If Max Gawn's family had their way the Melbourne AFL star would be running out for the All Blacks, or even the Wallabies, this weekend instead of the Demons.
The 2018 All-Australian ruckman has rugby union in his blood with his father Rob a former representative player for New Zealand's South Island.
Standing 208cm and possessing superb athleticism and ball skills, Max would have been a fine addition to the Wallabies second row for their Rugby Championship clash with South Africa in Brisbane.
Or possibly even the the All Blacks, who play Argentina in Saturday's first Rugby Championship clash in Nelson.
Gawn was born in Australia and said he used to support the Wallabies but during 16 years of Bledisloe Cup domination, he joined the rest of his Kiwi-born family in supporting the All Blacks.
"I used to be the only Wallabies fan in my family with my brothers and parents supporting the All Blacks but 16 years is a long time," Gawn said.
He played junior rugby with a Melbourne club before joining his school-mates in playing AFL but was still a fan of the 15-man game.
"I still love rugby and my family does as well," he said.
"It took a while for my dad not to talk about tries when we were talking about football."
Sharing a cafe at Demons headquarters with the Melbourne Rebels players, the 109kg Gawn said that playing rugby, where size is king, would be a lot easier than being on his restricted diet.
Gawn also supports the all-conquering Crusaders, who play out of Christchurch and have won a record nine Super Rugby titles, including this season.
Their coach Scott Robertson is famous for breakdancing on the field surrounded by his players each time his team win a title and Gawn said he'd love to see Demons coach Simon Goodwin get in on the act.
"I'll have to show him a video of the coach and see what he thinks," he said.
