Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has hinted captain Max Gawn has been dealing with personal matters away from the field, defending the champion ruckman's performance on Sunday afternoon.
Gawn was dominated by his opponent at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, with North Melbourne tall Tristan Xerri arguably the Roos' best in their 59-point victory over the Demons.
Xerri narrowly won the hitout count over Gawn but recorded 20 possessions and a goal to help steer the Kangaroos to their maiden victory over the year, with his Demons counterpart kept to just the 11 touches.
Goodwin was quizzed on the ruck battle after his side's second successive defeat, with the premiership coach revealing there were likely to be other factors as to why Gawn wasn't able to better Xerri in the contest.
"Our people are really important to us, and Max is one of those guys," Goodwin said. "Today he'll acknowledge that he got beaten by a really good opponent.
"But you've also got to realise that in life there are other things that are going on. So we'll support Max.
"He's a great person, he's a great leader and there's a backstory to everyone's performance.
"Max is someone we take enormous pride in. He's going to continue to be a great leader for this football club."
When asked to follow up on his comments, Goodwin said he wouldn't divulge the details of his players' personal off-field issues.
"I'm not going to go into the details... there's footy and there's some stuff in life," the Demons coach said.
"You've got to understand people have backstories. He's someone we love dearly, and he'll certainly be a big part of our response."
The loss to North Melbourne sees the Demons sitting 15th on the ladder after Round 2, being one of five clubs with winless starts from their opening pair of performances.
Melbourne are scheduled to face Gold Coast at the MCG on Saturday before clashes against Geelong, Essendon and Fremantle.
