AFL: Unlikely sporting heroes spurring on Melbourne ahead of finals

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has revealed the two sporting icons motivating his side ahead of the finals, and they’re not who you’d expect.

Simon Goodwin led Melbourne to a first-place finish in the regular season. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin helped his side break a 57-year trophy drought as the Dees won the 2021 minor premiership last weekend, but he has one key message to his players ahead of the finals.

After a standout regular season, Goodwin has preached to his players about the need to reset and start all over when it comes to the finals.

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As a way of getting his message across to his players, the 44-year-old decided to use tennis star Andre Agassi and NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo as prime examples to motivate and inspire his troops.

“The ability to reset, whether it be within games, within weeks, within seasons has been really important,” Goodwin said.

“We’ve used a lot of examples in that space, Andre (Agassi) has been one of them, and that happens again this week.

“The ability for our club to deal with situations, reset ourselves, whether it be from week to week, in-game or even in-quarter are really important for us.

The Demons celebrate after winning the 2021 minor premiership. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“This is a new season, a new beginning and the opportunity is in front of us, but we’ve got to go and work for it and earn it.”

Agassi, who won his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon aged 22 and won his last Grand Slam at the Australian Open when he was 32, had a strong ability to reset himself in tennis as he enjoyed a career at the top for decades.

It’s a method that Goodwin is in awe of.

“It was a theme that we used and grabbed an example of a player that’s been at the top of his game for a long, long time,” Goodwin said.

“How he (Agassi) broke down his opponent, he didn’t have to be the best for that tournament, he needed to be the best on that day and he needed to beat the opponent seven times to be champion.

“He broke it down really simply into sets and games and opponents to win championships.

“There’s great learnings from champions from around the world that you can grab a hold of, and Andre’s one of those.”

Agassi is one sporting icon that Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin is using to inspire his players. Picture: AFP Photo/Toru Yamanaka

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won his first NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, was cited by Goodwin as a key example of a player that knows how to reset and succeed.

More specifically, Goodwin is a fan of the Bucks star’s key trait displayed throughout his young career: “The never being satisfied part of it.”

“He’s done a few interviews and talks about the ability to continue to push and stay in the moment and never be satisfied with where he sits,” Goodwin said. “Whether it be from an individual perspective or team perspective.

“He saw his journey through at one club and got the ultimate (prize).

“Our players were really captivated and learnt from those stories and the storytelling involved in those things.”

Melbourne will get their first chance to put their lessons from Agassi and Antetokounmpo in practice on Saturday night, as their finals campaign gets under way against Brisbane at the Adelaide Oval.

Originally published as AFL: Unlikely sporting heroes spurring on Melbourne ahead of finals