SIMON Goodwin says he couldn’t have asked for any more from coach Paul Roos and believes new strategy and development coach Brendan McCartney has already made an impact his development role.
Speaking to Dee TV, the senior assistant coach said Roos had been “terrific” to him already, as he prepares to succeed the premiership coach after the 2016 season.
“We’ve got a really good working relationship,” Goodwin said.
“I’ve really come to Melbourne to coach and to learn my craft of becoming a coach and I can’t really ask for much more with Paul being here and being a successful senior coach.
“[We’ve now] got the experience of Brendan McCartney, who’s been a senior coach as well, so I’m really well placed to learn my craft and to be the best coach that I can possibly be and hopefully help drive this footy club forward.”
Goodwin couldn’t speak highly enough of McCartney’s ability to develop people.
“It’s great [to have him at the club]. He’s a people developer. He develops footballers and people as one and he’s really settling well with the development guys and he’s driving pretty high standards through that area,” he said.
“He’s making sure everyone is working collaboratively to have the best interest of the player and making sure they develop the best they can – and developing a model for the type of player we want at the Melbourne footy club.”
Since joining the club last September, Goodwin said he could only describe his early journey with the club as “exciting”.
“That’s the best word I can describe it,” he said.
“It’s been terrific. The club’s been outstanding in the way it’s embraced me. I’ve loved getting out there and meeting all of the coterie groups, sponsors and supporters, and working with the admin staff and the players.”
“I feel like it’s already home and it’s only been here five or six months, but I already feel part of the furniture here.
“We’ve brought a lot of new people to the club and we’ve continued to drive the standards and behaviours that we were looking for from an elite training performance.
“The players have been terrific – they’ve given all they’ve got and I think it’s really set us up well to really have some improvement throughout season 2015.”
The Adelaide great and former Essendon assistant coach said his role had already evolved quickly since becoming a Demon.
“I really dived in early with the development side of things and helped really start the program with Brett Allison and Brad Miller,” he said.
“I’ve got to build relationships with the younger players and form those early relationships, which is really important for a coach.
“The last month I’ve really worked in the midfield with Benny Mathews and we’re trying to drive that group and emerging leaders to really come up this year.”
Goodwin said he had been “really impressed” with the new players that had come to the club.
“I think they’ve really fitted in great to our culture. To see Jeffy throughout the NAB Challenge – I think he’s a really talented player and a special talent for the footy club. You can see that he’s actually going to kick some goals for us,” he said.
“Ben Newton has shown what he can do through the midfield and Tier (Heritier Lumumba) and Frosty (Sam Frost) have shown some really positive signs. ‘H’ has played midfield and half-back and he’s probably been our best performer through the NAB Challenge.
“Those guys are certainly going to offer us something. I’ve also been really impressed with our first year development guys. The way that they’ve embraced the footy club, and come in with an attitude to listen, learn, get better and handle the demands of the game. I can see those guys improving pretty quickly.”
