3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Can anyone share what the article says?

Just now, GawnOfTheDead said:

Can anyone share what the article says?

Simon Goodwin says Melbourne was right to sack him after losing purpose following 2021 flag

Simon Goodwin has spoken for the first time since being sacked as Demons coach, revealing why he thought Melbourne did the right thing in sacking him.

Former Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has conceded the Demons did the right thing by sacking him.

After two months of reflection, the 2021 premiership coach says he now realised his time was up with the Melbourne playing group.

“I was ready,” Goodwin told the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Grand Final lunch.

“I think in the end you are probably not performing your role to the maximum as you would have liked.

“You don’t at the time (realise it) but when you sit back and reflect, the greatest thing in the last eight weeks is I have been able to go away and just write down all my lessons about what I have actually learnt in that process.”

When asked about those lessons, Goodwin revealed the Demons struggled to find purpose again after breaking the 57-year premiership drought.

“After success you face different challenges. As a coach it (the challenge) was building towards a premiership and building a great organisation but after success things change,” Goodwin said.

“The disease of me is one of those where everyone wants more, they want more accolades, they want more money and then convenience starts to kick in.

“The standards aren’t quite the same, they don’t quite want to be motivated . . . you need to really shift your purpose, you need to create a new purpose for the new challenge.

“Our initial purpose was to bring happiness to the Melbourne football fans who haven’t had it and to break the Norm Smith curse of 57 years.

“Once we did that, we didn’t redefine our next purpose and I think that’s a big part of driving success and that was one of the biggest lessons for me.”

Ironically the former VECCI boss Paul Geurra wasn’t at the lunch. He left the organisation to become CEO of Melbourne and while he hadn’t officially started when Goodwin was sacked, he clearly had line of sight.

The Demons have since appointed Geelong assistant coach Steven King as senior coach.

Former West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson, who was also interviewed at the lunch, revealed he knew he was in trouble when Don Pyke came in as the new CEO.

“I think it was time for me, it was 11 years. I tell you what does quickly happen, a new CEO arrives and the new CEO wants to hitch their wagon to their man and I wasn’t Don Pyke’s man,” Simpson, who was sacked in July last year, said.

“He was actually my assistant coach 10 years ago but I could tell pretty quickly it wasn’t going to end well.

“But I was ready, in fact it was a relief by the end of it all. It’s more the legacy piece I worry about. We win one game the year after I finish and I feel like, ‘Is that my fault? I’m grappling with that a little bit, about how you leave the club is important and obviously West Coast are in a bit of hurt at the moment.”

While Simpson said he wasn’t thinking about coaching again, Goodwin, who has joined the Sydney Swans as director of coaching, was a firm “yes” when asked if he would have a second crack.

The pair were joined by Carlton captain Patrick Cripps on the panel with all three tipping the Brisbane Lions to upset Geelong in Saturday’s Grand Final.

4 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Really revealing quotes from this:

When asked about those lessons, Goodwin revealed the Demons struggled to find purpose again after breaking the 57-year premiership drought.

“After success you face different challenges. As a coach it (the challenge) was building towards a premiership and building a great organisation but after success things change,” Goodwin said.

“The disease of me is one of those where everyone wants more, they want more accolades, they want more money and then convenience starts to kick in.

“The standards aren’t quite the same, they don’t quite want to be motivated . . . you need to really shift your purpose, you need to create a new purpose for the new challenge.

“Our initial purpose was to bring happiness to the Melbourne football fans who haven’t had it and to break the Norm Smith curse of 57 years.

“Once we did that, we didn’t redefine our next purpose and I think that’s a big part of driving success and that was one of the biggest lessons for me.”

16 minutes ago, Bleasey as that said:

Simon Goodwin says Melbourne was right to sack him after losing purpose following 2021 flag

Simon Goodwin has spoken for the first time since being sacked as Demons coach, revealing why he thought Melbourne did the right thing in sacking him.

Former Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has conceded the Demons did the right thing by sacking him.

After two months of reflection, the 2021 premiership coach says he now realised his time was up with the Melbourne playing group.

“I was ready,” Goodwin told the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Grand Final lunch.

“I think in the end you are probably not performing your role to the maximum as you would have liked.

“You don’t at the time (realise it) but when you sit back and reflect, the greatest thing in the last eight weeks is I have been able to go away and just write down all my lessons about what I have actually learnt in that process.”

When asked about those lessons, Goodwin revealed the Demons struggled to find purpose again after breaking the 57-year premiership drought.

“After success you face different challenges. As a coach it (the challenge) was building towards a premiership and building a great organisation but after success things change,” Goodwin said.

“The disease of me is one of those where everyone wants more, they want more accolades, they want more money and then convenience starts to kick in.

“The standards aren’t quite the same, they don’t quite want to be motivated . . . you need to really shift your purpose, you need to create a new purpose for the new challenge.

“Our initial purpose was to bring happiness to the Melbourne football fans who haven’t had it and to break the Norm Smith curse of 57 years.

