RUCKMAN Max Gawn has signed a new contract with the club, and will remain a Demon until at least the end of 2015.

The 21 year-old said he was “very, very happy” to commit for another two seasons.   

“I always had an inkling that I was going to sign pretty soon,” Gawn told melbournefc.com.au.

“I didn’t want to go anywhere and when [acting general manager of football operations] Josh Mahoney called me last night, he said ‘we managed to get a deal’ and it put a bit of a smile on my face, so I’m rapt.

“It was Josh’s first contract, so he said he’ll keep that close to his heart, with me being the first one he’s signed.”

Gawn, who was drafted from Ormond/Sandringham Dragons at No. 34 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, has played 14 AFL matches since he made his debut against Essendon at the MCG in round 11, 2011.

But the 208 cm tall has also had to contend with two knee reconstructions during his career, which forced him to miss the entire 2010 and 2012 seasons.

Still, he has made double figure appearances for the Demons in 2013, and has showed genuine promise for the future. He is now eager to build on his impressive recent form.  

“My body hasn’t been great over the last couple of years, so I might’ve been smarter to get three or four years, but two is enough,” Gawn said.
“There’s two ways you can look at it. This is my fourth year, and I should be playing near the 10 games I have now.
“But the other way you can look at it is that I’ve had two knee recos, I’ve never done a pre-season and I suffered a hamstring injury this year, so it was pretty hard, and I’ve managed to play 10 games this year, plus five in the VFL this year.
“The way that I look at it more is that it’s my fourth year in the AFL, and I should start doing some good stuff in the AFL.”