Melbourne captain Max Gawn believes coach Simon Goodwin’s job as coach of the Demons is safe, as he accepted some of the responsibility for the side’s massive collapse against St Kilda.
The Saints pulled off the greatest three-quarter-time comeback in VFL/AFL history, storming home from 46 points down to stun Melbourne in a crazy finish at Marvel Stadium.
The Saints slotted nine unanswered goals in the final term to win 15.6 (96) to 13.12 (90), putting pressure on Goodwin to retain his role, after another season of missing the finals.
But Gawn was quick to jump to his coach’s defence during his weekly segment on Triple M’s Mick in the Morning.
“He’s my favourite coach and he’s a premiership coach,” Gawn said.
“I find him extremely smart tactically and, in the end, he’s had us 50 points up against St Kilda, a team that we were down by 50 [points] in Alice Springs.
“He’s in it with us but the last quarter is not solely on him.”
The comeback pipped the previous best last quarter revival, when the Brisbane Bears came from 45 points down at the final break to beat Hawthorn in 1995.
Gawn says that the team seems to have forgotten how to win, admitting that the dramatic loss came down to 18 guys managing to stuff it up on the field.
“There’s been five times this year where we haven’t known how to win,” the Demons captain admitted.
“Giants in the first game we lost by a kick-out, Collingwood we lost by a ruckman trying to kick a torp across goal, and then last week against Carlton we stuffed up.
Max Gawn of the Demons marks the ball under pressure from Angus Hastie. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“Right now, we don’t know how to win in those close games, which comes down to resilience and ruthlessness.
“I think the boys just allowed the Saints to get a few early goals, and then momentum is that hard to stop.
“Coaches are in with the players; that’s a world record loss. It’s a disappointing one.
“It looks like we shut up shop, but you almost work harder in those games. We are trying our backsides off, and we all really want to win. We have to learn how to win.”
Off-contract star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was the hero, slotting two goals in a frantic climax to pinch a miracle six-point victory.
Wanganeen-Milera calmly slotted his third goal after flying for a soaring mark with less than 20 seconds remaining.
That levelled the scores, before a 6-6-6 penalty in the middle was paid against the Demons, to the confusion of all players. The skipper is taking full responsibility for the mix-up.
“I’m probably the only one on the field who knows that we got a warning in the second quarter; they tell the ruckman,” Gawn told Triple M.
“We were about to step in the circle, and I realised we had about two seconds to find a winger; there wasn’t a winger on the other side.
“From there, I didn’t nail it. In the end, it’s three seconds so I don’t have much time, but I sent (Jack Viney) to the wing and tried to get a forward in – but it was a back that we had too many of.
“After that free kick happened, we didn’t nail it as well.”
Speaking at the post-game press conference, Goodwin was left gobsmacked at losing from such a position of dominance.
“Devastating loss, clearly,” he said.
“We didn’t defend and pressure as well as we were early in the game.
“Then basically late in the game, we didn’t handle the pressure, we didn’t handle the moment, and we didn’t handle the tight game scenarios like we should have, and that’s on all of us.
“We’ll own that together.”
Melbourne forward Bayley Fritsch broke the game open with three first-quarter goals, giving his side a 25-point buffer.
The Demons, inspired by tackling machine Jack Viney (16 tackles) extended their lead during every quarter to cruise into the last break seemingly destined for a seventh-straight win.
Instead, their capitulation ended a six-game losing run for the Saints, with their last victory also against Melbourne in June when they pipped the inaccurate Demons in Alice Springs.
– with AAP
