Dee lauded as 'one of the best ever', Tigers rue congested fixture (2025)

MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin has lauded Max Gawn as "one of the best ever", with the Demons captain producing yet another spellbinding performance in the team's Anzac Day Eve victory over Richmond on Thursday night.

Gawn secured his second successive Frank 'Checker' Hughes Medal as the best player in the annual Anzac Day Eve fixture, inspiring Melbourne's third quarter rout that overwhelmed a young Richmond outfit on its way to a 20-point win.

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The seven-time All-Australian finished with 25 disposals, 34 hitouts, 12 score involvements, nine marks and six clearances in an emphatic display, despite sitting out the majority of the final quarter with the Demons' victory secured.

With the likes of North Melbourne's Tristan Xerri and Carlton's Tom De Koning earning plaudits for their ruck work in recent months, Goodwin said Gawn was issuing a reminder of his remarkable standing in the game.

"He does it slightly differently to the De Konings and that," Goodwin said afterwards.

"He's got enormous pride in his game. You're seeing one of the best ever in the game go about his craft. What we've seen in the last few weeks, he's reminding everyone that there's that little bit more left in him."

Asked how long the 33-year-old could continue to produce at such a high level – having also inspired Melbourne's first victory of the season last week – the Demons coach wouldn't put a limit on Gawn's longevity.

"Hopefully another four or five years, that would be handy," Goodwin laughed.

"We took him off with half a quarter to go. It's a long year, we've got to look after the big fella. But he's just an extraordinary leader. I think we've seen in the last two weeks, once again, he's been able to drive the right things and lead the footy club incredibly well.

"Gee, we do hope he can keep playing to this standard. That would be nice."

Melbourne's A-Graders provided the platform for a six-goal third quarter that altered the momentum of Thursday night's clash, with Gawn and the Demons' midfield brigade doing the bulk of the damage.

Christian Petracca (28 disposals, two goals), Clayton Oliver (22 disposals, seven clearances) and Kysaiah Pickett (18 disposals, two goals) were also instrumental in the win, with Goodwin praising the way they clicked into gear.

"I think they're building belief in each other. They haven't spent a lot of time together in the last 12 months, in terms of playing footy together. They've been working on that cohesion," Goodwin said.

"Nathan Jones and Sam Radford are doing a wonderful job, being able to build some real understanding of role and what's required in and around their stoppage work. You can see they're starting to work their way back to their best form as a group.

"They're doing it together. Bit by bit, each individual is starting to grow their game."

Richmond coach Adem Yze refused to blame the side's sluggish second-half performance on the absence of Noah Balta, who was unable to take part in the Anzac Day Eve clash due to his court-imposed curfew.

Balta is unable to play in night games that finish beyond 10pm due to a curfew handed down this week after an assault charge in New South Wales over the off-season, but Yze reiterated it wasn't a distraction for his playing group.

"Well, in the end, we had a short week," Yze said.

"I think it was more around the amount of games we've played … three games in 11 days. That was more of a distraction, or tougher for our players to handle, than Noah. A short week, the game was on us pretty quickly.

"I don't think it was a distraction for our players, but (Balta) is a great player. He played really well last week and we missed him. So, it will be good to get him back in next week."

Richmond's fixture pile-up included games against Fremantle (April 13), Gold Coast (April 19) and then Melbourne (April 24), with Yze suggesting his Tigers struggled to cope with the increased playing demands.

"It's a hard one," Yze said.

"We've had three games in 11 days. We spoke about that after the game, but I didn't want to use it as an excuse. But we do have young players that would never have dealt with that."

Richmond laid just 42 tackles in the defeat on Thursday night, 30 fewer than Melbourne, while the Tigers were also -24 for contested possessions and -8 for clearances throughout the match.

Yze said he referenced the numbers in his post-game debrief with a rebuilding Richmond outfit, but said he was pleased with the way his side overcame any fatigue in a final term where the Tigers kicked the last four goals of the game.

"We spoke about that," Yze said.

"It was a little bit about what they were doing with the ball. We gave up way too many uncontested marks. We sagged off a little bit, and they took our pressure away by doing that with the ball. But our pressure wasn't to standard.

"When you look at the numbers, it was way too low. It's not to standard. It's not us."