Gawn said Goodwin’s competitive streak had been evident following the club-wide review and the soul-searching that followed star midfielder Christian Petracca’s unhappiness with the club’s direction and Clayton Oliver’s attempt to secure a trade, which led to him meeting Geelong players in October.
“He’s [Goodwin] been open to feedback. He has given us some feedback. He’s got married and since his wedding – he must have had some time to think in Bali – he has come back with a bit of an edge,” Gawn said. “He has got his competitive voice back, and he’s back into training and he’s yelling. It’s good.
Christian Salem, Gawn and Jack Viney at Grill’d.Credit: Melburne Football Club
“He’s always used the guys around him and good coaches do, but he has made a focus, I think, since coming back from Christmas that he is going to take charge and ride us and get us going.”
Melbourne have not won a final since their 2021 triumph, going out in straight sets in 2022 and 2023 before slumping to finish 13th after losing Petracca to injury in the King’s Birthday clash with Collingwood as the club became mired in negativity.
However, an off-season of change off the field – Brad Green has replaced Kate Roffey as president and Gary Pert announced he was finishing up as CEO – was combined with heart-to-heart discussions between club leaders and players.
Gawn, who was launching the club’s new major partnership with Grill’d Burgers in Hawthorn, said the Demons were determined to let “our footy do the talking”, the intense pre-season designed to improve connection at the club.
“We certainly think we can match it with the big boys but we needed to get our other stuff fixed and to a level where other clubs are, and I think we have,” Gawn said.
Despite the interruption caused by a broken rib, Gawn believes Petracca is setting himself up to remind everyone what the Demons missed when he was out injured for the final 10 games of the season last year.
“He’s really fit and he hasn’t told us this yet but somewhere on his goals list will be ‘I want to pay back for the [10] weeks I missed. I want to get going and be the best player I can be’. It will be somewhere there,” Gawn said.
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Petracca’s combination with Oliver will be crucial if the club is to compete, while Gawn expects to return to contact training this week after recovering from a fractured larynx he suffered before Christmas.
“[Clayton] has got himself to the point where he is training extremely well,” Gawn said.
“We certainly think we can match it with the big boys. I hope we can play a brand of football Melbourne supporters are excited about and be 43 players who have come together to play for each other.”
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