Max Gawn's telling response after Dayne Zorko sledging furore
Max Gawn hopes last weekend's ugly sledge from Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko will mark the last time such an issue arises in the AFL
Both Zorko and the Lions have since apologised to Melbourne player Harrison Petty, after a comment directed at the Demons star ultimately ended up overshadowing the round 23 contest.
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Gawn said it was obvious what Zorko had said went beyond what most AFL players would agree the line was as far as trash talk was concerned, but hopes the incident would be a reminder to the rest of the competition what the standards were.
The AFL has elected not to pursue to the matter further after Zorko and the Lions made apologies, which Gawn gave credit to the Brisbane captain for.
There have been calls for the Lions to strip Zorko of the captaincy, however the club has no pans to further sanction the skipper.
Gawn said it was the first time in his AFL career he'd heard comments like that on the field, and said it should have been obvious to Zorko that he was taking things way too far.
"I don't necessarily think we needed those comments for it to be a line in the sand, it's pretty clear to me going out to games that some of those stuff are off limits," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"But definitely now the comments are done, I do hope that it is a line in the sand and those sorts of comments can stay away from the footy field.
"(It was the) first time I've heard anything that deep.
"I'm not here to talk about it and go on about it and bring it up. I actually think it's been well handled post, but it's certainly rare."
Demons moving on from Dayne Zorko AFL sledge
Gawn credited Zorko for his apology to Petty, which he said 'read well', but didn't want to be drawn on whether the 33-year-old should face further consequences.
He also delighted in how Melbourne had handled the situation, while acknowledging maybe a few too many players had tried to speak to Petty to check in on him.
He said coach Simon Goodwin, defensive coach Troy Chaplin and full-back Steven May had got the young defender back on track.
"Obviously the scenes weren't great in and around three-quarter time, but if you look into the fourth quarter, he did a couple of really good team efforts," Gawn said.
"We all want to help. That can be an issue, a lot of voices can be quite tough to listen to.
"But Harry's one of us. We love what he does for the football club.
"I'm really proud of how the club handled themselves in and around the third and fourth quarter."
Zorko has faced criticism for his sledging of Petty during Friday's heavy loss that reduced the Demons youngster to tears.
The Lions and Zorko moved fast to apologise after the incident, and the AFL will not pursue the matter further.
However, North Melbourne great David King has led the criticism of Zorko, declaring on Fox Footy that "he can't be captain doing that stuff".
"I reckon the players have got to legislate on their own," he said.
"In the off season they should come together and say, 'We've got to look after each other, we're not going to accept this from Dayne Zorko'. This is not the first time."
With AAP
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