Demons president Brad Green backs Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin after club’s 0-5 start
Melbourne is under pressure after a horror start to the season but they’re backing Simon Goodwin to the hilt, saying it’s the ‘only way forward’. See Brad Green’s full comments.
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Melbourne has backed senior coach Simon Goodwin to help lead the club’s rise up the ladder despite a disastrous 0-5 start to the season.
The Herald Sun can reveal president Brad Green has acknowledged it has been a frustrating start to the season as pressure mounts on the premiership coach to fix their scoring failures in particular.
Melbourne has focused intently on improving its off-field connection and team bonds over summer but it’s their wastefulness and errors forward which has left the club winless.
Richmond great Jack Riewoldt said on Fox Footy a broken Melbourne “don’t look like they have got any system”, while North Melbourne dual premiership star David King said the Demons “are well and truly past the premiership era”.
There are also significant question marks over the futures of Kysaiah Pickett, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca beyond 2025.
But Green told the Herald Sun the club could still salvage its season under Goodwin who remains contracted to the club until the end of 2026.
“We acknowledge that it has been a disappointing start to the season,” Green said.
“Sitting at 0–5 isn’t the standard we expect of ourselves, and we know it’s frustrating, for our members, supporters, and everyone inside the club.
“What I can assure our supporters of is that we have a determined group of players and coaches who will drive the team’s response.
“That’s the only way forward, and we must stay focused on improving.”
However, the statement stops short of categorically guaranteeing Goodwin will see out the season or his contract.
Goodwin will attempt to notch the 100th win of his coaching career against Fremantle on Saturday at the MCG in a bid to snap the club’s five-game losing streak.
The coaching crunch comes as the Demons look to appoint a new chief executive by the end of the month and transition to new president Steven Smith at season’s end.
AFL CA chief executive Alistair Nicholson has been considered for the CEO job.
It has also been three years of upheaval for Goodwin who has come under attack from former president Glen Bartlett and dealt with some player drug issues and unrest which the senior coach said hung a dark cloud over the club.
Goodwin said on Saturday night after a dispiriting loss to Essendon “it is not about me”.
“It is about the club. It is about the team. It is about these players,” Goodwin said.
“We have had a lot of challenges through my time at the footy club and I have been pretty well serviced to see the club through that.
“I feel pretty well credentialed to do that and we are in a challenging spot right now and I acknowledge that.
“But my focus is just doing my job to the best of my ability and I believe I have got the credentials to do it.”
Green publicly backed Goodwin on the eve of the season in the Herald Sun, saying the premiership coach did not get the love, recognition or acclaim he deserved after leading the Demons to the 2021 premiership.
But the Demons have failed to win a final since with one of the most talented lists in the AFL after missing the eight last year.
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd said he thought Goodwin would be gone by the start of next season because of the persistent problems with the club’s game plan and repeated scoring failures.
“That’s where Simon Goodwin is under extreme (pressure),” Lloyd said on Channel 9.
“It’s not as if this is a problem just for five weeks this year. This has been a problem for 27-28 games.
“I’d be surprised if he coaches next year, for the fact that it’s been too long where he has not been able to have any answers.”
King said the Demons were having the same problems in the forward half.
“Melbourne fans are frustrated because they can nearly script or write down the stats at the start of the night,” King said on Fox Footy.
“We can win the clearances, we can not score from them, we can drive the ball inside 50m, we are not going to score, we are going to go to the same players all night.
“And we are going to get the same results.
“They are well and truly past the premiership era. That is no longer a conversation, and there are vulnerabilities in this midfield which are being exposed every week.”
‘IT’S F***ING HARD’: GAWNS’ ADMISSION ON DEES’ NIGHTMARE
— Jon Ralph
Melbourne captain Max Gawn says the elite “connection” between the Demons players will get them through their on-field crisis but admits players including himself dropped their heads in a diabolical first half performance against Essendon.
As besieged Demons coach Simon Goodwin backed his talents and coaching resume to get the Demons out of one of footy’s darkest holes, the way forward for the club was unclear.
Melbourne has already bought 2021 premiership coach Goodwin time with a football review and a line coaching rejig but after five straight losses the same old mid-forward issues remain.
The club will take on Fremantle next week sweating on a plantar fascia issue to Steven May and aware he will be sore after returning to the ground despite a flare-up early in the contest.
President-elect Steve Smith heads overseas in a month for a three-month holiday so will be desperately hoping the season can turn around with games against Fremantle (MCG), Richmond (MCG) and West Coast (away).
Gawn knows the heat is once again coming on his coach, club and culture.
The long-time captain accused senior players of poor body language several weeks ago and while he is up for the fight, he conceded there were times the Demons didn’t fight against Essendon.
