We are just another one of them. Footy is normal for us. Melbourne captain Max Gawn admits it felt like the end of the season when the final siren sounded at Optus Stadium as the AFL went into hiatus until at least May 31. But if that’s their last ever game and their first ever game, it’s not what AFL is.”“There were some really loud West Coast emergency players. Star ruckman Max Gawn said he was ready to book his ticket to US music festival Coachella when he went down with a knee injury at a Melbourne training camp last week. Now nine days on, the Demons big man says he is relieved and excited by the prospect of playing round one … But lots of people all around the world are out of their day job, out of their norm. I don’t know if I’m on the treadmill inside but that’s where my head is at the moment.“I’ll probably be thrown a couple of curveballs over the next two days about what I can actually do and who we’re playing next but that’s where my head is at the moment.”Melbourne captain Max Gawn admits it felt like the end of the season when the final siren sounded at Optus Stadium as the AFL went into hiatus until at least May 31.“I’m still in football 2020 mode,” he said.“Probably similar to a round 23 feeling to be honest and not really knowing what was coming. It will be an interesting 8-10 weeks.”West Coast and Melbourne players were the only ones in the league who entered round one knowing the AFL had suspended games amid the coronavirus crisis.“We felt like we had a lot of people we were trying to play for and we let them down by the scoreline.
That final siren was a little bit weird.“I don’t know when that’s going to be, when the next game of football is going to be. But new Melbourne captain Max Gawn feels sorry for the 13 players who made their debuts last weekend. “As much as the Round 1 intensity was there from the start – well probably not in our game because we were five goals down – the surrounding of the game felt like another Marsh game, to be honest.Instead of playing in front of 90,000 people in the traditional season opener against Carlton, Riewoldt started the season in front of a few hundred people inside the MCG last Thursday night.“It sort of felt like a continuation of the Marsh Cup for mine,” he said.Subscribe to our Fox Sports newsletters“I feel for the people that debuted in that game,” Gawn said on AFL 360 on Tuesday night.The parents of Brisbane draftee Deven Robertson made it in time from Perth to the MCG on Sunday to see the midfielder debut after coming in as a late inclusion against Hawthorn.“I hope Toby Bedford and Kozzie [Kysaiah Pickett] – the two guys that we had (debut) – go on and have 200-game careers. It didn’t in the end; it was eerie.”“It was a bit soulless,” Riewoldt said.Collingwood’s Tyler Brown and the Western Bulldogs’ Ben Cavarra at Marvel Stadium made their first appearances on Friday night, before last year’s first two picks Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson ran out for the first time as a Sun on Saturday night, ahead of hyped Saint Max King on Sunday.Gawn said playing inside an empty stadium isn’t what AFL is meant to be, even if it eliminated West Coast’s parochial supporter base at Optus Stadium on Sunday.But new Melbourne captain Max Gawn feels sorry for the 13 players who made their debuts last weekend.“I went into it with a pretty open mind.
To be able to communicate with players was clearly easier, because you could talk and actually be heard. The first round of the 2020 will be unforgettable for many reasons, especially for those who made debuts behind closed doors rather than in front of packed stadiums. MAX Gawn is ranked as the No.1 AFL Fantasy player in the competition, but with a $943,000 price tag next to his name, is he a must-have? But I really hope I don’t have to do it again.“As much as we play a sport, we’re entertainers as well. We could hear them very loud. That’s an aspect of the job that I love.