Simon Goodwin (born 26 December 1976) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

coach and former player. He has been the senior coach of the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

of the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) since 2017. As a player, Goodwin tallied 275 AFL games, all as a midfielder for the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

between 1996 and 2010. He won two premierships with the Crows in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, was a five-time

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

, and captained Adelaide for his final three seasons. As coach of Melbourne, Goodwin led the Demons back into the finals in 2018, and in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

coached Melbourne to its first premiership victory in 57 years. Goodwin was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a player in 2017.

Playing career

Adelaide Crows

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 The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

with pick No. 18 in the 1996 Pre-season Draft, Goodwin made his debut for

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

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 Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian N ...

. 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 1997 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 the 1998 Grand Final. 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 Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

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 Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

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. 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 Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

(the only player 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 The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

. 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.

International rules

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

Coaching career

Essendon Football Club

On 30 September 2010, Goodwin announced his appointment as assistant coach at

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

. 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 handed to James Hird as a result of the Essendon supplements saga. In his only game at the helm, Essendon lost to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

by 39 points. 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 Hird's suspension."Mark Thompson named Essendon coach as Bombers confirm James Hird won't return to top job in 2014"
''Herald Sun'', 10 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013."Thompson named Senior Coach for 2014"
''Essendon Football Club'', 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.

Melbourne Football Club

On 18 September 2014, Goodwin signed a five-year contract with the

. He served for two years as an assistant coach under senior coach Paul Roos before taking over as senior coach for three years from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

in a succession plan. After a ninth-place finish in

, Goodwin led the club to its first finals series in twelve years in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. Melbourne reached the preliminary final, where they lost to eventual premiers West Coast by sixty-six points at Optus Stadium. After falling to second-last in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and narrowly missing out on the finals in the shortened

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

season, Melbourne under Goodwin surged forward in

, winning their first nine games, their best unbeaten start to a season since

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, and never finished a round lower than fourth on the ladder. Melbourne won their first minor premiership since

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

— then their most recent premiership season — and advanced to their first Grand Final since

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, prior to which Goodwin was named AFLCA Coach of the Year. In the

2021 AFL Grand Final The 2021 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between and the at Perth Stadium, Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, on Saturday 25 September 2021. It was the 126th annual AFL Grand Final, grand final of the ...

against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

, Goodwin's Demons started well, but faltered in the second and early in the third quarter and trailed by as much as nineteen points. Melbourne then put together a massive turnaround, scoring the next twelve goals en route to a 74-point victory, claiming their thirteenth flag and ending their 57-year premiership drought.

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

^# , , , , 36 , 10 , , 4 , , 1 , , 93 , , 26 , , 119 , , 32 , , 25 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 9.3 , , 2.6 , , 11.9 , , 3.2 , , 2.5 , , 0 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

^# , , , , 36 , 21 , , 8 , , 6 , , 202 , , 89 , , 291 , , 60 , , 45 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 9.6 , , 4.2 , , 13.9 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , , 0 , - ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, , , , 36 , 19 , , 2 , , 2 , , 148 , , 77 , , 225 , , 49 , , 17 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 7.8 , , 4.1 , , 11.8 , , 2.6 , , 0.9 , , 0 , - ,

