1. Max Gawn was born on 30 December 1991 and is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.
33 Facts About Max Gawn
1. 2.
Max Gawn made his AFL debut in the 2011 AFL season.
3.
Max Gawn was named as Melbourne's captain at the start of the 2020 AFL season, and in 2021 led the club to its first premiership since 1964.
4.
Max Gawn attended McKinnon Secondary College and played his junior career with the Ormond Football Club.
5.
Max Gawn was initially selected in Victoria Metro's squad for the 2009 AFL Under-18 Championships, but he missed the entire championships due to his knee injury.
6.
Max Gawn was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with their fifth selection and thirty-fourth overall in the 2009 national draft.
7.
Max Gawn played a few matches at the end of the season for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions, in the VFL Development League.
8.
Max Gawn played in the next two matches before being omitted for the round fourteen match.
9.
Max Gawn returned to the senior side for the 76-point loss against Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Round 20, but he was dropped the next week and managed just four matches in his debut season.
10.
Max Gawn had a delayed start to the 2013 season when he suffered a hamstring injury during the pre-season, and he was placed on the long-term injury list in January.
11.
Max Gawn played his first AFL match for the season in Round 4, where he kicked two final-quarter goals to help Melbourne defeat Greater Western Sydney by 41 points at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when they were down by three goals at three-quarter time.
12.
Max Gawn played the next five matches before being omitted for the Round 10 match against Hawthorn.
13.
Max Gawn returned to the senior side for the three-point win against the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Round 14.
14.
Max Gawn played seven of the remaining ten matches for the season and finished with 13 in total.
15.
Max Gawn played his first AFL match for the year in the 17 point win against Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round nine.
16.
Max Gawn played in the final four AFL matches of the season finishing with nine in total.
17.
Max Gawn suffered a knee injury in the final match of the year against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, although he avoided an ACL tear, he still required surgery for the third time on his right knee.
18.
Max Gawn played in the VFL for the Casey Scorpions in the first half of the 2015 VFL season, before playing his first senior match for the 2015 AFL season in the 25-point loss against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the annual Queen's Birthday clash in Round 10.
19.
Max Gawn was highly praised for the match in which the media called it the best match of his career to that point; he earned the maximum three Brownlow votes for the match.
20.
Max Gawn did not miss a match for the remainder of the season, playing thirteen in total, and he was labelled the most improved ruckman in the league for the season by Fox Sports Australia journalist Ben Waterworth.
21.
Max Gawn was rated as an elite tap ruckman by Champion Data, winning 49 percent of contests, and elite for marks and intercept marks by a ruckman.
22.
Max Gawn's rise in the first half of the 2016 season led commentators to question whether he had become the best ruckman in the league and if he would be the All-Australian ruckman.
23.
Max Gawn's rapid rise saw him move from 295th at the start of the season to twelfth at the end of the home and away season in the AFL official player ratings.
24.
Max Gawn played all matches for the season and finished with the most hitouts in the league with 928 and averaged 42.2 per game, he broke the record for the most hit-outs to advantage in a season with 314.
25.
Max Gawn was named in the AFL Media team of the week eight times, and his season was ultimately rewarded with selection in the 2016 All-Australian team as the ruckman.
26.
Max Gawn was recognised as one of the best players in the league by his peers when he finished equal-fourth in the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the AFL Players Association most valuable player alongside Eddie Betts of Adelaide.
27.
Max Gawn's season was recognised internally too as he was retained in Melbourne's leadership group for the 2017 season.
28.
Max Gawn was named in AFL Media's team of the week, and AFL Media's Nathan Schmook stated Gawn would have a dominant season based on his performance in the opening round.
29.
Max Gawn played the first three matches of the year before sustaining a serious hamstring injury during the second quarter of the 29-point loss against Geelong at Etihad Stadium in Round 3; the injury required surgery and he was initially ruled out for 12 weeks.
30.
Max Gawn ultimately missed ten weeks of football and returned directly to the AFL in the three-point win against West Coast at Domain Stadium in Round 14.
31.
Max Gawn played every match following his return from injury to finish with thirteen matches and signed a contract extension in October, tying him to the club until the end of 2021.
32.
Max Gawn played every match in 2018, including three finals, to finish with 25 matches for the season; his season was rewarded with his first club best and fairest winning the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy with 657 votes.
33.
On 25 September 2021 Max Gawn captained Melbourne to its first AFL Premiership in 57 years.