“Once we did that, we didn’t redefine our next purpose and I think that’s a big part of driving success and that was one of the biggest lessons for me.”

Ironically the former VECCI boss Paul Geurra wasn’t at the lunch. He left the organisation to become CEO of Melbourne and while he hadn’t officially started when Goodwin was sacked, he clearly had line of sight.

The Demons have since appointed Geelong assistant coach Steven King as senior coach.

Former West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson, who was also interviewed at the lunch, revealed he knew he was in trouble when Don Pyke came in as the new CEO.

“I think it was time for me, it was 11 years. I tell you what does quickly happen, a new CEO arrives and the new CEO wants to hitch their wagon to their man and I wasn’t Don Pyke’s man,” Simpson, who was sacked in July last year, said.

“He was actually my assistant coach 10 years ago but I could tell pretty quickly it wasn’t going to end well.

“But I was ready, in fact it was a relief by the end of it all. It’s more the legacy piece I worry about. We win one game the year after I finish and I feel like, ‘Is that my fault? I’m grappling with that a little bit, about how you leave the club is important and obviously West Coast are in a bit of hurt at the moment.”

While Simpson said he wasn’t thinking about coaching again, Goodwin, who has joined the Sydney Swans as director of coaching, was a firm “yes” when asked if he would have a second crack.

The pair were joined by Carlton captain Patrick Cripps on the panel with all three tipping the Brisbane Lions to upset Geelong in Saturday’s Grand Final.

Great read, I always really liked Goody. I’m still a bit sad he’s not there.

I’m glad he was able to reflect like that and see exactly what we all saw which was that the club was stagnant and not improving like your Hawthorns and Geelongs etc.

Respect to him and again wish him well at his new club.

Its actually really admirable by to admit this. He is clearly a level headed, humble person and that is a fantastic trait. It really is a pity that those around him could not challenge him to overcome some of these things. People like Richo, Pert, Choco et al are all partially accountable for this as it doesn't solely rest on Goody's shoulders - Richo more than anyone else as id see it as his role to define strategy, purpose, gameplan etc, while Goody was more about putting that into practise onfield. Nevertheless, whats done is done and at least it doesnt appear that Goody is overly salty about the move. And hopefully in time, will come back into the club to celebrate our next major achievement or reflect on those in the past.

Goody still going on about his learnings

55 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Legend.

We were right to move him on. Kudos to the board for making the decision

and kudos to Goody for his honest reflections

He is and always will be a legend of the club

I wish him every success with Sydney (except when they play us)

Wow they struggled to find purpose after 21 and couldn’t redefine the next purpose, it appears once they climbed the mountain they were not willing to climb it again? What purpose do the Cats define each season, looks like he knew his time was up, like his honesty & answers many questions but also raises many with so many assistants how this happened.

This is the challenge King has with the playing group especially the senior players. If he can get that premiership group really really motivated again then we won’t be that far off. It’s a big if.

36 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

People like Richo, Pert, Choco et al are all partially accountable for this as it doesn't solely rest on Goody's shoulders

Absolutely. But also the President and the board, though right across the club.

Credit to Goodwin for being able to work through this honestly and then own it. He'll be back.

Just now, damienjr said:

This is the challenge King has with the playing group especially the senior players. If he can get that premiership group really really motivated again then we won’t be that far off. It’s a big if.

Absolutely. But the sense of motivation and self-belief we had in 2021 was off the charts, that's not something that's easy to replicate.

Personally, I still feel that we're a bit short for onfield leadership, much as Viney and Gawn do what they can. You think of Hawthorn with the likes of Hodge, Lewis and Mitchell running around, it was a big part of their longer-term success.

1 minute ago, bing181 said:

Absolutely. But the sense of motivation and self-belief we had in 2021 was off the charts, that's not something that's easy to replicate.

Personally, I still feel that we're a bit short for onfield leadership, much as Viney and Gawn do what they can. You think of Hawthorn with the likes of Hodge, Lewis and Mitchell running around, it was a big part of their longer-term success.

Think Jordan Lewis has spoken a bit about how when he was at the Hawks, by the time they came back to pre-season after winning a flag they had pretty much stopped celebrating completely and the mood was totally back to business. Due to COVID the club was still celebrating into December with the Members (rightly so) but I think when you're a smaller club that hasn't had much success it's hard to move on from such an historic, generational moment. Clubs like Collingwood, Hawthorn, Geelong etc haven't got that baggage so it's a lot easier for them to move on from the flag and get back on their bikes.

46 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Absolutely. But the sense of motivation and self-belief we had in 2021 was off the charts, that's not something that's easy to replicate.

Personally, I still feel that we're a bit short for onfield leadership, much as Viney and Gawn do what they can. You think of Hawthorn with the likes of Hodge, Lewis and Mitchell running around, it was a big part of their longer-term success.

