Gawn, not forgotten

THERE is never an ideal moment for a footballer to rupture an anterior cruciate ligament but Max Gawn’s timing was worse than most.

Gawn went into the 2009 campaign with TAC Cup team Sandringham Dragons knowing he was a slight chance to be drafted. A combination of height and athletic ability meant plenty of AFL recruiters would be following his progress throughout the year.

But on May 2, in just the fourth game of the season, Gawn went down with a knee injury against the Geelong Falcons.

The initial diagnosis was that he suffered just a minor jarring and would probably be able to return to the field that day. He didn’t return and over the next few days he consulted three other specialists, two of whom said his knee was fine.

But an MRI scan confirmed the worst. Gawn had ruptured his ACL and would require a knee reconstruction that would bring a premature end to his final season of junior football.

The 18-year-old said those few days of swinging between the best and the worst diagnoses was emotionally draining.

“The first two weeks or so I was pretty upset and didn’t know what was going on. I was more upset that I couldn’t play for the rest of the year or play soccer at lunch time. I was still thinking footy as a career wasn’t a huge chance,” Gawn said.

 “I think Mum struggled the worst. For a month there I reckon she was pretty upset. But I got a call from my manager (Anthony McConville from Macs Sports) who had been speaking to Carlton and they said it made no difference.”

Former ruckmen Luke Darcy and Paul Salmon, who both suffered serious knee injuries during their careers, contacted the McKinnon Secondary student to reassure him that all was not lost.

“I had a lunch with Luke Darcy because he’s done two knees. He said it is a lot harder for us big blokes to get into it because we do the ruck work and we always land on it and twist in the ruck,” he said.

“I also had a talk to Paul over the phone. It was all about lifting my hopes and telling me it wasn’t over. They were both pretty good to talk to.”

Gawn might not have played much football in the past 12 months but he still managed to impress AFL clubs because of his imposing size.

In just 18 months, the ruckman has grown eight centimetres and put on 20kg to stand an imposing 208cm and 104kg.

This season he became the tallest player to attend the NAB AFL Draft Camp in its 16-year history.

“I was always the second or third tallest in my class but in year 10 and 11 I absolutely grew and had a couple of centimetres on the closest guys to me.  I just grew, especially this year more than ever.”

A recent meeting with his surgeon has confirmed that Gawn’s knee has made rapid improvement since the reconstruction in June. His prolonged absence hasn’t scared off potential suitors as he spoke to 10 clubs at the draft camp.

Since then, representatives from Melbourne, North Melbourne, Fremantle and West Coast have visited him at his McKinnon home.

And every single club kicked off the interview with the same question.

“The first question everyone is how is the knee, how is it coming along and how did I deal with it, all that kind of jazz,” he said.

“None of them seemed that worried.”

Log on to afl.com.au on D-day, Thursday, November 26, for the most comprehensive coverage of the 2009 NAB AFL Draft. We’ll have live chats, live audio streams, in-depth player profiles, club reaction and our famous afl.com.au Draft Tracker.