Analysis The Coach – Simon Goodwin: "Working incredibly hard" until at least 2026

I think the writing actually has been on the wall since we beat the Saints last year. We got killed in one quarter of awful defence against the Bulldogs, which is what IMO really killed our season last year. I remember sending a message to a mate at the start of that third quarter saying ‘all we need to do is defend against the wind here’ and they taken apart.

Next week (?) we came out against the Saints and let them kick away inside 50 because we backed ourselves to start defending entries, and it was a clear coaching win from Goody, maybe the first time since 2018 he’s actually out coached anyone. It’s from that point that our defence has gone to the next level. Cairns losses were bad, obviously, but that was more to do with the entire team being totally lethargic. Swans went at 54% inside 50 against us but Saints went at 33% Freo went at 41%, GWS at 44% and Essendon at 36% in the following wins. And the Bulldogs in that loss went at 57%. We couldn’t score against Sydney and Fremantle but there was a shift somewhere around the middle of last year to being really stingy. Probably started earlier, we kept the Pies to 33%, but that was just an all around trouncing. Difference with the Doggies game is that we couldn’t do it in a competitive match, but since then we’ve shown that no matter what is happening elsewhere the defence is going to be really tight, and now we’ve managed to turn that into a pathway to scoring as well.
 
Saw these pics on the club instagram of Chocco setting up one of his kicking drills

chocco1.PNG

chocco 2.PNG


Looks fun.
 
Don't tell me they are actually practising goalkicking!!!!?
Very specifically our goal kicking from ten metres out directly in front when the goal posts are two metres apart.
 

Demon bhoy

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Very specifically our goal kicking from ten metres out directly in front when the goal posts are two metres apart.
As a player I was automatic as a goal kicker under those exact circumstances, unfortunately I was ******* useless under any other scenario
 

Meds

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Underrated note: we are now 4/4 on the G this year too. Will go a long way if we keep that up
None of those have been top 4 teams though so they don't count.

Yep exactly
Bernie Vince was saying on the Ms that Trac decided he wanted to be a good player 2 years ago and that why he is now. He fixed his diet, he trained harder and he became more disciplined. If you get 15 players to decide to do that then you don't need a great coach per say
Max did the same 5-6 years ago. Tommy Mac, Chandler and Pickett have all been on record talking about the extra work that went in to their preseasons. A few weeks back on Gus & Gawny they talked about the standards that are being driven by some of the senior guys and it clearly shows that we're doing the extra work. ANB looks bigger, Jacko is stacking it on, all our players look really fit and are avoiding big lapses in concentration because of it.
A big part of the senior coaches role is to instil a mindset and a trust that makes blokes go and do that - this is the thing I reckon Goody has done better than anything else. It's Klopp-like
 
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Underrated note: we are now 4/4 on the G this year too. Will go a long way if we keep that up
Our structure is now far better than any year under Goodwin.

Particularly against pressure sides like Richmond, the G would often be a graveyard where sides could walk easy goals in against us and conversely we would end up flooding our own forward line for sweet fa return in scoreboard pressure. Even when we used to get 5 goals up - I’d still have this anxiety that we could get rolled as we were easy to have a purple patch against. This has been less the case this year because it is we who are scoring in a structured manner and the opposition are having to rely on arse, individual brilliance and the rare mistake to thwart our defence.

There’s a lot more balance and gears to our game so far in 2021. We are still pretty good in the contest and can score quickly, but we hold our shape defensively when we lose the ball, run two ways and can think our way through with more precise ball movement. The intent with our tackling is also very noticeable this year. It’s a quantum leap from win contested ball, play at warp speed at all times and the ‘can’t somebody else do it?’ attitude to defending

Goodwin, his coaches and the players all deserve a hell of a lot of credit so far...

Yes, it’s only 6 rounds in and yes there’s still a lot of challenges and improvement required but there’s a lot to be pleased with atm.
 

mrmonkey

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Well it's pretty obvious Williams and Yze are making an impact but Goodwin deserves some recognition.

Richardson is forgotten here but I think a key part of his role is to oversee football operations and act as a conduit between the FD and the executive.

He has good experience from his Port days and it looks like he's doing well at the minute given how well we are working together as a unit.

Yeah as it's been mentioned Chaplin been copping it for no good reason and I think Richo has as well.
I think the writing actually has been on the wall since we beat the Saints last year. We got killed in one quarter of awful defence against the Bulldogs, which is what IMO really killed our season last year. I remember sending a message to a mate at the start of that third quarter saying ‘all we need to do is defend against the wind here’ and they taken apart.

