Melbourne captain Max Gawn was involved in a fiery exchange with teammate Steven May after a late turnover proved costly in his side’s one-point loss to Collingwood.
Gawn’s Demons fought gallantly in their annual King’s Birthday clash, but the ladder-leading Magpies ran out 11.6 (72) to 10.11 (71) winners in front of over 77,000 fans at the MCG.
Gawn took an intercept mark in dying seconds in Melbourne’s defensive 50, but then turned the ball over when an attempted torpedo into the middle of the ground skewed off the side of his boot and landed in the hands of Collingwood forward Will Hoskin-Elliott.
As the siren sounded cameras panned to Gawn, who was being consoled by teammate Daniel Turner.
Turner had his arm around Gawn when the pair were approached by Melbourne defender Steven May, who left Gawn visibly frustrated with a comment.
After scowling in response to May’s comment, Gawn then pushed his teammate away before walking off in a different direction.
Gawn told Channel 7 that he had “earmarked” a conversation with May regarding the incident at some stage.
“We’re just both competitors, and we both wanted to win the game,” he said.
“Unfortunately, with 30 seconds to go I put the ball in Hoskin-Elliott’s lap and I’m pretty sure all 17 teammates were pretty angry with that decision.
“I wasn’t over the moon I got called to play on in the first place. I didn’t play on and then a ruckman’s got the ball in the back pocket and he’s called to play on and there is not much I can do, to be honest.
“I could’ve swung on my left (foot) and that would’ve been worse, but I thought a chaos ball would’ve been the best option, but me trying to kick a chaos ball ends up straight in Hoskin-Elliott’s lap.”
Earlier, Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and Australian cricket captains Mark Taylor and Alyssa Healy were among 10 celebrities to take the plunge in the annual Big Freeze.
There were also stirring scenes pre-match when both Melbourne and Collingwood players gave former Melbourne coach Neale Daniher a guard of honour.
Follow the live blog below for a recap of all the King’s Birthday AFL action as it happened.
