Simon Goodwin refuses to answer question surrounding Clayton Oliver rumours

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin came out swinging in the wake of damning rumours, but he wanted no part of answering one question.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin and club CEO Gary Pert have gone on the attack over damning rumours that have hung over the club for years.

The Demons duo sat down with former club superstar Garry Lyon and journalist Sam Edmund to address the rumours along with the recent turbulent times.

Watch every match of the 2023 NAB AFLW Season LIVE & ad-break free during play on Kayo Sports. Join now and start streaming instantly >

In a lengthy interview on SEN Breakfast, Goodwin and Pert fronted up to a host of questions surrounding the culture at the club and the ongoing Clayton Oliver turmoil.

The turmoil surrounding Oliver has hit the club hard in the off-season with the star midfielder involved in multiple off-field incidents.

Allegations of illicit drug use, poor behaviour and ugly run-ins with club staff have sent the AFL rumour mill into overdrive.

Goodwin admitted the midfielder has some ongoing challenges, but the club is working hard alongside him to get him back to his best.

Former club captain Garry Lyon asked Goodwin directly if Oliver had an issue with illicit substances, the coach sidestepped and didn’t answer the question directly.

“Clayton Oliver has got some personal challenges and that’s the best way we can describe it. It’s a very complex situation that we’ve got going on with Clayton and clearly those challenges have been ongoing for multiple years,” Goodwin said.

“This isn’t something that has just reared its head in recent times. This is something that has been ongoing for our footy club and our team for a number of years.

“We’re working incredibly closely with Clayton right now and building the best people around him and putting care around him to deal with his complex personal issues.”

Goody hit back emphatically. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Goodwin has also found himself at the centre of illicit substance rumours for the better part of three years. The coach hit back hard when it was asked of him if he had ever used illicit drugs throughout his tenure as coach of the club.

“Never,” he said.

“And I’ve said this over a three-year period now and it’s pretty ordinary that I’m actually sitting in this position and having to justify that situation.

“I do not use illicit drugs. The rumours have to stop. It’s gone from a rumour, to an allegation, to a fact and it has got to stop.

“I’ve had enough and I think as an industry we need to be better than what we are today. We’re starting to really hurt people in this game too much through this period of time.”

Simon Goodwin and Gary Pert address the complex situation that surrounds Clayton Oliver and the minimum standards they've put to him and his management.@SENBreakfast | #AFLpic.twitter.com/p2CW9e1Ple

— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) October 30, 2023

Goodwin and Pert were adamant the issues surrounding Oliver and Joel Smith’s positive game day drug test were “isolated incidents” and didn’t depict the strong culture around the club.

“We haven’t got a cultural problem – we’ve got some isolated incidents that we’re going to deal with to help drive our culture forward,” Goodwin said.

“Without a good, strong culture … you can’t have success. It’s never going to be perfect. It’s always ongoing.

“(I can understand those issues) on the back of each other, would look like we’ve got some trouble at our footy club (but we don’t).

“We’re going to use the opportunity of the isolated incidents that we’re dealing with,

“We’re going to clean up some of the things that we’ve done so we can forge ahead and have the success that we’ve done.

“It doesn’t mean that we haven’t got some things that we need to address, iron out and get better.”