On 04/03/2021 at 10:10, DubDee said:

I know we aren’t a successful club yet but man we have come a long way in 8 years. Gawn would have a certainty to leave as a FA back then. Nice to follow a competent club

gawny is a legend. Spiritual leader, actual leader, best ruck in the comp. hope he can stay fit for 5 years. He deserves the contract. 

Viney 5 years, gawn too. Who else wants to follow? Finally we have real leadership. 

who do you follow?

Don't think it would be a bad thing at all if Max stays around for a few years at Casey while providing coaching to Luke Jackson if it comes to that.  Hopefully Jackson can step it up (and sign up long term) over the next few years, sharing ruck duties with Big Maxy, which should help prolong the laters career as well.

  On 04/03/2021 at 10:10, DubDee said:

I know we aren’t a successful club yet but man we have come a long way in 8 years. Gawn would have a certainty to leave as a FA back then. Nice to follow a competent club

gawny is a legend. Spiritual leader, actual leader, best ruck in the comp. hope he can stay fit for 5 years. He deserves the contract. 

Viney 5 years, gawn too. Who else wants to follow? Finally we have real leadership. 

Jake also a leader!!

  On 04/03/2021 at 10:29, spalding said:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/gawn-in-new-demon-deal-as-players-commit-to-selfless-drive-to-top-20210304-p577x2.html
 

love you Max. 
good that they are identifying the same underperformance relative to “potential” and talent that we all talk about . Hopefully petracca and Oliver really believe in what Max says. 

Love the drive, team first attitude and passion for sucess that Gawn expresses in this article.

Maxy has come along way from eating pizzas and smoking durrys after training.

 

Also love the quote in the MFC article “Free Agency – I don’t even know what it is really, I wouldn’t even know how it works,” Gawn said.

In many ways the down to earth Gawn is culturally the anti $cully and vomiting on Tom was probably the first great thing that Maxy did at the MFC and which hopefully one day we will look on it as the  preeminent turning point moment for the MFC.

Edited March 4, 20214 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

  On 04/03/2021 at 13:29, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Love the drive, team first attitude and passion for sucess that Gawn expresses in this article.

Maxy has come along way from eating pizzas and smoking durrys after training.

 

Also love the quote in the MFC article “Free Agency – I don’t even know what it is really, I wouldn’t even know how it works,” Gawn said.

In many ways the down to earth Gawn is culturally the anti $cully and vomiting on Tom was probably the first great thing that Maxy did at the MFC and which hopefully one day we will look on it as the  preeminent turning point moment for the MFC.

“ Gawn is the anti Scully” love it. 

  On 04/03/2021 at 10:24, DeeSpencer said:

2 years too long. Which club was racing to sign a 30 year old ruck to a 4 year deal? 
 

 

Well, certainly not Collingwood who signed a 26 year old ruckman for 7 years last year.  

Given that Gawn was almost certainly signed for less than the reported million dollar a year deal that Grundy signed for, I think that MFC has rewarded their skipper appropriately and set up part of hopefully a stable midfield group into the future.

  On 04/03/2021 at 10:24, DeeSpencer said:

2 years too long. Which club was racing to sign a 30 year old ruck to a 4 year deal? 
 

Unless we got a significant discount it’s a bad deal.

Yeah I am sure he would have had no interest on the open market..  NOT.

Sandilands, Dean Cox, Stef Martin...  just a few examples of ruckmen who were still playing great footy well into their 30's. And Max is as fit as they come so dont you worry about him.

Perhaps one of the most important things was immediate Instagram comment from Oliver saying ‘four more years of silver service’

  On 04/03/2021 at 22:26, Pickett2Jackson said:

Yeah I am sure he would have had no interest on the open market..  NOT.

Sandilands, Dean Cox, Stef Martin...  just a few examples of ruckmen who were still playing great footy well into their 30's. And Max is as fit as they come so dont you worry about him.

Add Todd Goldstein to that list. 32 and still going strong.

  On 04/03/2021 at 22:21, Bimbo said:

Well, certainly not Collingwood who signed a 26 year old ruckman for 7 years last year.

Grundy had a poor season last year so they are regretting it now.

4 years is a big commitment and vote of confidence in Gawn. And although he is 30 he doesn't have the same miles on the clock as other 30 year olds because he didn't play much early in his career.

There is a trend in sports of players enjoying extended careers. Tom Brady, Zlatan, Ronaldo all playing well into their 30's and early 40's. Perhaps with advances in sports science  we can extend Maxy's career? He certainly looks in top nick at the moment.

He’s not 30 until the last day of 2021; will only be 33 in the final year of his extended contract 

He is a talismanic player and has gone from a knockabout joker into an ultra professional 

as someone else said, he is the antithesis of $cully, who was basically a “professional” from the age of 14, and burned out by 28

By comparison Max only ‘got it’ in his early 20s

Max is like a good red wine. Initially immature, with doubt about its quality and longevity. 

He has developed and matured with each passing year and keeps getting better.  He has become an accomplished and fine player, a good leader and a damn nice bloke devoid of the ego and hubris of others. He has remained loyal and wears the colours proudly. And we are proud of him. By the end of his career he will enter the pantheon of Melbourne greats. 

He has achieved this lofty height by sheer hard work, dedication and commitment. All the greats achieve their status not by luck but by sheer hard work. They work harder than others and have a single minded attitude toward their calling. Sure they have ability but you don’t become great by only having ability. You have to do the work. People like Max and Dusty understand that and embrace it. 

They get their material rewards but it is not what drives them. They simply desire to be the best that they can be and leave no stone unturned.  It takes time, but in the end they get there. 

