Simon Goodwin

Simon Goodwin
Goodwin as Melbourne coach in April 2018
Personal information
Full name	Simon Goodwin
Nickname(s)	Goody
Date of birth	(1976-12-26) 26 December 1976 (age 44)
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s)	South Adelaide (SANFL)
Draft	No. 18, 1996 pre-season draft
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1996–2010	Adelaide	275 (162)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2013	Essendon	01 (0–1–0)
2017–	Melbourne	109 (59–49–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2010. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 23, 2021.
Career highlights
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee 2017 2x AFL Premiership player (1997, 1998) 5x All-Australian team (2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009) Adelaide captain (2008–2010) Malcolm Blight Medal (2000, 2005, 2006) Michael Tuck Medal (2006) AFLCA Champion Player of the Year (2006) Australia international rules football team (2000, 2001) Dream Team (Australian rules football) (2008) Adelaide Team of the Decade - Interchange Showdown Medal (2005, 2007)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Simon Goodwin (born 26 December 1976) is the senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club. He is a retired professional Australian rules footballer, a former dual premiership player for the Adelaide Crows, a multi-times All-Australian player and a former captain of the Adelaide Crows. Goodwin played a total of 275 senior games in his AFL career, all for the Adelaide Crows.^[1][2]

AFL career[]

Early career (1996–1999)[]

Prior to embarking on his AFL career, Goodwin was an accomplished junior cricketer, co-captaining the South Australian Under-19 cricket team. Recruited from South Adelaide in the SANFL with pick No. 18 in the 1996 Pre-season Draft, Goodwin made his debut in Round 1, 1997, however, his game was marred by a severe quadriceps injury which kept him out for months.

Goodwin returned to the side in Round 14 to face West Coast, holding his position until he was omitted following the Round 18 victory over Carlton at Football Park. Goodwin earned a recall prior to the beginning of the 1997 finals series, returning solid performances in all four of Adelaide's wins, including 19 possessions and a goal in the victorious Grand Final.

After a poor start to 1998, Goodwin blossomed in the second half of the season, showing glimpses of the prolific ball-winner he would become in later years and once again playing a solid role in all four finals on the way to Adelaide's second premiership win in as many years.

The 1999 season was to be one of disappointment, however, as Goodwin's performances mirrored that of his club. Despite featuring in 19 of Adelaide's 22 games, Goodwin's progress was marred by inconsistency as Adelaide finished a lowly 13th in what was, at the time, the club's worst-ever finish to a season.

Rising career (2000–2004)[]

Following his disappointing 1999, Goodwin emerged as a star in his own right in the 2000 season with a string of assured midfield displays earning both his first All-Australian guernsey and Gold Jacket as Adelaide Club Champion. Goodwin capped this watershed year with selection to the Adelaide Football Club Team of the Decade.

Another All-Australian selection followed in 2001 with consistently good performances alongside fellow star midfielders Mark Ricciuto, Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards pushing Adelaide back into premiership reckoning for 2002 after three seasons where the club had finished no higher than eighth.

In 2002 Goodwin struggled for consistency, in part due to the extra attention he was receiving from opposition taggers. Highly prolific games such as his 39 possession/1 goal game against Collingwood in Round 14 were contrasted by his 17 possession game against Fremantle in Round 7. After suffering an injury in Round 19 against Essendon, Goodwin returned to the team in time for the finals, where despite high expectations the Crows were defeated in a preliminary final.

A member of Adelaide's pre-season premiership-winning team, Goodwin's highly promising 2003 was marred by a broken arm suffered early in the Round 11 clash with Hawthorn at the MCG when he collided with the boundary fence following a contest. Upon his return to the side in Round 17 Goodwin looked to be far from his best, able only to provide a series of steady displays as the Crows, despite being one of the hot premiership favourites, were knocked out in a semi-final.

As with 1999, Goodwin endured another horror year to mirror that of Adelaide's in 2004. Sidelined with an adductor injury between Rounds 4 and 16, by the time Goodwin returned Gary Ayres had resigned and been replaced by Neil Craig as the Crows languished near the lower end of the ladder. To further rub salt into the wound Goodwin was cited for tripping Roger James and suspended for one week in Adelaide's 25-point loss to eventual premiers Port Adelaide in Round 22.

Career high (2005–2007)[]

Goodwin and Adelaide's fortunes turned around completely in 2005 as the side unexpectedly won the minor premiership despite being tipped by many for the wooden spoon.^{[citation needed]} Individually Goodwin capped a superb return to top form, winning his third All-Australian guernsey and capturing his second club champion award. His stellar form continued in 2006, first winning the Michael Tuck Medal for best afield in Adelaide's pre-season grand final loss to Geelong (the only player thus far to do so in a loss), before again performing brilliantly in the season proper, winning his fourth All-Australian selection and third Gold Jacket.

Captaincy (2008–2010)[]

In early December 2007, Goodwin was named the captain for Adelaide for the 2008 football season. This coincided with a move into the forward line to allow the club's young midfielders to gain experience and bolster a struggling attack. The move paid dividends with Goodwin enjoying a career-best seven-goal haul in Adelaide's crushing Round 2 victory over the West Coast Eagles. In later matches, Goodwin was rotated between the forward and back half, increasingly the latter in order to allow young forwards to stake their claims for a permanent spot.