40 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Think Jordan Lewis has spoken a bit about how when he was at the Hawks, by the time they came back to pre-season after winning a flag they had pretty much stopped celebrating completely and the mood was totally back to business. Due to COVID the club was still celebrating into December with the Members (rightly so) but I think when you're a smaller club that hasn't had much success it's hard to move on from such an historic, generational moment. Clubs like Collingwood, Hawthorn, Geelong etc haven't got that baggage so it's a lot easier for them to move on from the flag and get back on their bikes.

It was refreshing to hear Goody admit this, however I think part of our problem in some ways was how dominant our finals series and the age of our list. We made basically 0 list changes at the end of 2021 and there was basically no new players to come in with new hunger to win a flag. We rested on our laurels in a whole club sense.

Geelong made significant list changes after their 2022 premiership (albeit some forced due to age) to a point where there 2025 team is almost unrecognisable to their 2022 team.

Even Mitchell said in his presser after the prelim that they have to keep innovating because if they don't, they'll finish bottom 10 next year.

Melb of 2021 did a Blockbuster. Geelong of 2022 did a Netflix.

Didn’t define a new purpose after winning the flag? i guess this is what separates the likes of Hawks and Cats from us.

Make a dynasty? Win another flag? Think of team over me?

Honest reflections but hard to read. Obviously not just on Goody but the whole club to not push this

Reading between the lines, my interpretation is he realises now the tail began to wag the dog and he didnt address it. It became a culture of me... and im pretty sure hes talking about the players.

They said about Port that they were happy with one. Dees went down that path.

What ever we think about Goody being given the flick, From mid 2022 to now we were on a bad downward spiral. For a number of reasons both players and football actions

Fitness and playing style.

It was the coaches tole to fix the slump, it didn’t happen. Like fixing the last quarter against the aints, it did not happen.

At least we are not frothing over an ex collywobbles player.

22 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Didn’t define a new purpose after winning the flag? i guess this is what separates the likes of Hawks and Cats from us.

Make a dynasty? Win another flag? Think of team over me?

Honest reflections but hard to read. Obviously not just on Goody but the whole club to not push this

Spot on, I guess Tracs frustrations spot on, question is was Goody waiting for a sacking instead of resigning??

1 hour ago, KozzyCan said:

Think Jordan Lewis has spoken a bit about how when he was at the Hawks, by the time they came back to pre-season after winning a flag they had pretty much stopped celebrating completely and the mood was totally back to business. Due to COVID the club was still celebrating into December with the Members (rightly so) but I think when you're a smaller club that hasn't had much success it's hard to move on from such an historic, generational moment. Clubs like Collingwood, Hawthorn, Geelong etc haven't got that baggage so it's a lot easier for them to move on from the flag and get back on their bikes.

I agree but we did start 2022 10 zip

Struggled to find purpose 🤔

I thought the purpose and motivation was to win one at the G in front of the fans in 2022. That’s what Gawn and co preached for a while after the flag. And I honestly thought that 2022 would more or less just happen due to that factor.

I have amazing admiration for clubs that can go back to back as they’re already behind the 8 ball in terms of motivation and hunger to climb the mountain again the following year compared to other clubs who are desperate to get there.

49 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Spot on, I guess Tracs frustrations spot on, question is was Goody waiting for a sacking instead of resigning??

Not sure why we would doubt Goody on this when he said this was from two months of self reflection after the sacking.

Imo I think revitalising our style into a faster and cleaner 2025 version was so much of a huge all consuming task, that perhaps he had not balanced that with inspiring the collective and personal drives of the playing group. I think it was commonly thought that it was the reverse! (Or both)

The new tactics position makes a lot more sense in this regard, as others have pointed out

Edited yesterday at 12:301 day by John Demonic

1 hour ago, damienjr said:

I agree but we did start 2022 10 zip

You could see the complacency setting in during that period and it had fully taken hold by the second half of the year. Once it was clear we weren't as dominant as we thought we were the cracks really started to appear.

1 hour ago, Demonsone said:

Spot on, I guess Tracs frustrations spot on, question is was Goody waiting for a sacking instead of resigning??

Seems pretty obvious from his remarks he wanted to stay as he was so invested but after reflection can see the issues more clearly.

3 hours ago, bing181 said:

Absolutely. But the sense of motivation and self-belief we had in 2021 was off the charts, that's not something that's easy to replicate.

Personally, I still feel that we're a bit short for onfield leadership, much as Viney and Gawn do what they can. You think of Hawthorn with the likes of Hodge, Lewis and Mitchell running around, it was a big part of their longer-term success.

100% and this was evident for all to see in the collapse against the Saints.

I appreciate Goodwin's honesty and ability to reflect, he is a legend of the club and will always be welcomed back - but I find his comments unfathomable. You had difficulty redefining your purpose? How about aiming for excellence, consistently being the best in the comp, winning a flag at the G, being the best Demons side, being the best team of the modern era etc etc. Lofty aims, sure, but I don't understand how there could be a lack of focus and an inability to define your purpose.

Good on him for identifying it and being able to reflect as I said but I don't understand how that was allowed to occur. As others said above, a whole of club thing not a one person thing.