, , , , 36 , 22 , , 15 , , 21 , , 284 , , 177 , , 461 , , 104 , , 28 , , 0.7 , , 1.0 , , 12.9 , , 8.0 , , 21.0 , , 4.7 , , 1.3 , , 7 , - ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, , , , 36 , 23 , , 16 , , 11 , , 370 , , 149 , , 519 , , 73 , , 90 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 16.1 , , 6.5 , , 22.6 , , 3.2 , , 3.9 , , 10 , - ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, , , , 36 , 22 , , 17 , , 16 , , 271 , , 205 , , 476 , , 61 , , 63 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 12.3 , , 9.3 , , 21.6 , , 2.8 , , 2.9 , , 7 , - ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, , , , 36 , 19 , , 13 , , 12 , , 208 , , 137 , , 345 , , 62 , , 43 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 10.9 , , 7.2 , , 18.2 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , 0 , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , , , 36 , 10 , , 6 , , 2 , , 123 , , 65 , , 188 , , 38 , , 22 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 12.3 , , 6.5 , , 18.8 , , 3.8 , , 2.2 , , 2 , - ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, , , , 36 , 24 , , 20 , , 12 , , 313 , , 233 , , 546 , , 107 , , 64 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 13.0 , , 9.7 , , 22.8 , , 4.5 , , 2.7 , , 9 , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , , , 36 , 24 , , 12 , , 12 , , 369 , , 270 , , 639 , , 101 , , 83 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 15.4 , , 11.3 , , 26.6 , , 4.2 , , 3.5 , , 10 , - ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, , , , 36 , 21 , , 10 , , 8 , , 268 , , 248 , , 516 , , 91 , , 53 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 12.8 , , 11.8 , , 24.6 , , 4.3 , , 2.5 , , 12 , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , , , 36 , 23 , , 33 , , 29 , , 272 , , 196 , , 468 , , 120 , , 61 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 11.8 , , 8.5 , , 20.3 , , 5.2 , , 2.7 , , 5 , - ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , , , 36 , 21 , , 4 , , 2 , , 220 , , 328 , , 548 , , 119 , , 46 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 10.5 , , 15.6 , , 26.1 , , 5.7 , , 2.2 , , 6 , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , 36 , 16 , , 2 , , 1 , , 185 , , 217 , , 402 , , 81 , , 58 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 11.6 , , 13.6 , , 25.1 , , 5.1 , , 3.6 , , 6 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 275 !! 162 !! 135 !! 3326 !! 2417 !! 5743 !! 1098 !! 698 !! 0.6 !! 0.5 !! 12.1 !! 8.8 !! 20.9 !! 4.0 !! 2.5 !! 74

Coaching statistics

''Updated to the end of 2024''. , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0.0% , , 9 , , 18 , - ,

, , , 22 , , 12 , , 10 , , 0 , , 54.5% , , 9 , , 18 , - ,

, , , 25 , , 16 , , 9 , , 0 , , 64.0% , , 4 , , 18 , - ,

, , , 22 , , 5 , , 17 , , 0 , , 22.7% , , 17 , , 18 , - ,

, , , 17 , , 9 , , 8 , , 0 , , 52.9% , , 9 , , 18 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

^# , , , 25 , , 20 , , 4 , , 1 , , 80.0% , , 1 , , 18 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , 24 , , 16 , , 8 , , 0 , , 66.6% , , 2 , , 18 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , 23 , , 16 , , 7 , , 0 , , 69.2% , , 4 , , 18 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , 23 , , 11 , , 12 , , 0 , , 47.8% , , 14 , , 18 , - ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 183 ! 104 ! 78 ! 1 ! 57.10% ! colspan=2, Notes

Honours and achievements

Playing honours

Team * 2× AFL premiership player ():

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

():

* AFL Pre-Season Cup ():

Individual * AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award:

* 5×

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

* Adelaide Captain: 2008–2010 * 3× Malcolm Blight Medal:

* Dream Team representative honours in AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match * 2×

Australian international rules football team The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in International rules football, a hybrid sport derived from Australian rules football and Gaelic football. The current team is solely made up of player ...

* State of Origin (

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

* Michael Tuck Medal:

* Showdown Medal: 2005 (Round 20), 2007 (Round 18) * Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee: 2017 * Adelaide Team of the Decade 1991–2000

Coaching honours

Team * AFL Premiership coach ():

():

Individual * Jock McHale Medal:

* AFLCA Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award:

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Simon Adelaide Football Club players Adelaide Football Club premiership players 1976 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) Malcolm Blight Medal winners South Adelaide Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Essendon Football Club coaches South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players Melbourne Football Club coaches Melbourne Football Club premiership coaches VFL/AFL premiership players VFL/AFL premiership coaches