Australian Football

English-born Andy Goodwin came late to Australian football after preferring soccer whilst growing up. He may have lacked skill and finesse but his raw determination and finely honed aggressive instincts compensated adequately. It would also be fair to observe that his skills improved considerably over the course of his career.

That career commenced with Mountain Districts League side Wandin in 1983 where he played for three seasons, in the last of which he also made a couple of appearances for St Kilda reserves. However, it was with Richmond in 1987 that his League career got underway. He spent five seasons with the Tigers, playing 56 VFL games and booting nine goals, plus 36 games for the seconds. His full-throated approach and extreme but by no means excessive physicality made him very popular with supporters and fellow players alike.

In 1992 he was drafted by Melbourne and gave solid service in 17 games over two seasons. He then rounded off his career as captain-coach of Devonport where he endorsed his CV with a runner-up place in the 1994 Leitch Medal followed the next year by a place in the Tasmanian team which scored a noteworthy upset win over South Australia.

Author - John Devaney