TEARS AND DEE-LIGHT
Coach’s pre-game reflection on club’s revival
SIMON Goodwin lay on his bed in Melbourne’s Joondalup resort on the morning of grand final day and cried.
Not because he was afraid of losing the showpiece match at Perth Stadium.
But because of just how far the Demons had come.
In the lead-up to the club’s first grand final since 2000, Goodwin found time to go to a beachside pub in Perth for a parma and a pot to reflect on the club’s rise in recent years.
“I was reflecting on where our club has come from, the impact of our leaders, our footy department and how far they have taken our club and the amount of people back home and the supporters and the past players,” Goodwin said.
“The messages from people saying how proud they are of us, that’s what really resonated with me and it was a really good piece of reflection.
“And I think this brings it all together.”
While he was quite calm during the week, on Saturday morning the emotions hit Goodwin.
“I was laying on my bed crying thinking of how proud I was of the group,” he said.
“I spoke at a team meeting last night and I got a little bit emotional there because of how far they have come.
“Two years ago we were 17th. It’s a long way back to the top and to play the way we played. It’s a big rise.”
It isn’t just a big rise for the club. The two-time Adelaide premiership winner came into the 2021 campaign as arguably the most under-pressure coach in the competition. But Demons superstar Clayton Oliver said the players weren’t performing just for Goodwin.
“It was probably our fault,” Oliver said. “As players we weren’t delivering and playing well and jelling as a team.
“He was doing nothing wrong and he was copping all the heat for it. What he was working towards finally came through this year.
“Because we all bought into what Goody wanted.”
With the flag now in their keeping, Goodwin wants more, saying Saturday night’s win was “not the end of anything”.
“This is the start for our footy club. This is where we want to be,” he said.
Demons wingman Angus Brayshaw said the entire club had been under the pump after two years without finals following a preliminary appearance in 2018.
“It’s not just Goody, it was the whole team, the staff and the board that was under the pump,” he said.
“It’s not a massively different group from 2018.”
Goodwin joins former Adelaide coach Malcolm Blight in winning an VFL/AFL flag as a player and then coach.
Blight said Goodwin had good reason for keeping the faith.
“Chris Scott was under pressure and survived, won a premiership,” he said. “Damien Hardwick was under pressure and won a premiership, and Alastair Clarkson was under pressure and won a premiership.
“At some stage if you are going to coach, the pump is going to come. The whole game is littered with that and being emotional and having a crack at whoever is next.”
But also key in this was Goodwin making changes to his approach.
“I certainly questioned myself in 2019, because I could feel the game was getting a hold of me,” he said.
“The pressure, and stress, I was investing a lot and it was wearing me down emotionally.
“But I got some mentors away from the game and away from footy and they were just different.
“They worked with me on when to have energy and what to give energy to, when to let go. And to just be me.
“I wasn’t being me and we made some significant shifts last year as a footy club.
“I got back to smiling, I got back to loving the game and having fun.” simeon.thomas.wilson@news.com.au