AFL 2025: Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin confident he can lead Demons through challenges
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says he’s the right man to lead the club through its early-season struggles.
AFL
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Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin insists he is “well-credentialed” to steer the Demons through the challenges at hand just a month into the season.
The Demons head to Gather Round with 2025 on the line after a winless opening month to the year.
Goodwin denies feeling under pressure and is backing his record of guiding Melbourne over hurdles to success in the past.
“I haven’t had one thought about myself, my thoughts are with the club, the team and the players,” he said.
“You know through my time at the footy club we’ve seen great challenges and we’ve been able to work our way through them to ultimately have success.
“When you get challenged you rise and do your job to the best of your ability.
“I think I am pretty well-credentialed to see through these challenges and get the club back to where they belong. That’s my job, my task right now.”
The Demons didn’t play finals last season and haven’t won a final since their drought-breaking premiership in 2021.
They’ve struggled in personnel and execution since that emphatic flag, with issues arising both on and off the field.
Goodwin says the unsettled nature of the group over the past 18 months remains high on his priority list as the Demons build consistency.
“I have said this a lot but cohesion is a big part of footy, getting your team settled, understanding each other and operating to a high-level takes time,” he said.
“We’ve been able to add a lot of youth to our team in the last couple of years when our senior boys have been in and out of the team.
“We haven’t had that cohesion as much as we would have liked. We’re starting to get a group into a position now where we can start to build that.
“That’s what’s exciting for us is that we’re in a position where we can start to build that in the next three or four weeks.
“We’ve got a pretty healthy squad coming together again … but we feel that’s where we’re going to get our greatest progression, getting these guys to play together more often and get them really clear on what’s expected and try to evolve our game.”
Melbourne has Essendon this weekend before hosting Fremantle back at the MCG.
Originally published as AFL 2025: Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin confident he can lead Demons through challenges
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