Simon Goodwin admits error in airing Max Gawn’s personal issue in post-match press conference

Simon Goodwin has been criticised for inviting questions about Max Gawn’s private life in a cryptic post-match press conference. Now, the Demons coach has spoken publicly for the first time.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has revealed he immediately sought out Max Gawn to apologise following his cryptic comments about the Demons’ captain in Sunday’s post-match press conference.

Goodwin’s vague remark about there being “a backstory to everyone’s performance” raised eyebrows and ultimately forced Gawn to publicly address it on Tuesday, to which he revealed a family member had been dealing with an “illness” for the past two years.

Speaking on AFL360 on Wednesday night, Goodwin conceded if he had his time again he would not have made those comments.

“I should have put a sock in it, shouldn’t I,” he said.

Max Gawn and Simon Goodwin. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I didn’t get it right.

“As a coach you go into this protective mode. I love the big fella, I love everything he is about, I love what he does for the footy club and I didn’t articulate it the way I certainly would have liked.

“As soon as I walked out I knew that I had to go and speak to him pretty quickly - and he was fine. He knew the place that it was coming from.

“If I had my time again I certainly wouldn’t go there but as a coach, sometimes that protective mode comes out.”

Goodwin said he left the press conference and immediately told Gawn of his faux pas.

“He just gave me a hug and said, ‘we’re good, we’re fine, we’ll keep moving forward’,” he recalled.

“That is the type of relationship we have. We have great care for one another and we’re not going to get everything right. We are imperfect in what we do.”

On Tuesday, Gawn said there was “no issue” between him and his coach.

In the days between Goodwin’s press conference and Gawn’s response, the comments opened a Pandora’s Box that left some questioning whether the coach had used it as an intentional deflection tactic following the Demons’ 59-point loss to North Melbourne.

Goodwin said he understood why that was the case.

“You open yourself up (to that critique) and because it wasn’t articulated well and it was left for everyone to have their own interpretation, that is what happens,” he said.

“People see it in a lot of different ways. A lot of different stories come out of it and a lot of different meanings take place within it.

“As I say, we are imperfect and we move on.”

Intentional or not, the storm around Goodwin’s comments did briefly supersede the assessment of Melbourne’s disappointing defeat to the Kangaroos.

North Melbourne kicked eight goals in the final quarter to blow the Demons off the park, only a week after Goodwin’s side came within a whisker of defeating the heavily-fancied GWS Giants.

The Melbourne coach said it was a result of going “back to some bad habits” and conceded the Demons must “show improvement consistently over a period of time” before the narrative around the club changes.

“The first thing is to acknowledge we still have work to do,” Goodwin said.

“All pre-season we have shifted in the method of how we want to play in all phases of the game.

“This takes time. But we are committed to the process, we are committed to finding a new pathway forward for this team and we are two weeks in.

“We have seen already in this competition some real ups and downs in the first two weeks. Our challenge now is what happens next and the response is the most important thing.”

Melbourne hosts Gold Coast at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

GAWN DEFENDS GOODWIN’S POST-MATCH ‘BALLS-UP’

Max Gawn says he has “no issue” with coach Simon Goodwin’s cryptic post-match press conference as he and his family navigate the long-term illness of one of its members.

Gawn, 33, revealed that a family member had been battling illness for the last two years and while things had “escalated” over recent weeks, things have settled for now.

“I am OK. There’s an illness in the family, there has been for a while — about 24 months, to be honest,” Gawn said on Triple M on Tuesday.

“And I’ve put myself in a really good spot throughout that 24 months, to be honest … played some good footy, got some great people at the club, great people in my family, and I’ve turned up every single day ready to be a captain and player and turned up at home ready to be a husband and dad as well.

Max Gawn says he had no problem with Simon Goodwin mentioning a private issue at his press conference after Melbourne’s loss to North Melbourne.

“I’m in a really good spot. And so is the family member at this point. It did sort of escalate over the last three or four weeks, but back to a steady state now.”

Gawn said he had been open about the matter within the club but wouldn’t reveal whether Goodwin had apologised after the Sunday night media conference where he inferred that Gawn – who was comprehensively beaten by North Melbourne ruck Tristan Xerri – had a “backstory” to performance.

"We'll support Max... There's a backstory to everyone's performance."