In the end, they want to be part of finals success and ultimately enjoy premiership success. Let’s hope, Max’s commitment to the Dees is rewarded with the top prize. 

  On 04/03/2021 at 22:26, Pickett2Jackson said:

Yeah I am sure he would have had no interest on the open market..  NOT.

Sandilands, Dean Cox, Stef Martin...  just a few examples of ruckmen who were still playing great footy well into their 30's. And Max is as fit as they come so dont you worry about him.

Cox saw the writing on the wall and finished up at 33. Martin looked done last year. Sandilands was only just going for several years, he didn’t play more than 11 games after 33 and certainly not great ones.

We’ve just spend a super high draft pick on Jackson. Already that’s an over investment in the position but I can understand it’s how the draft fell. 

Max may be healthy now but he’s had more than his fair share of injuries and isn’t the most mobile ruck. Teams will find more guys like Jackson, Marshall, a healthy Grundy and they will be hard to stick with when he’s 32.

  On 04/03/2021 at 22:21, Bimbo said:

Well, certainly not Collingwood who signed a 26 year old ruckman for 7 years last year.  

Given that Gawn was almost certainly signed for less than the reported million dollar a year deal that Grundy signed for, I think that MFC has rewarded their skipper appropriately and set up part of hopefully a stable midfield group into the future.

Ask Pies fans how they are feeling about that contract. A 5 year commitment given this year to a 29 year old is too much. 

The captaincy is a honour in itself. Why do we have to dish out a big deal too? 2-3 years once he got through this season would’ve been fair. To back up 4 years right away is a huge investment unless we are getting a bargain deal. 

Well done club and Max.
A great result, we nail down our Champion ruck and captain in his prime to our club for life, with respect and minimal fuss.

Proud Demons fan today, and now to focus on the season at hand. 
Maxy lifting the cup has such poetic beauty... please.. ??

Well done Max thanks for showing the faith, a true Champion and great Captain for the mighty Dee's, a Dee for Life.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  On 04/03/2021 at 12:36, pinkshark said:

who do you follow?

I meant off field obviously ?

  On 04/03/2021 at 10:24, DeeSpencer said:

2 years too long. Which club was racing to sign a 30 year old ruck to a 4 year deal? 
 

Unless we got a significant discount it’s a bad deal.

no elite 29yo at his peak with no injury concerns is signing only a 2 year extension. So we either offer a longer contract or risk losing the best ruck in the comp and one of the best Demons of the past 20-30 years.  great decision.  He will still be going strong at 32-33

great news. Lets hope Goodwin uses him more offensively, and not at half back all year cutting Levers lunch. I hope the pre-season tiges game is signs of this year where he was a handful up forward. 

Well done to Max for the new deal, great show of loyalty and getting it done early gives us plenty of time to work with Salem and Oliver on contracts. 

I would think the resigning of two of our higher paid players on long term deals also has a fair bit to do with the fact that we don't appear on the below list. If we aren't going down a collective path, there needs to be fairly extensive individual negotiations to get us under the cap for 2021. 

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/02/16/players-at-multiple-clubs-set-to-agree-to-collective-pay-cuts/

Edited March 5, 20214 yr by Canary M Burns

True leadership and loyalty would be Gawn and Lever getting the players to agree to across the board pay cuts as a lot of the good clubs have. 

Instead they’ve gone down the Nathan Jones style of leadership and getting their cash first.

It’s still about the individuals at the MFC.

  On 05/03/2021 at 01:26, DeeSpencer said:

True leadership and loyalty would be Gawn and Lever getting the players to agree to across the board pay cuts as a lot of the good clubs have. 

Instead they’ve gone down the Nathan Jones style of leadership and getting their cash first.

It’s still about the individuals at the MFC.

Tim Lamb:

"“Instead he showed he is fully committed to Melbourne and understands what we are trying to achieve in retaining our talent – this deal reflects that. "

Maybe it's Tim Lamb's 4yrs @$750k vs your 2yrs @$1M

Edited March 5, 20214 yr by Pollyanna

  On 05/03/2021 at 01:26, DeeSpencer said:

True leadership and loyalty would be Gawn and Lever getting the players to agree to across the board pay cuts as a lot of the good clubs have. 

Instead they’ve gone down the Nathan Jones style of leadership and getting their cash first.

It’s still about the individuals at the MFC.

What a rubbish post.

You have no idea what any of their contracts are.

  On 05/03/2021 at 01:43, Lord Nev said:

What a rubbish post.

You have no idea what any of their contracts are.

I don’t. But I do know there’s no collective agreement. 
 

I also know the history of list management and football administration from Pert’s time at Collingwood.

In the last 6 months we’ve handed out long extensions to Ben Brown, Viney, Gawn and Lever. All who might’ve peaked as AFL players and all who have significant injury histories. Are we paying for future performance or past performance with those guys?

  On 05/03/2021 at 01:56, DeeSpencer said:

I don’t. But I do know there’s no collective agreement. 
 

I also know the history of list management and football administration from Pert’s time at Collingwood.

In the last 6 months we’ve handed out long extensions to Ben Brown, Viney, Gawn and Lever. All who might’ve peaked as AFL players and all who have significant injury histories. Are we paying for future performance or past performance with those guys?

Sorry mate, but can't agree. You're 100% guessing on all of this and then having a crack at the character of people based purely on your guesses. That's poor form.

Wouldn't logic tell you that if the deal is longer the dollar amount is likely lower?

Also, Gawn literally talked about the players having a meeting to talk about 'sacrifice' and their mentality as a group.