In Round 15, 2009, Goodwin played his 250th game. The Adelaide Crows celebrated by defeating Fremantle by 117 points, 19.16 (130) to 1.7 (13), shattering a number of records in doing so.

Retirement[]

On 25 May 2010, Goodwin announced he would retire at the conclusion of the 2010 AFL season.^[3]

International Rules[]

Goodwin served as the Australia international rules football team's goalkeeper for the 2004 International Rules Series.

Coaching career[]

On 30 September 2010, Goodwin announced his appointment as assistant coach at Essendon Football Club. On 27 August 2013, it was announced that Goodwin would take over as Essendon's caretaker senior coach for the final round of the 2013 season following the 12-month suspension of James Hird as a result of the Essendon Football Club supplements controversy. On 10 October 2013, Goodwin was promoted to the role of senior assistant coach for the 2014 season, following Mark Thompson's appointment as interim senior coach for the period of James Hird's suspension.^[1][4]

On 18 September 2014, Goodwin signed a five-year contract with the Melbourne Football Club. He served for two years as an assistant coach to Paul Roos before taking over as head coach for three years from 2017.^[5] Goodwin illustriously took Melbourne to its first finals series in 12 years in 2018, reaching the Preliminary Final to eventual premiers West Coast.

After falling to second-last in 2019 and narrowly missing out on the finals in their shortened 2020 campaign, Goodwin's Demons surged forward in 2021. The team won their first nine games, their best unbeaten start to a season since 1956,^[6] and were never lower than fourth on the ladder. Melbourne won their first minor premiership since 1964—their most recent premiership season—and handily won their way to their first Grand Final since 2000.

Statistics[]

Playing statistics[]

^[7]

Legend

G

Goals

B

Behinds

K

Kicks

H

Handballs

D

Disposals

M

Marks

T

Tackles

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1997	Adelaide	36	10	4	1	93	26	119	32	25	0.4	0.1	9.3	2.6	11.9	3.2	2.5
1998	Adelaide	36	21	8	6	202	89	291	60	45	0.4	0.3	9.6	4.2	13.9	2.9	2.1
1999	Adelaide	36	19	2	2	148	77	225	49	17	0.1	0.1	7.8	4.1	11.8	2.6	0.9
2000	Adelaide	36	22	15	21	284	177	461	104	28	0.7	1.0	12.9	8.0	21.0	4.7	1.3
2001	Adelaide	36	23	16	11	370	149	519	73	90	0.7	0.5	16.1	6.5	22.6	3.2	3.9
2002	Adelaide	36	22	17	16	271	205	476	61	63	0.8	0.7	12.3	9.3	21.6	2.8	2.9
2003	Adelaide	36	19	13	12	208	137	345	62	43	0.7	0.6	10.9	7.2	18.2	3.3	2.3
2004	Adelaide	36	10	6	2	123	65	188	38	22	0.6	0.2	12.3	6.5	18.8	3.8	2.2
2005	Adelaide	36	24	20	12	313	233	546	107	64	0.8	0.5	13.0	9.7	22.8	4.5	2.7
2006	Adelaide	36	24	12	12	369	270	639	101	83	0.5	0.5	15.4	11.3	26.6	4.2	3.5
2007	Adelaide	36	21	10	8	268	248	516	91	53	0.5	0.4	12.8	11.8	24.6	4.3	2.5
2008	Adelaide	36	23	33	29	272	196	468	120	61	1.4	1.3	11.8	8.5	20.3	5.2	2.7
2009	Adelaide	36	21	4	2	220	328	548	119	46	0.2	0.1	10.5	15.6	26.1	5.7	2.2
2010	Adelaide	36	16	2	1	185	217	402	81	58	0.1	0.1	11.6	13.6	25.1	5.1	3.6
Career			275	162	135	3326	2417	5743	1098	698	0.6	0.5	12.1	8.8	20.9	4.0	2.5

Coaching statistics[]

Statistics are correct to the end of round 23, 2021^[8]

Legend
W	Wins	L	Losses	D	Draws	W%	Winning percentage	LP	Ladder position	LT	League teams

Season	Team	Games	W	L	D	W %	LP	LT
2013*	Essendon	1	0	1	0	0.0%	9	18
2017	Melbourne	22	12	10	0	54.5%	9	18
2018	Melbourne	25	16	9	0	64.0%	4	18
2019	Melbourne	22	5	17	0	22.7%	17	18
2020	Melbourne	17	9	8	0	52.9%	9	18
2021	Melbourne	22	17	4	1	77.2%	1	18
Career totals		109	59	49	1	54.1%

* Caretaker coach

Controversy[]

On 1 March 2007, Goodwin was fined a record $40,000 and ordered to undertake compulsory counselling for placing four bets involving AFL matches totalling $16,024.58. Goodwin, along with three other players, became the first players in AFL history to be caught for betting on AFL matches.^[9]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simon Goodwin.

• Simon Goodwin's playing statistics from AFL Tables