we’re out at Mt Barker... I think it’s a bit of a bus trip, so that’ll be fun tomorrow morning — go out and see some Demon Army and see some kids out there. But it really has been a great trip.”

Kysaiah Pickett in hot water for bump during Melbourne's win

The Demons' 15-point win over Adelaide may have come at a slight cost, with Kysaiah Pickett under scrutiny for a high bump on Jake Soligo. Pickett tucked his arm in and collected his opponent in the head with his elbow after an attempt to smother Soligo's hand pass. The contact didn't cause any major damage to Soligo, but the AFL has cracked down on such incidents this year after Brayden Maynard's collision with Angus Brayshaw in 2023.

Pickett, who kicked two goals and had 11 disposals on Thursday night, was suspended twice for high bumps on opponents last year. "Obviously he was trying to smother a hand-ball and that will be looked at through the week, I'm sure, but we'll just wait and see with that," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.

"He puts enormous pressure on, he tries to intercept the ball - that's his game. He's modified a lot of what he's done previously and I don't see that in his game much at all anymore. Tonight's a little bit different."

Nevertheless, Melbourne's fourth straight win leaves them on top of the ladder ahead of next Thursday's blockbuster showdown against the Brisbane Lions at the MCG. Gawn said his men are already relishing the clash against the Lions after achieving what they set out to in Adelaide.

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“It’s big saying that before the Port Adelaide game that we wanted to get the eight points, because you’ve got to focus on that first game,” Gawn added. “But, once we were able to get through Port, the whole week we’ve just been talking about making sure we get this whole week done.

“We didn’t go over the top with our celebrations for that Port game — we knew that we were here for that reason, and we had a really good week. We had a really strong week. We’re a strong, united bunch. The change rooms were buzzing (after the Crows game), and we’re looking forward to getting back to Melbourne and playing against a little arch-rival in Brisbane at the ‘G on Thursday.”

with AAP