After a year of searching for his successor as Melbourne head coach, it took only an hour to convince Paul Roos that Simon Goodwin was his man.
The dual AFL premiership player and former Adelaide captain has signed a five-year contract, which includes a guaranteed three seasons as Roos’ replacement from 2017 onwards.
Goodwin, 37, has spent the past four seasons on the Essendon coaching panel with the upcoming two-year stint under 2005 premiership coach Roos to round out his apprenticeship.
He was an early favourite to replace the sacked Brenton Sanderson as Adelaide coach and took a phone call from his great mate Mark Ricciuto to check on his availability, only for Goodwin to tell the Crows director he was committed to the Demons.
Roos said he had a “gut feeling” about Goodwin from their initial meeting.
He was impressed that the five-time All Australian talked more about culture than game plans.
The Demons won only four games and finished second-last on the ladder in their first season under Roos, but the 2005 Sydney premiership mentor still chose to extend his initial two-year contract with the club for one more season.
He said that the recruitment of Goodwin was the final piece in the puzzle and he could now begin a succession process similar to the one which saw John Longmire move into the top job at the Swans in 2011.
“It’s really healthy to have a long apprenticeship,” Goodwin said.
“I think every year you go through footy you learn something and another two years (under Paul Roos) certainly won’t hurt.
“I learned a lot (at Essendon) but I’m now a Melbourne person and that’s what I want to be.”
Source: AAP/ABC