Prolonged board instability, in combination with these purported “cultural issues” in the playing group put the coach on the back foot. He even he had to go on record, telling radio station SEN, “I do not use illicit drugs”.
It’s arguable that Goodwin performed well to either ignore or surmount the obstacles that he encountered.
Simon Goodwin’s last Melbourne press conference.Credit: Jason South
Melbourne had delivered him a talented playing list, but he did not have all the other pieces – stability above, most of all – that is essential to staying atop the ladder.
Goodwin more than hinted at the club’s pathologies in his dignified dismissal press conference, when he alluded to the importance of stability and to the impact of ex-CEO Peter Jackson, the man who had installed him and in Goodwin’s eyes, had the Demons in the right place.
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His crack about not missing the drive to Casey was both entertaining and slightly pointed. Decades on, Melbourne is still without that forever dream of the standalone home base, despite the high hopes for Caulfield racecourse.
Clayton Oliver became increasingly high maintenance in 2023-2024, when the Demons twice considered trading him, eventually shutting down the prospect of sending him to Geelong.
It should not be lost on anyone that the Demons did not make the necessary tough call on Oliver, but have done so with the coach who had been willing to entertain trading him.
“Connection” was also awry in one specific on-field failing. Under Goodwin’s direction, the Demons midfield, despite their bountiful talent, found it difficult to kick effectively to their forwards and create goals. He had ample time to repair this fault, but couldn’t, even as the club’s best assistant coach, (now caretaker) Troy Chaplin, moved to the forward portfolio.
I was in the euphoric rooms after the 2021 exiled grand final in Perth, when senior players and the club leaders, headed by then chief executive Gary Pert, seemed supremely confident that this was a team for the ages and that further silverware would follow.
Goodwin was judged accordingly against those giddy expectations, and from the middle of 2022 – they were 10-0 in May – the cultural cracks began to be visible: a dust-up outside a trendy restaurant, a finals flop after finishing second.
They were unlucky, though, in 2023, when Angus Brayshaw was knocked out in that fateful qualifying final when untold bomb entries into their forward line saw them fall seven points shy of eventual premier Collingwood.
Melbourne was heading south thereafter. Supporters shared the view that this was a team of destiny and, worse for Goodwin, his flag was discounted – in red and blue minds – by the fact that it didn’t happen in their domain, the MCG.
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Simon Goodwin’s nine years as coach of the Melbourne Football Club were eventful. There were successes, scandals and throughout the drama that swirled around him, he maintained a dignified stiff upper lip, often resorting to mechanical answers in interrogations by media.
Exiled or not, Goodwin coached the game’s oldest club to its first flag in 57 years. Had it happened at the ‘G, he might have a statue – or at least a bust – outside the members’ reserve.
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