MAX Gawn believes the recent ruck dominance led by North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein and Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands is good for the game.

The Melbourne ruckman added that he would love to see Goldstein win the game’s highest individual honour.

“Hopefully Goldstein does win the Brownlow Medal because then I can say ‘I lost to the Brownlow medallist last week’,” Gawn said with a smile.

“I believe the ruckman is the most important player in the team … Sandilands is still dominating and Sam Jacobs had a good weekend also.”

Gawn said incoming coach Simon Goodwin, along with ruck coach Greg Stafford, played a part in his decision to re-sign with Melbourne.

“They’ve played a big role in how I’ve played my footy this season,” he said.

“Some of my good form can definitely be put on them.

“This is my sixth season now and I’ve seen some dark times … but I can see an upwards trend [in form] and it’s very exciting.”