SIMON Goodwin will celebrate a major milestone against North Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, becoming just the fourth coach in Melbourne Football Club history to reach 200 games at the helm.
When Goodwin stepped into the role ahead of the 2017 season, he outlined a clear focus: building a game style based on “fearless team football.” Speaking at the club’s season launch, he said, “We want to play a brand that is identifiable by our supporters and the wider football community.”
That brand, he explained, meant “being strong around the contest, aggressive with our defensive positioning and pressure,” and moving the ball “fearlessly on offence to create scoring opportunities.” He described it as “a style that will be powered by players that compete and have a team-first approach… an intensity that’s infectious and our supporters will grow to love.”
Across his 199-game coaching career, Goodwin has steered the Demons to 109 wins - including a premiership, three consecutive top four finishes, and a return to September as a genuine contender.
In 2018, he guided Melbourne to its first finals series in over a decade. Just three years later, the club claimed its first minor premiership since 1964 and marched to a Grand Final berth. After trailing by 19 points in the third quarter, the Demons produced a historic 12-goal blitz to claim a 74-point win and end a 57-year premiership drought.
Goodwin’s journey from dual-premiership player at Adelaide to premiership coach at Melbourne has been underpinned by connection, belonging and fearlessness - values that have redefined the standards at one of the game’s oldest clubs.
He now sits behind only Norm Smith (310), Frank Hughes (258) and Neale Daniher (223) for games coached at Melbourne.
