FIRST STEPS

[Demonland 73,140]

FIRST STEPS by Whispering Jack

By sheer co-incidence, the Herald Sun featured a story about Chris Dawes on precisely the same day that young Demon draftee Max Gawn played his first game after recovering from the torn anterior cruciate ligament injury which sidelined him for well over a year. When Gawn took his place in the Scorpions' reserves against Port Melbourne at Casey Fields on Saturday, he was following almost exactly in the Collingwood forward's footsteps.

Dawes was drafted from Sandringham Dragons to the Magpies with pick 28 in the 2006 national draft after a knee reconstruction. Collingwood knew at the time that he would have to sit out the following season. He made his AFL debut in 2008 with six games and managed only four last year. The strongly built Magpie forward is finally becoming a regular in the AFL and doubled his pre 2010 games tally in his team's big win against St. Kilda.

Meanwhile, Gawn, who was drafted from the Sandringham Dragons with pick 34 while recovering from a reconstruction last year, achieved his own modest milestone. This was his first VFL game: one played on an outer suburban ground that itself has been under a bit of a cloud after taking a battering from this year's heavier than usual Cranbourne rainfalls. Both the footballer and the football ground were making their comebacks when the Scorpion reserves ran out onto the Casey Fields main oval that sported half a dozen sandy patches that until recently were muddy glue pots which threatened the club's capacity to play home matches for the remainder of the season.

Gawn's own return game has taken some time to come around. He hasn't graced a football field in action since May 2, 2009 when he went down with the knee injury against the Geelong Falcons. A setback or two along the way has mandated a conservative approach with Melbourne's young big man who was measured at 206.8cm at last year's national draft camp. They say he's now around 208cm which puts him behind only Fremantle's Aaron Sandiland on the list of AFL talls. Further, he's not a stringbean like many young rookie ruckmen as his weight is already heading northward of 100kg!

I don't take much notice of You Tube highlights reels and it wasn't until well after he was drafted that I saw the Max Gawn version. Let me say that I was suitably impressed not just with this young man's size but with his skill, athleticism and the agility he displayed. Take away the knee injury and this kid, who had been included in the Vic Metro Under-18 squad after dominating both in the ruck and as a forward with the Dragons, could possibly have been snapped up in the top 10.

Gawn was finally ready to go after enduring a frustrating eight months after draft day but it would have been an absolute miracle had he come out and starred in the half game he had been allocated for his comeback. There were no great expectations and he didn't get much of the footy (1 kick and 3 handballs), sharing the ruck duties with former Gippsland Falcon Chris Wylie in ten minute rotations. However, he did show good rucking skills and gave his teammates first use of the football at the stoppages, particularly at the centre bounces. This enabled the Scorpions to surprise Port Melbourne with a strong opening quarter and, when his stint ended on schedule at half time, they still led their finals bound visitors by a point

There's no doubt that we are going to see a lot more of the Melbourne big man as he learns his trade (and he still has a lot to learn). The game was the first step on what is likely to be a long journey for both player and club.

It's a journey that will be shared with one of yesterday's teammates in on baller Sam Blease who also suffered a debilitating long term injury breaking a leg while having a kick in the schoolyard last year. He was drafted at 17 and, like fellow 2008 draftee Jack Watts, was in the early stages of mixing the final year of his schooling with preparing to become a footballer at the elite level. Blease came back with the Casey reserves earlier in the season but had to take an extra rest after feeling pain in his leg. He is now in his third game on return and getting more game time every week. He was patchy early but gradually worked his way into the game after starting on a wing. When the coach threw Blease into the middle in the final quarter, he showed some good flashes of speed and disposal skills and was instrumental in his team's late comeback that saw it come to within eight points at the end after the Borough threatened to run away to a big victory. He finished with 14 kicks for the day.

Gawn and Blease weren't the only players on show on this day who are in recovery mode. Fellow draftees 201cm Jack Fitzpatrick and utility Luke Tapscott played in Casey's senior team on the recovery trail from their respective injuries. Fitzpatrick has been fighting an ongoing battle with chronic fatigue syndrome but suffered a shoulder injury after a best on ground performance with the reserves earlier in the year and is showing promise in a rucking role. He was part of a very inexperienced ruck combination that struggled against Port's seasoned ex-AFL ruck duo Fanning and McLaren. Tapscott, who underwent a hip operation in the off season and is a month into his comeback, showed some of the class and toughness that had good judges describing him as a "young Paul Chapman". He's a prodigious kick and booted a nice goal to get his team back on an even keel after a slow start.

The youngsters on show at Casey represent their club's own quest for recognition and success after years of stuggle. Over at Collingwood, Chris Dawes played a small role in his team's win that pushed them to the top of the table but, at Melbourne, the battle has only just begun.

▶ Whispering Jack is Max Gawn's 2010 MFC sponsor.