Pushing the best players to keep going regardless of age is helping AFL teams boost premiership chances

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin lauded superstar skipper Max Gawn as a “master of his craft” and, as one of the AFL’s best players at age 33, said the shift was on towards helping the aged elite play for as long as possible. As 36-year-old Brisbane Lions gun Dayne Zorko prepares to rack up a 50th consecutive match against Essendon at the Gabba on Thursday night, Collingwood recalled 37-year-old Scott Pendlebury and 34-year-old Steele Sidebottom for a blockbuster Friday clash with Hawthorn. The importance of all three veteran stars to their premiership-contending teams cannot be understated and the remarkable form of ruckman Gawn has helped propel the Demons to six straight wins and put them back in finals contention. As a raft of older players were taken by clubs in Wednesday night’s mid-season rookie draft, Goodwin said the old adage that players would be on the decline after they turned 30 was no longer relevant. He pointed to 33-year-old Jake Melksham as another veteran Demon who was getting better “the older he gets” and said the reliability of older players was becoming more than just an asset but a weapon. “I think you have already seen that shift taking place. Clearly, players are playing for a little bit longer,” Goodwin said. “Back in the day when you got to 30 you were starting to think about the end of your career and clubs were similar in terms of how they looked at players. “Right now it comes down to an individualised thing and you are seeing right across the competition … a whole range of different guys who are mid 30 and playing exceptional footy and clubs are taking note of that. “Jake Melksham for us, he seems to be getting better the old he gets and that experience, you just can’t buy.” Gawn is on track for what would an eighth all-Australian blazer. At the MCG last Sunday, he destroyed former protege Brody Grundy in a huge Demons win over Sydney and Goodwin couldn’t sing his captain’s praises any higher. “What you are seeing is someone who is the master of his craft,” he said. “He has worked for 13 years on being a great ruckman and has really focused on what that looks like, both from a ruck perspective but also from an aerial perspective. What we are seeing is a guy who is incredibly professional. “He looks after himself incredibly well and is playing to a really high level.”