Simon Goodwin bullying allegations: Dayne Beams claims industry is littered with ‘toxic’ behaviour
Dayne Beams has voiced his view on the Simon Goodwin allegations, criticising the competition as a whole.
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Former AFL player Dayne Beams has weighed into the headlines engulfing Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin after allegations of bullying and lifestyle issues, declaring the “whole industry is littered with this type of behaviour”.
The Demons’ premiership coach has been levelled with allegations of a tirade at a former club doctor over his handling of a concussed player and concerns about the culture at the club generally amid drinking and gambling at a Mornington Peninsula hotel.
Posting comments with an image of the News Corp headline “Embattled Goodwin breaks silence amid shock revelations,” the former Collingwood and Brisbane player wrote on social media the rest of the league was not immune to these issues.
Beams said getting out of that “toxic environment” helped him turn around his life.
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“Are we going to pretend this is a Simon Goodwin issue,” Beams wrote on Instagram.
“The whole industry is littered with this type of behaviour.
“It’s so far from the real world it isn’t funny.
“Yes and I can’t wait for the ‘you can talk’ comments,(the) difference is I’ve owned it and cleaned it up and I largely think getting out of that toxic environment helped enormously.”
Goodwin spoke yesterday and did not respond directly to allegations but said that he was “incredibly” heartened by the club’s support in the wake of the reports and was determined to push on.
“Obviously we’re not talking at the moment … we’ll do it at the appropriate time,” he told 7 News early on Wednesday morning.
“I know where the club stands and what we’re about, so we’ll just keep moving forward.”
After a 177-game AFL career, Beams retired in late 2020 due to personal issues.
He told the News Corp Sacked podcast at the time of his battle with gambling and addiction to prescription medication.
“I struggled with two things, gambling and the prescription painkillers,” he told Sacked.
“It ends up controlling your life, it really does and then as a result of that, your mental health deteriorates.
“Once you stop you have got a whole lot of work to do to get yourself back on track.”
Beams turned to art therapy to help him on his path to recovery.
Goodwin breaks silence amid shock revelations
— Lauren Wood
Besieged Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has broken his silence amid allegations of bullying, declaring he and the club will “keep moving forward”.
Legal documents also revealed that Goodwin allegedly delivered an abusive, expletive-riddled tirade to Melbourne’s senior doctor in a bid to pressure him not to rest concussed player Angus Brayshaw.
But Goodwin, who has received staunch backing from premiership captain Max Gawn, said that while he was “incredibly” heartened by the club’s support in the wake of the reports, he was determined to push on.
“Obviously we’re not talking at the moment … we’ll do it at the appropriate time,” he told 7 News early on Wednesday morning.
“I know where the club stands and what we’re about, so we’ll just keep moving forward.”
Goodwin refused to comment on the bullying allegations levelled by former club doctor Zeeshan Arain in legal papers lodged with the club by the doctor’s lawyers as part of an unlawful dismissal dispute in October 2020.
The team met with Goodwin in its usual meeting session before its main training for the week at Casey Fields.
He appeared in a jovial mood at Dees training on Wednesday, a day after the shock revelations emerged, sharing a laugh with gun midfielder Clayton Oliver.
It is not known whether the matter was directly addressed but Gawn said he would continue to share a beer with “my boss and my coach”.
The ruckman was adamant he had not witnessed any characteristics that could be construed as bullying from his “very close mate”.
“No (I have no concerns about his behaviour),” the skipper said.
“Goody’s a very close mate of mine. I’ve never had a relationship with a coach like that. He is quite young, so he’s a modern coach. We’re able to chew the fat a lot, and then go serious.
“But in terms of bullying, I haven’t seen it personally … I’ve seen none at all.”
Gawn maintained that he would continue to socialise with the coach and that cultural shifts would always be ongoing.
“I’m going to continue to have a beer with my boss and my coach,” he said.
“What we learned over a couple of beers at the pub – our local at the time – maybe that was what we nutted out in 2021 to go on and do what we did.
“I’m going to continue to do that both from a professional sense and just a ‘chew the fat at 1 o’clock on a Saturday arvo’ (sense).”
He was adamant that neither he or any player he knew of had felt pressured not to report injuries or concussion issues.
Gawn said he considered that “change is good” and that the club would continue to evolve.
“We’re culturally shifting all the time,” he said.
“The Dees in 2021, if we’re the same culture, we’ll lose in 2022. We’re always changing and adapting.
“We’ve got a job to do and it’s all roads leading to round 1 … today wasn’t affected by it, which was good.”
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