‘Not the standard we expect’: Dees president backs coach, players despite horror start (2025)

Melbourne president Brad Green has conceded the Demons are not playing up to standard but backed under-pressure coach Simon Goodwin and his team to deliver a more attacking game plan.

Winless after five rounds, the Demons are under enormous pressure, prompting premiership coach Goodwin, contracted through until the end of 2026, to insist after their loss to Essendon on Saturday that he is still the right man for the job.

The Demons have been slow to lock in a new permanent chief executive after Gary Pert stepped down last year, leaving the club without a key figurehead to lean on aside from Green, the interim president, and football department chief Alan Richardson.

In a letter to club members, Green acknowledged the frustration supporters were feeling.

“I’m writing to acknowledge what has been a disappointing start to the season. Sitting at 0-5 isn’t the standard we expect of ourselves, and we know it’s frustrating, for our members, supporters, and everyone inside the club,” Green said on Monday.

“What I can assure you of is that we have a determined group of players and coaches who will drive the team’s response.

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“We saw during the third quarter of Saturday night’s match the style of game we want to play. If we can focus on delivering that style of play more consistently and effectively, keep training hard and sharpening our game, we’ll see better results. That’s the only way forward, and we must stay focused on improving.”

The Demons had only two goals to half-time against the Bombers, but booted five in the third term. This included four in a 15-minute burst that cut the deficit to 10 points before they again faded in the final term to lose by 39 points. They rank last for scoring, averaging only 62 points per game, and host Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday.

“We also know there’s been a lot of external commentary about our performances – that is to be expected when we are not playing well,” Green said.

“Our values – trust, respect, unity and excellence – have guided us through difficult periods before, and we’ll rely on them again to return us to a club where you feel proud to belong.”

AFL broadcaster Libby Birch told Monday’s episode of the Real Footy podcast she felt for the players amidst the cultural woes in Melbourne’s men’s football program. Birch felt these had built up over the past few years, at least back to 2022 – the year she played in an AFLW premiership at the club.

“I spent five seasons there, I feel really sad about how Melbourne’s let their [men’s] players down, and in essence, sort of let the club culture down over the last couple of years,” she said.

“I believe that, within any club, off-field incidents accumulate, and then … you start to see that on the field.

“I think something has to change there.

“We’ve seen the instability that the club has at that [board] level. But it’s everyone, and it’s potentially, you know, it falls to the top: [outgoing CEO] Gary Pert for me.”

Birch, now playing for North Melbourne - where she won a premiership last season - said Melbourne’s AFLW players were disappointed in 2022 when their charge to a premiership under revered skipper Daisy Pearce was sometimes overshadowed by off-field issues that derailed the men’s team’s quest for back-to-back flags.

“It was upsetting for us to know that we were leading the club’s values and being extremely professional. And then we had these incidents happen that I think takes over what the whole club looked like,” she said.

“Zero and five says to me it’s a failure of preparation in some shape or form through pre-season ...”

AFL great Nathan Buckley on Melbourne’s winless start to the season

Listen to The Age Real Footy panel discuss Melbourne’s woes on this week’s episode:

Green said the hunt for a new CEO was “nearing its conclusion”. The Demons have missed out on several prominent league figures.

While club great David Schwarz says Goodwin, in his ninth season, is not to blame for the current woes, AFL great Nathan Buckley fears the Demons are an unhappy team and Goodwin is on the ropes, having failed over the pre-season to adjust to a modern game plan.

Buckley, who endured a tumultuous final year of his own as Collingwood coach in 2021 before stepping down in-season, said the Demons were in a “rut”.

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“They don’t look like a happy team. Simon spoke about the love through the pre-season, but we are not seeing that. We are seeing a team that doesn’t look happy and the locker room mustn’t be happy because we are not seeing the best of what Melbourne has available to it,” Buckley said.

“There are a few out, [Jake] Lever, [Judd] McVee, who I think are important for them off the back, but their outs aren’t explaining the performances we are seeing. There are some guns in the side that have been guns for a long time, but they can’t find their best at the moment.

“It seems to me they are caught between trying to evolve to play more modern football but still stay true to their strengths. Their strengths are inside and contest, and the game is asking for more open field running and expansive use of the football. And they are caught in between.”

Buckley, speaking on SEN, said Goodwin and his coaching staff had failed over summer to implement a more attacking game plan that the best teams now demand.

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“[A win-loss record of] Zero and five says to me it’s a failure of preparation in some shape or form through pre-season, to find out how you were going to balance your absolute strengths, your bulls – your Vineys and Olivers – who can’t play anywhere else but inside,” Buckley said.

“How do you take their strengths and give you the opportunity to play a more expansive brand? I am talking mainly about offence, without losing who you actually are.”

Buckley said Goodwin had a “really difficult scenario to handle”.

“Having been there, myself, answering the questions about your tenure, answering the questions about why you are not performing at your best, there will be reasons that Simon Goodwin will be aware of that he won’t want to put on the agenda … there will be players he will want to protect,” Buckley said.

“But it’s pretty hard to polish the proverbial when that is what is taking place. In the end, you are on the ropes, you are on your heels, and you do feel like you are defending. And when you are defending, it’s very hard to be proactive and aggressive and expressive.

“You have got to draw a line, and then set something for the next month. You have got to have some little wins … and some energy and some enjoyment.

“But what you can’t ignore is that the buck stops with the senior coach – it always has, it always will.”

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