MELBOURNE ruckman Max Gawn has shrugged off the post-siren Cam Guthrie sledge that followed his failure to convert the match-winning goal on Sunday.

Gawn's towering pack grab in the final minute looked set to deliver the Demons a thrilling victory over Geelong, but he misfired to the left from inside 30m.

He initially took exception to Guthrie's verbal taunt, but had no problem with it by the time he fronted reporters on Tuesday.

The Cats midfielder apologised to Gawn in the MCG carpark post-match.

"It was nothing more than what I would have said during the game," Gawn said.

"Obviously, the timing (wasn't great).

"The siren went during the sledge, so it sort of looked bad, but I would've done the same thing to someone who missed the goal as well."

AFL.com.au delved into Gawn's set-shot goalkicking between 15m and 30m in the aftermath of his miss and he has barely a 50 per cent career success rate from that range.

The 2016 All Australian has received plenty of social media advice that he joked had given him "some light reading".

"I was telling myself that this was my moment and I was going to kick it," Gawn said.

"Unfortunately, I didn't. Look, it was a miskick. I've missed it before and I'll miss it again – I'm actually pretty bad from inside 30m."

Gawn admitted to "a sleepless night" after the Geelong loss, but was already looking ahead to Saturday night's clash with Brisbane.

"Geelong's a top team, so to be able to stick with them for all four quarters and almost steal the game at the end is probably a good sign that we'll be able to challenge teams," he said.

"We've got a six-day break to get up for Brisbane, so we get to go away a little bit earlier, which is probably a good thing.

"I need to get over it and get on to Brisbane, so I've tried to do that and this morning I've come in with a pretty clear head."

Meanwhile, Christian Salem suffered only a sore neck – not concussion – from his aerial clash with Joel Selwood and is expected to train on Wednesday and play against the Lions.