Melbourne went into their match with Brisbane 16th on the ladder and could ill afford an injury to arguably their most important player.
Unfortunately for them, that's exactly what happened when star ruckman Max Gawn rolled his akle mid-way through the second term.
Melbourne's Max Gawn returned for the last two minutes of the first half after having his ankle assessed.#AFLLionsDees pic.twitter.com/z02rpQ6sZw
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) June 30, 2019
Gawn landed on the back of opponent Stefan Martin's leg after jumping to take a mark, with his left foot rolling inwards in a nasty looking action.
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The 27-year-old headed straight down into the rooms and looked to be done for the day.
Though Dees fans were given a huge boost when Gawn returned 20 minutes later and played out the last few minutes of the half.
Melbourne ended up putting Gawn on ice for the late stages of the match as Brisbane ran away with an impressive victory on the back of a four-goal third quarter from Eric Hipwood.
Off-season recruit Braydon Preuss has been starved of opportunity so far this season, only making two appearances since switching across from North Melbourne.
An injury to Gawn could potentially open the door for the emerging big man.
Coach Simon Goodwin spoke about Gawn post-match and didn't seem too concerned about the injury.
Goodwin on Gawn: He rolled an ankle. Clearly it was a concern throughout the game, but he’ll be fine.
— Melbourne FC (@melbournefc) June 30, 2019
He came off towards the end, as we’ll look to get him right for next week.