Simon Goodwin has discussed Max Gawn's performance against the Roos: https://t.co/asVCPOXoVH#AFLNorthDeespic.twitter.com/ri1zwW9OlR

— AFL (@AFL) March 23, 2025

“We spoke a lot yesterday … there’s no issue with me and Goody,” the Demons skipper said.

“I can clearly see what he was trying to do — he was trying to show me love and support and I don’t mind. I spoke to that family member yesterday. They don’t mind. It’s fine.”

He said Goodwin was “showing love”.

“I love that my coach loves me and it clearly shows that he cares. He’s 100 per cent right. There is reasons behind performance,” Gawn said.

“That wasn’t me on the weekend. I’d got myself to a really good point to be able to play, I just got beat. We all just got beat … I won’t hide behind that. But I understand what the coach was doing. He is a father figure for me and he was showing love and showing care and I appreciate that.”

The skipper said if Goodwin had had his time again, he may have said he “just got smashed by (Tristan) Xerri” rather than the revelation, “but it’s fine”.

And he said he would not hesitate to step away from playing if personal issues became too much to bear.

“I’ve got myself in a really good spot. And I know I’m a mental health advocate. I’d clearly stand aside from football if I was struggling, but I’ve got some great people at both the club and at home that keep me in a good place.”

GOODWIN’S CRYPTIC ‘BALLS-UP’ CRITICISED

There is “no way” Simon Goodwin should have opened the door to Max Gawn’s personal life in his post-match press conference, two-time All-Australian David King has declared, labelling the move “a balls-up”.

And former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has warned it is a “slippery slope” to open the door on players’ personal lives and impact on performance.

Goodwin said there was “a backstory” to Gawn’s performance in Sunday’s loss to North Melbourne, throwing his support behind the star ruck while cryptically revealing “there’s some stuff in life” that was running in the background for the Demon.

The Herald Sun understands Gawn has a family member who is currently unwell, and that the premiership captain had no foresight that the matter would be raised by Goodwin, who is a close friend.

The Dees’ skipper had his colours lowered on Sunday. Picture: Michael Klein

But King said it never should have been raised in that forum.

“It’s a balls-up, really. There’s no way Simon Goodwin should have broached this in the post-match,” King said on SEN.

“Just (say), ‘Max got beaten today, he’s been pretty good for a decade, we take the mulligan and we move on’.

“There’s no need to put this out in the public sphere, and now all this does is have everyone hunting after a story.”

Gawn, 33, is expected to appear in a regular radio slot on Tuesday morning where he will no doubt address the matter.

Gawn was well beaten by North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri in the Roos’ thumping 59-point win.

When pressed on his skipper’s performance, Goodwin wouldn’t go into specific detail but said: “In life there are other things that are going on.

“We’ll support Max, he’s a great person, he’s a great leader and there’s a backstory to everyone’s performance.

“Max is someone that we take enormous pride in and he’s going to continue to be a great leader for this footy club and he’ll be a big part of our response.

“I’m not going to go into the details but … you know there’s footy and there’s some stuff in life, which you’ve got to understand that people all have backstories.

“He’s someone we love and he’ll certainly be a big part of our response.”

Melbourne are now 0-2. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Buckley said the move “asks more questions than it answers”.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” he said on SEN.

“But quite clearly, that is an attempt at a coach to wrap his arms around and support a friend and a player and a leader in his organisation that he’s been through the good and the bad with along the way.

“I thought the intentions were pure and I think the intentions were good, but I don’t know if that’s the way to go.

“Two points – one, did Max Gawn have agency on that? Is that something that he would have been happy to be put on the table? I don’t know whether he would have.

“Times are changing. I’m not talking about being gruff and pushing everything down and being unfeeling and uncaring – that’s not what we are … and two, if you’re going to start with that, you will never stop.

“I think it was well-intentioned, but I think it’s a slippery slope.

“There is no excuse (for poor performance). There’s reasons, but there’s no excuses. He was beaten, and that’s fine. You’re beaten. He’ll be part of the response. But when you put something like that on the table … it’s a slippery slope, because he wouldn’t have been the only one out there with personal challenges.

“It asks more questions than it answers.”

Originally published as Simon Goodwin admits error in airing Max Gawn’s personal issue in post-match press conference