Jack Viney had his father’s blessing to leave Melbourne, but could not abandon his coach ahead of a make or break year in 2021
Jack Viney gave an enticing trade offer from Geelong serious thought including long chats with his father, a Melbourne champion. But in the end he decided he couldn’t leave. He explains why.
Melbourne
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Jack Viney felt like he would have abandoned Simon Goodwin.
When the Melbourne hard nut weighed up his football future and, in particular, an enticing offer from Geelong, Viney took time to consider the trajectory the Demons were on.
It had been a testing year.
Viney was dumped as co-captain, the team’s form was up and down and when his daughter was only nine days old, Viney and his wife Charlotte shipped their lives off to Maroochydore for three months.
They were living out of suitcases, with a newborn, and sleep was a luxury item in between games.
But when it came time to decide on his five-year contract extension at Melbourne, it was Viney’s faith in Goodwin’s vision that got his signature over the line.
Even if the Demons’ board was starting to get jumpy after two disastrous losses in Cairns, Viney is certain the Demons have the right man at the helm.
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“I love working with ‘Goody’, and I think he is 100 per cent the right man for the job,” Viney said.
“Ever since he came to the football club he has helped me immensely with my football and one of my reasons for staying is because he needs support.
“I’m one of the people who really believes in his vision, and he needs some strong characters to stand up beside him.
“I feel like if I was to head somewhere else and end my time at the club, then I would be hanging him out to dry a bit.
“So it was a big decision, and one of the big reasons I stayed.”
That said, Viney, 26, also thought seriously about potentially leaving, too.
The midfielder spoke at length about his options with both of his parents, including his father Todd who has been a significant Melbourne figurehead over three decades.
He’s captained and coached the club and held several other senior positions in the football department up until last year. Todd is also a Hall of Fame and Team of the Century member. Part of the red and blue fabric.
But Jack had his dad’s blessing to seek a fresh start, if that’s what he felt was best.
“I did see it as a massive decision and I feel like I’m coming into the second half of my career and I had to weigh it all up,” he said.
“Is the Melbourne Football Club the place I want to be for the rest of my career or is there an opportunity to be part of another organisation?
“I thoroughly thought through both scenarios and came to my conclusion there is unfinished business with Melbourne Football Club.
“It is something I have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into and I do want to see it out.
“I definitely spoke to my old man a lot. Mum and dad are two of the biggest sounding boards in my life and they were really heavily involved in the discussions and my dad, he just stripped it back.
“His biggest loyalty was to me and his family (when he was playing) and he just said he supported whatever decision I made.”
CAPTAINCY CALL
Jack Viney has been a pro since he walked into the club.
But if there was something that might have cost him when he was removed as co-captain earlier this year, it was that his all-in approach to football, if anything, can be brutal and unforgiving at times.
He is forthright and determined as they come, Viney.
Clearly, the leadership group decision stung at first, but the man once dubbed “The General” is adamant the captaincy call is no longer an issue.
“It is not relevant at this point,” he said.
“I understand the leader I need to be to help this club and that is all I’m am focused on, with or without a title.
“It doesn’t really change how I go about my business and that is how I am approaching my leadership.”
That sort of relentlessness attitude and indeed his consistency of performance is what made Viney such an important re-signing for a club that has the longest premiership drought in the game.
For too long, Melbourne has been inconsistent, and flaky, when it came to the crunch.
It is why, Viney said, the Demons must shed the ‘emerging’ tag next year and deliver results the fan base can be proud of. That means a finals berth.
In 2020, two last-gasp wins in the final two rounds against Greater Western Sydney and Essendon gave them a 9-8 record for the season.
It was Goodwin’s third winning season in the past four years.
But, their form again fluctuated far too much, and after only one finals campaign in eight years, Viney says Melbourne must aim high in 2021.
“We have been a youngish list, and a youngish team,” he said.
“I am 26-years-old and I feel like I am one of the veterans of the team, which is pretty crazy, but I think we are starting to get a group of players that are fed up with just being mediocre and just finishing ninth and mid-pack.
“I think there is going to be a big uplift in expectations that we hold each other to. How do we want to behave? How do we want to operate?
“What are the standards that we are going to live by and stick to them and just doing it consistently enough and ingraining it.
“We have got the talent and got the guys with the experience now. It’s not like we are all in our first or second or third years anymore.
“We are established footballers and now it is time work out how we can best function as a unit. That is when we will really start making big inroads.”
CRITICAL COHESION
Melbourne’s midfield mix has been a considerable talking point in recent years, and in particular, whether that balance between inside clearance winners and outside polish is optimal.
Champion Data said the Dees had the best list in the game at the start of last year and since then, Christian Petracca finished the season third favourite for the Brownlow Medal after a remarkable breakout year.
Arguably they have three of the best 20 players in the league with superstars Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Max Gawn. And then there’s Angus Brayshaw who finished third in the 2018 Brownlow Medal.
While Viney doesn’t always attract the same external acclaim as some of his teammates, he had another consistent season, finishing third in this year’s best and fairest for the second year in a row.
In any case, Viney says he wasn’t driven by individual accolades.
“Just because of the way I have played my football and I suppose my attitude towards team-first football I have always been drawn to performing team roles,” Viney said.
“That probably doesn’t get the same recognition as others, but I feel like I’m willing to attack my role to allow other people and other players to use their strengths.
“That is something that I have always been willing to do and thankfully it is valued internally.
“But I think my lick of the ice cream will come when we are a successful team. And that is ultimately what my goal is.
“I didn’t make this decision to stay at the football club to get the individual recognition.
“Everything is about making the Melbourne Football Club great again and successful again and that is where my ultimate fulfilment is going to come from.”
JUST HOW GOOD CAN DEES’ MIDFIELD BE?
Jack Viney says the Demons’ midfield unit can be “something really special” if they play with a more selfless attitude.
The Demons have one of the strongest inside midfield combinations in the game, but a lack of outside run and polish has cost Melbourne over the past two seasons.
It has prompted speculation about whether the Demons should consider trading one of their inside bulls including Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw or the newly re-signed Viney.
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But Viney said there was no doubt the four of them all had an important place in the engine room, if they played the right way.
“We have all got to sacrifice a little bit to work well together because there are only so many positions in the midfield,” Viney said.
“If we can rotate through and work well as a unit, there is so much talent.
“It can be something really special and massive advantage for us.”