‘I had to respond’: Gawn’s reaction to ugly incident involving teammate and rival Xerri

7 hours ago 6

Demons skipper Max Gawn said “he had to respond” after seeing teammate Tom Sparrow knocked out by a stray arm from Roos star Tristan Xerri late in their clash at the MCG on Sunday.

The Demons snapped a five-game losing streak with a hard fought win, but the contest was marred by the incident that sparked Sparrow’s teammates to fly the flag for him.

An incident involving Kangaroos ruckman Tristan Xerri (centre) will come under heavy scrutiny.

“I thought it was high,” Gawn later said on Fox Footy of the incident.

“I haven’t seen any vision of it since. Xerri, I know as a ruck, he’s following up [from a ruck contest] as hard as he can, and he’s the best in the comp at doing it, so there’s definitely an element of that.

“But once I saw my teammate down, I had to… respond.”

The Demons were spurred on by veteran forward Jake Melksham, who booted five goals – including three in the final quarter. The Roos were within striking distance, trailing by 16 points at three-quarter-time, before Melksham’s star turn snuffed out their hopes.

But the clash between Xerri and Sparrow will dominate the post-match discussion. The 25-year-old Demon immediately fell to ground motionless after copping the blow from the North big man, and Melbourne players, including Gawn, seemingly tried to stop the Roo checking on Sparrow.

Sparrow didn’t move for some time after the incident at the 25-minute mark of the final term, but he did give a thumbs up to the crowd as he was stretchered off. Xerri is certain to face scrutiny from the AFL’s match review officer.

On the Fox Footy coverage in the aftermath of the incident, former Kangaroo Cameron Mooney said on commentary: “That’s reckless... I can see some time [a suspension] for that.”

The Demons hadn’t tasted victory this season since late May, just their sixth win for 2025 coming against an emerging North Melbourne team that disposed of the Blues in their most recent visit to the MCG.

In a classic dead-rubber, Melksham was the standout player for the Demons, while Christian Petracca, at times matched up with emerging Roo Colby McKercher, was typically smooth throughout and finished with 31 possessions and seven clearances.

The Demons earned a hint of breathing space only seven minutes into the third when Gawn hit a drop punt crisply and his kick sailed through the big sticks to give them a 10-point lead.

When Bayley Fritsch followed suit with another set shot goal only a minute or two later – making it five straight goals to the Demons – and it seemed like the floodgates could open.

The match wasn’t quite over, however. Cam Zurhaar had a purple patch of his own that term, kicking three goals, to keep North in the contest.

Enter Melksham. The 241-game veteran and former Bomber marking his mark in the final term and clinching victory for the Demons in front of just over 35,000 fans.