Max Gawn's hydration ritual. And why he won't go a day without it.

First thing, before the long black and before the phone: a bottle of water, one Hyro stick, shake, done. At home or at a hotel breakfast before an away game, it is the least glamorous part of a footballer's day and the one Max doesn't skip. Overnight you lose fluid and salt through breath and sweat. Topping both up before the day starts is why you are not chasing a headache by 11am.

No sugar crash, because there is 0.03g of sugar in a stick. No afternoon crash, because the sodium, potassium and magnesium are dosed at the ratios the research actually uses: 500mg, 250mg and 100mg. Most sports drinks give you a fraction of that wrapped in 30g of sugar. A ruckman's job depends on his body doing what he asks of it, contest after contest. Read the panel. That is the whole pitch.

Look at any shot of Max walking into the rooms and there is a Hyro bottle in his hand. A ruckman is in every centre bounce and every stoppage, and a big body over four quarters can sweat out litres. Water replaces the fluid but not the sodium that holds it in, which is where the late-game flatness creeps in. Electrolytes before, during and after is the fix.

Interstate trips, early flights and hotel rooms most weeks of the season. A stick weighs four grams and fits in a pocket, so there is no premix leaking in the kit bag and no tub taking up half a carry-on. Flying pulls more water out of you than you would think, so the sticks come out before the wheels do. Nothing to think about.

That is the real reason people quit them. Hyro is the one Max actually reaches for, and judging by the bottles he walks in with, he is not loyal to a single flavour. Real fruit flavour, nothing artificial, and light enough that you can drink it all day without your teeth feeling furry. Hydration you look forward to is hydration you keep doing.

Max won't go a day without it, and that is the whole point. Hyro is not a game-day trick. It is a daily top-up that compounds: steadier energy through the afternoon, faster bounce-back after the hard days, and a body that does what you ask of it. It lands on your doorstep every 30 or 60 days. Skip, pause, swap flavours or cancel any time, and if it does nothing for you inside 30 days, you do not pay.