Simon Goodwin sacked as Melbourne Demons AFL coach, club legend Garry Lyon 'shocked'

The Demons have parted ways with coach Simon Goodwin, just four years after he led Melbourne to a drought-breaking AFL premiership.

Goodwin took over as head coach from Paul Roos in 2017 and led Melbourne to its first flag in 57 years in 2021, but has been let go as the team sits 12th after 21 rounds this season and is set to miss the finals for the second straight year.

It is understood Goodwin was told last night, while the players were told this morning, with a press conference scheduled for 1pm AEST at the MCG.

Melbourne legend Garry Lyon, who played 226 games for the club from 1986 to 1999, said he was blindsided by the announcement.

"I'm stunned, shocked. Totally shocked. I had no heads-up on this whatsoever," the Australian Football Hall of Fame player said on SEN.

Garry Lyon (left) hailed Goodwin (right) as a "hero" of the Melbourne Football Club. (Getty Images: Michael Willson/AFL Photos)

"Absolutely shocked. I can't get my head around it. He won't be coaching a farewell game, that's something I can promise you."

Melbourne has three games left in the season — against the Bulldogs, Hawthorn and Collingwood, all at the MCG — with this Sunday's rematch of the 2021 grand final the only Demons home game.

"I'm absolutely stunned. I thought there would be a long review at the end of this year and then determine whether he coaches out his final year," Lyon said.

"Premiership coaches are pretty rare at the Melbourne footy club — he's one of four [in the men's competition] — he will be a hero of this football club forever and a day, but that obviously doesn't guarantee your tenure.

"This is a massive call."

The bizarre three-year run that crippled the Demons Photo shows Simon Goodwin, Clayton Oliver and Steven May Melbourne looked poised to be the AFL's next dynasty when it claimed the 2021 premiership. It has followed that triumph with run where almost everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong.

A slew of off-field issues, including legal issues for Clayton Oliver and Joel Smith, contributed to rumours of a toxic culture within the club in the years since the stirring comeback to beat the Western Bulldogs and win the Demons' first premiership since 1964.

It prompted Goodwin in 2023 to proclaim "I do not use illicit drugs" in response to unsubstantiated rumours, as it was reported the AFL met with Melbourne chief executive Glen Bartlett to discuss Goodwin's behaviour at a gathering with his players in a Mornington Peninsula pub at the start of 2021.

Goodwin told SEN "there was nothing in it" and said the allegations negatively affected his reputation and took a toll on him and his family.

"Do I enjoy having a beer and a punt and a glass of wine with mates? Of course I do. I'm a pretty straightforward type of guy, but I live my life in a way that is a dedicated approach to my career and my football club and my family," he said.

"The rumours have to stop. It's gone way out of control from a boardroom battle into court documents into republication and rehashing of a story over and over again to the extent where it's become a 'fact', which is just not fair. And it's gone from a rumour, to an allegation, to a 'fact' and it has got to stop.

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"I've had enough and I think as an industry we need to be better than what we are today. We're starting to really hurt people in this game too much through this period of time."

In June, Goodwin boasted the Demons were moving in the right direction.

"It's a sign that we've got things in good order," Goodwin said after the re-signing of star small forward Kysaiah Pickett.

"It says a lot about our footy club, about where we're at and where we're going.

"It's been a high talking point for a number of years now."

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