Next week (?) we came out against the Saints and let them kick away inside 50 because we backed ourselves to start defending entries, and it was a clear coaching win from Goody, maybe the first time since 2018 he’s actually out coached anyone. It’s from that point that our defence has gone to the next level. Cairns losses were bad, obviously, but that was more to do with the entire team being totally lethargic. Swans went at 54% inside 50 against us but Saints went at 33% Freo went at 41%, GWS at 44% and Essendon at 36% in the following wins. And the Bulldogs in that loss went at 57%. We couldn’t score against Sydney and Fremantle but there was a shift somewhere around the middle of last year to being really stingy. Probably started earlier, we kept the Pies to 33%, but that was just an all around trouncing. Difference with the Doggies game is that we couldn’t do it in a competitive match, but since then we’ve shown that no matter what is happening elsewhere the defence is going to be really tight, and now we’ve managed to turn that into a pathway to scoring as well.
Our structure is now far better than any year under Goodwin.

Particularly against pressure sides like Richmond, the G would often be a graveyard where sides could walk easy goals in against us and conversely we would end up flooding our own forward line for sweet fa return in scoreboard pressure. Even when we used to get 5 goals up - I’d still have this anxiety that we could get rolled as we were easy to have a purple patch against. This has been less the case this year because it is we who are scoring in a structured manner and the opposition are having to rely on arse, individual brilliance and the rare mistake to thwart our defence.

There’s a lot more balance and gears to our game so far in 2021. We are still pretty good in the contest and can score quickly, but we hold our shape defensively when we lose the ball, run two ways and can think our way through with more precise ball movement. The intent with our tackling is also very noticeable this year. It’s a quantum leap from win contested ball, play at warp speed at all times and the ‘can’t somebody else do it?’ attitude to defending

Goodwin, his coaches and the players all deserve a hell of a lot of credit so far...

Yes, it’s only 6 rounds in and yes there’s still a lot of challenges and improvement required but there’s a lot to be pleased with atm.
It's kind of a weird feeling it's hard to ignore the past, but at the same time I just have so much trust in this team. The way we are playing is like nothing I've seen before, our backline and the way we are defending is the best I've seen. It's reassuring going into games knowing may, Lever and tomlinson are there.
 
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Pardon the intrusion. Do you think Choco would make a good senior coach?
Right now? I doubt it. He’s been there and done it, and his method of doing it probably is a bit old school in it’s approach to modern afl, recruitment, and even coaching relationships with players given the current new crop represent a different generation to his 2004 guys.

No question he has a role though and seems incredibly loved and respected as one of a team of coaches though.
 
Just listening to Gawn on RSN. Says our weekly match review/previews only go for 15 minutes in total. That surprised me but it probably means the players get a really clear message from those meetings rather than zoning out halfway through.

Also mentioned that Paul Roos' match reviews were much longer, which indicates different strategies applied based on the maturity and position of the side.
 
Just listening to Gawn on RSN. Says our weekly match review/previews only go for 15 minutes in total. That surprised me but it probably means the players get a really clear message from those meetings rather than zoning out halfway through.

Also mentioned that Paul Roos' match reviews were much longer, which indicates different strategies applied based on the maturity and position of the side.
I think it also says we have a really clear system. Rather than trying to coach to an opposition weakness, we emphasise our strengths and force teams to beat us. Good part about that is it’ll make it harder for teams to have four-quarter wins as our strengths are so good that teams can’t stop them for full matches. That said it means we are less likely to see beltings.
 

Meds

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Just listening to Gawn on RSN. Says our weekly match review/previews only go for 15 minutes in total. That surprised me but it probably means the players get a really clear message from those meetings rather than zoning out halfway through.

Also mentioned that Paul Roos' match reviews were much longer, which indicates different strategies applied based on the maturity and position of the side.
Less "Learnings" to be had when you're winning.
 
Less "Learnings" to be had when you're winning.
I'm worried that our players are falling behind on their "Learnings" and they may not learn enough. Think we have to start losing again so they can get back up to speed.
 

tomcruise

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Interesting comments from Craig Jennings on the Whateley podcast that Goody used to say in 2018 that all great teams have to go through adversity. Said tongue in cheek that Goody's orchestrated 2019 & 2020 to set us up for our run now.

I'm coming around to Goody through the comments players and coaches have passed on that he's said. Still boring in press conferences. Plays a straighter bat than anyone in the comp, but must be insightful behind the scenes.

Also interesting watching the 2019 & 2020 draft videos for how much sway Alan Richardson has for the final draft choices after being presented by Jason Taylor.

Mostly I'm learning I need to get more of a life and stop eating up all things Melbourne, but not til this run ends baby.
 
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