Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin addresses leaked reports from league meeting

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has addressed fresh reports stemming from a crisis meeting between the club and the AFL.

Goodwin addressed leak information from AFL meeting. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has fronted the media following a disastrous week for the football club.

The Dees were thrown onto the front and back pages after a fight broke out between two teammates on Sunday night at Prahran restaurant Entrecote.

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Goodwin however was thrown into the headlines following a meeting that took place in February between the league and the Demons.

The premiership coach denied he has any behavioural issues after a report claimed serious misconduct saw the club consider sacking him prior to the 2021 season.

The Herald Sun reported in February that the Melbourne board discussed the possibility of firing Goodwin amid allegations of gambling, bullying and other behavioural issues.

Revelations from inside the meeting, revealed by the Herald Sun, indicate AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan suggested both Goodwin and Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert could be sacked.

Goodwin was pressed on the revelations on Friday and denied there had been any issues inside the club walls.

“To be honest, I’m not interested in it,” he said when asked about the story.

“It’s an irrelevant story. Gary Pert is a complete man of integrity. I’ve got no behavioural issues. Gill McLachlan and Richard Goyder do a fantastic job at running our competition and if you guys can join the dots in between all of that then you guys go for it. But it’s a completely irrelevant story to me and our footy club.”

Goodwin labelled the story irrelevant. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Dees have endured a torrid week after premiership defender Steven May and Jake Melksham came to blows.

May was handed a one-game suspension for drinking while under concussion protocols while Melksham will also be sidelined this weekend after requiring hand surgery following the scuffle. Reports indicate the scuffle stemmed from a savage sledge by May.

On Thursday, the AFL announced that the league’s integrity department had opened an inquiry into the concerning incident.

“No matter what the situation or circumstances, violence is never the answer,” the league said in a statement.

“As professional footballers, as people, we expect better and while the club has taken the matter extremely seriously, the AFL is currently conducting its own investigation.”

According to The Herald Sun, the fight erupted after May told Melksham: “If you had have played in the granny (grand final) we would have lost.”

The News Corp publication reported that May was “having a crack at almost every one of his teammates” and “one of the things that upset Melksham clearly, as the insults went around the table, was a bake which Joel Smith copped”.

Smith, a defender on the fringe of Melbourne’s team, was cruelly ruled out of the Demons’ preliminary final win last year after he tweaked his hamstring at training.