MAX GAWN will become just the 10th Demon ever to play 250 games for the Melbourne Football Club when he faces Carlton on Sunday, alongside veteran key defender Tom McDonald, who also reaches that milestone at the MCG.
But how much longer can the consummate professional, who turned 34 in December but earned a seventh All-Australian blazer in the past eight years – and eighth selection in 10 years in 2025 – play for?
Melbourne was founded in 1859 and is the oldest football club in the country, but of the 110 players in VFL/AFL history to reach 300 games, only two have done it in the red and blue: David Neitz (306) and Nathan Jones (302).
"If you add VFL senior games, I'm not far from that; I've played 300 senior games. Look, it's just a long, long way away. I realised how long ago 200 was and then the fact that I'm still here now you go, 'OK, that's 250'. Longevity is something we aspire to do. We love being able to perform at an old age," Gawn said on Thursday at the MCG.
"But as soon as I feel like I'm not performing … I don't have any want to be out here and struggling around the 'G and limping around the ground.
"I'm really excited for what's next in my life and spending some more time with the family, travelling and whatnot, so I'm excited for that. But I'm also excited for the Stephen King era, you know, like, how could you not be? So I find the right balance if that's 300, I never thought I'd get 300. To be fair, I never thought I'd get 100. That's the case. But yeah, it's more of a day by day."
Melbourne made wholesale changes across the club last year from top to bottom. Gawn was one of the only key pillars that remained. The arrival of Steven King has arrived at a good time for the skipper.
"My captain era is all Simon Goodwin. If you go through the All-Australian blazers that's all Simon Goodwin. So I've been sort of at the top of my own game and the leader of the club under the one coach," Gawn said.
"It's been fun. It's been like a new lease on life. It's regenerated me. What's the word I'm looking for?" Gawn asks McDonald at their joint press conference.
"Reinvigorated? Rejuvenated.
"I think if you've watched us play over the practice games, and then watch us play against St Kilda and even to a point, watch us play after the first quarter over in Perth, you can see a club that's got a breath of fresh air about it. A lot of young players, a lot of new players. It's something I want to be a part of."
Gawn's story has been well chronicled across the past decade. From the infamous smoking on the way to training moment to the knee reconstructions to playing just four games in his first three years and not cementing a spot until 2015.
The moment Gawn announced himself was midway through that year when he led Melbourne to a rare win at Kardinia Park and collected three Brownlow Medal votes. But a fortnight earlier, Goodwin fuelled his belief by picking him to go one-out in the ruck.
"My first I'd say 30 games I never really rucked alone. I was always with Mark Jamar or Jake Spencer, as a double ruck. Then through circumstances, a couple of injuries, then I played a really, really good game in the VFL," he said.
"They gave me a look in in 2015, which was two games before that Geelong game against St Kilda by myself. That was my last VFL game, so since that's 2015 round eight I think. It was more confidence from the club to back me in. I was sitting there just wanting someone to back me and I feel looking back, I just wanted someone to back me in.
"I had to grow up and do it myself as well. But I finally got it. 'Goody' came up to me, , even though it was 'Roosy' coaching, but Goody said 'We're backing you in this week to be the number one ruck and we think you can do it.
"That's what I needed in hindsight. And that's good reflective tool for me now, when I interact with young players that are coming in for their first game or battling away in the VFL. I've been there. And what they want is just a sense of security, a sense of belonging; they want to be able to belong; they want to know that they can play a role within the team. That's what I wanted."
Gawn is one of only six players to earn All-Australian selection eight times. In 2026, the veteran ruckman could overtake Lance Franklin, Patrick Dangerfield, Gary Ablett jnr, Robert Harvey and Mark Ricciuto and stand alone with nine. 300 games next?