PAUL Roos says he was instantly won over by his successor Simon Goodwin, when they first met several weeks ago.

Roos said it took an “hour to an hour and a half” after meeting him properly for the first time, before he felt that Goodwin was the one to coach Melbourne from 2017 onwards.

“I went to Todd Viney’s house probably thinking I’d walk out of there and not necessarily move on, but [Goodwin won me over] in probably his first meeting,” he said.  

“He was really honest and open about some of the ASADA things [at Essendon] – he was really honest about that.

“I must admit I walked out super impressed from day one and I’ve always been a bit of a person who works on gut feel.

“Then we went through the formal process with the coaching sub-committee and the presentation with [president] Glen [Bartlett] and the board and everyone had the same feeling as we went through the process – everyone was super impressed by his honesty.

“Everyone was super impressed by the fact he wasn’t football focused in a sense of game plan – he was really talking about culture and what he learned through Adelaide and Essendon.”

Roos said he spoke to “about 20 people” before the club decided on Goodwin. 

“The thing that stood out for Simon during his presentation and during his discussions with the football club was that it was less about kick-ins, zones and handballs etc … it was more about culture and leadership,” he said.

“I’m certainly really, really excited – the final piece of the puzzle is now in place for the Melbourne Football Club and everyone in the football department is extremely excited about Simon coming on board.

“Personally, I’m really looking forward to working with Simon over the next couple of years and making sure the transition is as seamless as it was when we did a similar thing at Sydney, with myself and John Longmire.”