Australian Football

Simon Goodwin was a key player for Adelaide for more than a decade. The triple club champion commenced his AFL career as a defender, but blossomed into one of the competition's most effective on-ballers, excelling at gaining possession under duress, and almost invariably using the ball superbly. 

Originally from South Adelaide, Goodwin lined up across half back when the Crows downed St Kilda to claim their inaugural premiership in 1997, while in the Grand Final win over North Melbourne a year later he was in the centre. He won his first club best and fairest award in 2000 and was named an AFL All Australian the same year. The 2001 season brought another All Australian jumper. In 2004 his season was all but ruined when he suffered a groin injury but he recovered to claim back to back best and fairest awards in 2005-6 as well as inclusion in the AFL All Australian teams for those years. 

The 2008 season saw Goodwin embark on an exciting new phase of his career when he was appointed Crows captain. He remained leader until retiring at the end of the 2010 season after 275 games. Goodwin then embarked on a coaching career, one which saw him as an assistant to James Hird at Essendon, and then to Paul Roos at Melbourne. He took over the reins from Roos at the beginning of 2017, at a time when the Demons were building towards a finals appearance for the first time in a decade.

In 2017, during his first season as a senior coach, Goodwin's decorated playing career was acknowledged when he was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame.

Author - John Devaney, with updates by Andrew Gigacz