{"id":133625,"date":"2021-09-24T03:36:23","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T03:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=133625"},"modified":"2021-09-24T05:57:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T05:57:26","slug":"clash-demons-skipper-cant-get-his-mind-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=133625","title":{"rendered":"Clash Demons skipper 'can't get his mind off'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne captain Max Gawn<\/a> has opened up on his excitement for the ruck battle against his "close mate" Stefan Martin ahead of tomorrow's AFL grand final<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the match-up has been headlined by the battle of the two teams' all-star midfields which feature four All-Australians, Gawn says his clash with Martin, a former teammate, will be "a battle within a battle".<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Everything you need to know about 2021 AFL grand final<\/a><\/p>\n

The match-up between the two big men pits Martin against his old understudy, with the pair sharing a locker room together during the first two years of Gawn's career.<\/p>\n

Martin was eventually traded to the Brisbane Lions where he became one of the AFL's most potent big men, while Gawn has since blossomed into the league's pre-eminent ruckman.<\/p>\n

"Stef's almost been one of my most-played rucks over the journey," Gawn said of his match-up against Martin.<\/p>\n

\"Stefan<\/p>\n

"We rucked together against each other for two or three years when he was at the Dees.<\/p>\n

"I'd still call him a close mate so I'm really excited for that first centre bounce. I can't get my mind off that first centre bounce just because he's an interesting character and he's a real close friend.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Legend tips Beveridge brilliance to lift Bulldogs to premiership glory<\/a><\/p>\n

"We've been texting this week and he's such a unique ruck. He plays undersized but he's so strong, so it's going to be a battle. Obviously Tim [English] coming in there as well at times and I've got Luke [Jackson], so it'll be a battle within a battle.<\/p>\n

"I'm not sure if everyone's looking at the ruck battle as the centrepiece of that game, but I certainly think it's a genuine battle within a battle."<\/p>\n

Much has been made of how the Bulldogs will counter Gawn, who was pivotal with five goals in Melbourne's preliminary final win over Geelong.<\/p>\n

\"Max<\/p>\n

Some experts have suggested the Bulldogs should attack the Demons star with off-ball hits as Port Adelaide did in a contest back in 2019, but Gawn suggested he is ready for any rough stuff sent his way.<\/p>\n

"You've always got to prepare what other teams throw at you," he said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Inside Melbourne's torturous 25-year journey to premiership glory<\/a><\/p>\n

"But whether they go through Christian [Petracca], Clayton [Oliver], or whether they don't do anything at all, there's all sorts of games that might be played come Saturday.<\/p>\n

"I'm not too fussed. If I have no influence on the game and we win, I'm still a pretty happy man."<\/p>\n

Asked how he'd prepared for the biggest match of his 158-game career, Gawn admitted that he had sought advice from ex-players, including former teammate Jordan Lewis.<\/p>\n

\"Jordan<\/p>\n

"It's been a unique four weeks with only that one game in there, so there's lots of down time to talk to people," he said.<\/p>\n

"Jordan Lewis is someone that I've reached out to who's played in four flags himself and I've got a couple of other friends that have played in grand finals.<\/p>\n

"You reach out to as much as finals experience as you can, but in the end I'm going to do it my way.<\/p>\n

"I'm not going to do it the way these people have told me to do it, I'm going to do this week the way I want to do this week.<\/p>\n

"I'm going to let my teammates do the week that they want to do this week and hopefully that recipe, along with what [Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin] has told us, is what's going to get us to hold the cup up on Saturday."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne captain Max Gawn has opened up on his excitement for the ruck battle against his "close mate" Stefan Martin ahead of tomorrow's AFL grand […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133627,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133625\/revisions\/133627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}