Watson, who played 220 games and was a dual All-Australian who won the 2012 Brownlow Medal before being stripped of it due to Essendon’s drugs saga, remains a highly respected football mind.
The Demons described the 40-year-old, whose father Tim also captained the Bombers and played in three flags at the club, as having “an elite football IQ and intimate knowledge of the day-to-day operations of a football department”.
Melbourne sacked Goodwin at the start of last week after another disappointing season for the Demons, who suffered back-to-back straight-sets finals exits after their 2021 premiership, before tumbling out of finals contention the past two years.
Goodwin, who won two premierships in an outstanding playing career at Adelaide, said on Fox Footy on Wednesday night that the Melbourne board’s decision shocked him.
“I was disappointed that they’d come to that decision, but you accept that position,” Goodwin said.
“Do I 100 per cent think that I was the right person to carry this team forward? Yes, because I’ve done it before … but that’s the decision the board made, and I accept that decision. They need a new voice, they want a new voice, and they’re going to get one.
“I had a standard board meeting the week before, and didn’t have an inkling at that point. But as I said, I’m sure the board went through a thorough process.”
Greater Western Sydney have already contacted Goodwin about a potential opportunity next year. One of Goodwin’s former assistants at the Demons, Craig Jennings, is the Giants’ midfield and transition coach.
“I’ve spent some time up in Sydney, and I’m going to catch up with a whole range of different people,” Goodwin said.
“I’m open-minded to doing anything in football. I love the game, I love coaching.
“I want to get away, have a spell … [but] coaching’s never complete. You want to get better, and I know with the experience and everything that I’ve gone through, with some PD [personal development], I’ll come back even better.”
Winmar continues bid to co-lead racism class action
Jon Pierik
AFL great Nicky Winmar is continuing his push to be a co-lead plaintiff in a racism class action against the AFL, saying he wants football to be a safe place for Indigenous players.
The Supreme Court of Victoria heard on Thursday that Winmar, the former St Kilda and Western Bulldogs star, wants to take on a more prominent role, joining former North Melbourne star Phil Krakouer in the landmark case against the AFL.
St Kilda player Nicky Winmar points to his skin in response to a racist taunt from the crowd in 1993.Credit: Wayne Ludbey
Winmar, 59, is already a group member in the case, in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VFL and AFL players are seeking redress for racist abuse suffered in the course of their football careers.
They allege injury, loss and damage, claiming the AFL failed to provide a culturally safe environment, leaving them susceptible to racial abuse from spectators and opposition players.
“I am proud to stand alongside Phil in support of Aboriginal players who have suffered racism in the course of playing in the AFL,” Winmar said in a statement released by Margalit Injury Lawyers after the hearing.
“I want to ensure that the AFL is a safe place for future generations of Aboriginal players.”
Krakouer said it was important the case went ahead.
“Delayed justice is injustice, but this case means we are finally being heard,” Krakouer said in a statement.
The class action includes six other players, including Phil’s brother, James Krakouer. The players were at AFL and VFL clubs between 1975 and 2022.
Margalit Injury Lawyers said in a statement it was likely that those orders approving Winmar as a co-lead plaintiff would be made next week.
Margalit managing principal Michel Margalit, the lawyer leading the class action, said the players were determined to have their say.
Jim and Phil Krakouer in 1982.Credit: Fairfax Media
“We know that racism can lead to profound, life-altering effects. Some of the AFL’s most decorated champions have suffered lifelong trauma and destabilisation due to racial vilification experienced in their football careers. This case alleges systemic failures by the AFL to act on racism in the workplace in turn made the victims’ trauma worse,” she said.
Margalit said she was open to negotiating a “fair” outcome with AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon, but insisted that the case was being prepared for trial.
“The league has acknowledged racism in their sport and the next step is to determine fair redress for those players who suffered injury, loss and damage after the AFL failed to protect them from racial abuse. This needs to occur if the AFL wishes to attract the exceptional talent and athleticism of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players,” Margalit said.
“The players have spent too many years suffering and the AFL has a chance to finally do the right thing.”
The AFL was contacted for comment.
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In a statement after a court hearing in March, the AFL said, “we have long supported Nicky Winmar’s stance against racism”.
The league statement recognised past incidents of racism within Australian football, but vowed to contest the class action.
“We also fully acknowledge during our long history of the game there has been racism in Australian football and that players have been marginalised, hurt or discriminated against because of their race, and for that we have apologised and continue to apologise and will continue to act to address that harm,” the league said.
Winmar’s decision to be a co-lead plaintiff comes as he remains on bail, having been accused of two assaults and of intentionally choking a person. He has been charged with allegedly committing two assaults on July 18.
He is also charged with “without lawful excuse intentionally choke, strangle or suffocate” a person on the same date, according to documents in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Winmar, who played 251 games for the Saints and the Western Bulldogs, is remembered for taking a powerful stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993, lifting his guernsey and pointing to his skin in an act that would become iconic.
He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
‘Rage’ drives ‘Punky’ as end looms for Hawthorn great
AAP
Luke Breust may, or may not, be familiar with the work of iconic Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
They certainly share the same sentiment, with the three-time Hawthorn premiership forward determined to “rage, rage against the dying of the light”.
The 34-year-old, a two-time All-Australian and one of the best small forwards of his generation, announced on Thursday this season will be his last.
Former teammate and current Hawks coach Sam Mitchell has no doubt Breust will stay in the game, probably as a coach, but there is unfinished business, with the Hawks seventh on the ladder and yet to confirm a finals berth.
“He spoke really nicely and gently (to teammates) … until we started talking about the rest of the season. He had just that little bit of rage behind his eyes,” Mitchell said.
“He’s still burning to make sure he can achieve as much and help us achieve as much as we can.”
Known as “Punky”, Breust is the game’s ultimate cult figure and Mitchell added he was the rarest of beasts – an AFL player with no enemies.
Hawks fans sound as though they are booing when they roar his name after he kicks a goal.
Breust was in tears several times when he told teammates that his time will soon be up. He later noted half his life has been spent at Hawthorn.
“They completely changed my life for the better,” Breust said of the Hawks.
“The relationships and the memories … I will cherish forever.
AAP
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