Goodwin gone: Premiership coach sacked by Demons
Melbourne have sacked premiership coach and former Adelaide champion Simon Goodwin, with just three games left in the 2025 campaign.
Simon Goodwin, Melbourne’s only premiership coach in the past 60 years, has been sacked by the Demons.
The former Adelaide champion, who led the club to the drought-breaking 2021 flag, has been let go by the Demons following just seven wins this season.
Taking over from Paul Roos in a succession plan for the 2017 season, Goodwin led Melbourne to their first premiership in 57 years.
But with just three games to go this season, Melbourne have made the call to part ways with the 48-year-old.
After giving up a record 46-point three-quarter-time lead to lose against St Kilda, the Demons responded last Saturday with an 83-point demolition of lowly West Coast.
But off-field turmoil and dwindling performances on the field since the 2021 premiership increasingly placed the 48-year-old’s job in jeopardy.
Goodwin remained defiant until the end, saying he wouldn’t be “consumed by the noise” that followed the round-20 capitulation against the Saints.
“I feel incredibly supported by the board, I have for nine years,” Goodwin said last Thursday.
“We’ve been able to go through these challenges before with clarity and strength and stability to create success.”
One of the youngest premiership teams of the modern era, Melbourne began their flag defence in 2022 by winning their first 10 games of the season.
But after their stunning second-half grand final demolition of the Western Bulldogs four years ago, the Demons suffered straight-sets finals exits in 2022 and 2023.
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Melbourne finished 14th last year, and are 12th with three weeks to go this season.
Two of the stars of the premiership season, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver, have suffered significant and differing off-field challenges and have failed to get back to their best form.
Oliver almost left the Demons during the 2023 and 2024 trade periods, while Petracca was disgruntled at the end of last season and would have left the club had a suitor been able to organise a deal to secure him.
Long-time chief executive Gary Pert stepped away from the Demons at the end of last year, and president Kate Roffey also exited her post after bungling the situation around Petracca and Oliver.
