When the call finally came for Simon Goodwin, it arrived quietly and without ceremony.
On Monday night, interim Melbourne president Brad Green and other senior club officials told the 48‑year‑old coach that his time in charge of the Demons was over.
The board decided they could not follow him after years of controversy and poor results that showed the team’s 2021 premiership magic wasn’t about to be repeated.
Although Goodwin had another season to run on his contract, the club wanted change for 2026 and paid him around $1million to leave.
Many fans trace the downfall back to one photo posted on social media three years ago.
In February 2022, amid a wave of damaging headlines about his alleged behaviour, Goodwin’s captain and staunch ally Max Gawn uploaded an image to Instagram.
Melbourne skipper Max Gawn (left) uploaded this photo of him with Simon Goodwin (right) at the Hotel Sorrento
Melbourne’s premiership hero is gone after board loses faith in his leadership amid years of relentless controversy
The Demons’ fairytale flag feels distant as off‑field dramas and bitter divisions overwhelm the premiership‑winning coach
It showed the pair seated together at the Hotel Sorrento, beers in hand, joined by wedding groom Myles Pitt.
They were relaxed and smiling, the sun glinting off their glasses, the kind of casual shot you might expect to see from any group of friends at a coastal pub. Yet the timing was anything but casual.
Just hours earlier, it had been reported that the Melbourne board had previously investigated Goodwin over allegations of gambling, heavy drinking with players, and workplace bullying.
Some directors considered sacking him before 2021, but dropped it and he delivered the club’s long‑awaited premiership that year.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan had publicly described Goodwin’s habit of drinking with players at the Sorrento pub as ‘crazy,’ adding an extra layer of scrutiny to a coach already under fire.
Gawn’s post was deliberate. Captioned ‘Planning 22’ at the local’, it openly defied criticism and showed his loyalty to Goodwin.
When Gawn fronted the media in the days that followed, he doubled down rather than retreating.
‘I am going to continue to have a beer with my boss and my coach, and maybe that’s when we nutted out 2021 and what we went on to achieve,’ he said.
Once hailed as a culture‑builder, Simon Goodwin (pictured with wife Kristine) leaves under a cloud after repeated scandals and poor on‑field results
Melbourne’s finals hopes collapsed after two separate five‑game losing streaks left the club far from top-eight contention
Club president Kate Roffey moved swiftly to reinforce the public display of unity, issuing a statement that described Goodwin as ‘an exceptional leader’ and insisted that the review into his conduct had found he was ‘the right man to lead our club’.
The hope was that such words, coming from the very top of the organisation, would draw a line under the issue.
Instead, that friendly image became, in hindsight, an early flashpoint over the line between leadership, friendship and professionalism.
What followed over the next two years was a steady accumulation of off‑field distractions, internal strains, and public controversies that slowly eroded the authority Goodwin had built in the wake of the premiership.
By October 2023, Melbourne’s off‑season had descended into one of the ugliest in AFL memory.
The Clayton Oliver trade saga erupted into chaos, with the star midfielder eventually staying but later being hospitalised after collapsing.
Joel Smith tested positive for cocaine on match day and was subsequently banned for four years under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code.
Angus Brayshaw’s career ended in heartbreak after a concussion in the finals, an incident that devastated the playing group and sent shockwaves through the club.
The Demons’ off‑season from hell spiralled into a year that destroyed the aura of their drought‑breaking coach
The Demons have been on a downward trajectory since winning the 2021 grand final
There were also looming legal battles involving former president Glen Bartlett and long‑time benefactor Peter Lawrence, each dragging Melbourne into protracted disputes in the Federal Court.
Then came the bombshell parliamentary speech from Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who used parliamentary privilege to accuse the club – and more broadly, the AFL – of covering up positive drug tests.
In the days that followed, former club doctor Zeeshan Arain claimed he had fabricated excuses to withdraw players from games to avoid potential sanctions under WADA rules.
Through it all, Goodwin attempted to steer the team with a mix of defiance and silence.
‘I don’t want to convince you we have a good culture. I want to show you,’ he said last October, sitting alongside CEO Gary Pert.
That was before the pair travelled with football boss Alan Richardson to New Zealand to study the famed All Blacks culture.
But even the most genuine study tour could not shift the perception that Melbourne’s problems ran deeper than any cultural blueprint could fix.
On the field, results told their own story. Melbourne lost four consecutive finals matches after their 2021 flag triumph.
While the announcement that Goodwin had been sacked might have appeared sudden, issues had been bubbling beneath the surface for years
The 2025 season began with a demoralising five‑game losing streak and another slump of the same length midway through the year that effectively killed their finals chances.
Behind closed doors, board confidence in Goodwin’s leadership ebbed with each defeat.
Questions arose about whether he still had the players’ trust or if constant off‑field issues had weakened his authority.
By the time the board met in late July this year, the consensus was clear. The man who had brought them their greatest modern triumph was no longer the man to take them forward.
And it all began with that defiant photo posted by Gawn.
What was intended as a signal of unity ended up becoming the beginning of a slow, public unravelling that ended with a phone call no coach wants to take.