“We are making mistakes and getting punished. So there was maybe a bit of head-dropping. I know me, in particular, it happened at different points. It’s f***ing hard, footy. We are trying our hardest but we are not mopping up our mistakes,” he said.
“Our spirit is very good and we are getting challenged and sometimes our spirit can waver.
“You put the hard hat on and you ignore the criticism. I have been in similar spots before. “The only thing that gets you through is how connected you are as a group. We are a connected group. We are zero and five. We have shown glimpses but we are not playing the footy we want. Tonight was incredibly hard. That was as hard of a game as I have played.
“We were trying our arses off but it just wasn’t working for us tonight.”
Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton wondered aloud in commentary if it was time for Melbourne to blow up the club with top-to-bottom changes.
Brereton was scathing of Bayley Fritsch playing on his own terms and Clayton Oliver’s body language when berating Christian Petracca for ignoring his handball request.
“This club has been run by the players from what I can see,” he told Fox Footy.
“What you see from the outside, the players have had a fair say in how this club has been run. I would say to Melbourne: Take your club back. If they don’t want to play under your rule the way you want to coach, take your club back. Clearly he can coach. He has coached a premiership. It is how nice a bloke he will be. The mantra is that we are going to love each other. Tell me the last club that won a premiership that loved everyone.”
Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich said of the sameness at the club: “That is the bit that is getting lost. We are talking about the mechanical way they play and the way they can’t score. The team dynamic is broken. It is lost. Who is the one person to bring it back?
Is it Max Gawn doing it again? Is it Simon Goodwin doing it again? Is it that leadership group doing it again. There are so many times that figurehead – whether it’s the coach, captain or players – can get up in front of the group and say it. There has to be a time where other emerging leaders take control of that club.”
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd said he believed there would be a change of coach by year’s end.
“Simon Goodwin is under extreme pressure and I would be surprised if he coaches next year for the fact it’s been too long where he hasn’t been able to have the answers or game plan,” he told Nine.
“It’s not as if it’s a problem for five weeks. It’s 27 or 28 weeks. They finished 14th last year. It’s a big concern for them. They cannot score.”
Goodwin said on Saturday night he believed he was the man to lead the club out of its current funk despite just eight goals from 51 inside 50s.
“I’m incredibly confident.
(But) it’s not about me, it’s about the club, it’s about the team, it’s about these players.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges through my time at the footy club and I’ve been pretty well serviced to see the club through that, and I feel pretty well credentialed to do that.
“We’re in a challenging spot right now, and we acknowledge that, but my focus is just on doing my job to the best of my ability, and I believe I’ve got the credentials to do it.
“We’ve got a team that I think can continue to move forward.”
GOODWIN ‘INCREDIBLY CONFIDENT’ HE CAN TURN WINLESS DEES AROUND
– Jason Phelan
Embattled Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin conceded his players aren’t showing enough fight after the Demons’ winless start to the season continued with a Gather Round loss to Essendon.
But the premiership coach is adamant he has the credentials and track record to turn his side’s fortunes around after falling to 0-5 with the 39-point loss at Adelaide Oval.
“I’m incredibly confident,” Goodwin said when asked how sure he was he could lead his side out of the doldrums.
“(But) it’s not about me, it’s about the club, it’s about the team, it’s about these players.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges through my time at the footy club and I’ve been pretty well serviced to see the club through that, and I feel pretty well credentialed to do that.
“We’re in a challenging spot right now, and we acknowledge that, but my focus is just on doing my job to the best of my ability, and I believe I’ve got the credentials to do it.
“We’ve got a team that I think can continue to move forward.
“There’s clearly some things we need to work on with our method, but there’s also a ‘fight’ that you need, and a consistency in that.
“Clearly, with our inside 50s we need to start to score, we need to start to get more pressure on the ball, and we need to win more contest behind the ball.
“It’s pretty simple in terms of what we’ve got to do, but there’s a bit in that.
“We acknowledge we’re not where we want to be right now, but we’re still going to keep working, find a way, and keep getting players into better form.
“We’ll come out of it.”
With so much on the line, Melbourne was desperately disappointing in the first half against Essendon, with the only effective resistance coming in a 20-minute burst in the third quarter.
At 0-5, Goodwin has precious little time to change things up and get Melbourne’s season moving in the right direction.
But don’t expect wholesale changes at selection.
“We’ll probably more back some of these guys in, first and foremost, to come up and perform,” he said.
“It can turn very quickly.
“It’s never as bad and it’s never as good (as it seems) and right now it feels bad.
“It can turn quick, players can come into form quick, you’ll see more of our third quarter (against Essendon) and this club will be back up and away.
“It will turn and we’ll be away.”
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