BIG man Max Gawn says he can’t wait to play under new senior coach Simon Goodwin in 2017.
After spending two years working alongside Paul Roos, Goodwin will lead Melbourne for at least the next three seasons.
Speaking to Melbourne TV, Gawn described Goodwin as someone who lives and breathes football.
"He's a serious football nerd," he said.
"He watches the VFL game straight after the VFL guys have played. He goes out there live and then goes home and watches it and codes it.
"He'll watch the Melbourne game three or four times and is already onto the opposition by Monday.
"He knows everything going on with the modern game at the moment. It's almost good in a way; he could sit there and observe us from a far [for two years] and now he's hands-on."
The 24-year-old said the biggest legacy of the Paul Roos era would be the team culture he helped to establish.
"He [Roos] brought in a one-in, all-in environment," he said.
"Everyone has got their say, everyone's got a buy-in to what’s happening and everyone can put their point-of-view in.
"That's what Roosy brought from Sydney and hopefully that holds us in good stead with Goodwin next year."
Gawn said it would be up to the playing group, particularly Melbourne’s young talent, to drive the culture as well as the standards and behaviours.
"We've got a really young group and I'm expecting them to jump on the leadership train as well,” he said.
"There's a really good group of people there and there's no excuse for them not to give me some feedback on game day as well."
While development remains the primary focus for Melbourne’s young list, Gawn said the off-season would also provide an opportunity to bolster the club’s talent.
"The reality is that we came tenth this year so we need more talent; we need more people to come in,” he said.
"We want our group to develop as well but we can always use that extra person to come in, whether it’s from the draft as an 18 year old or someone who's experience we can get through free agency or similar.
"All parts of the ground always need working on, our forward line could always do with a 40-goal kicker as I'm sure every club could use and our backline could always do with a guy that can stop that 40-goal kicker."
Gawn in awe of Goodwin’s passion
Max Gawn says Simon Goodwin lives and breathes football