Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin admits he immediately regretted exposing the personal situation of Max Gawn after the club’s defeat to North Melbourne on Sunday.
Goodwin cited a hidden “backstory” as reason for Gawn’s poor performance as the Melbourne skipper was sensationally outplayed by Kangaroos ruckman Tristan Xerri.
Appearing to have made his player’s private battles somewhat public, the 48-year-old coach conceded that he wished he had not made the comments.
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“I should’ve put a sock in it, shouldn’t I?” Goodwin told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I just didn’t get it right… I think as a coach you go into this protective mode. I love the big fella, I love everything he’s about and what he does for our footy club.
“I didn’t articulate it in the way I would’ve liked.
“If I had my time again, I certainly wouldn’t go there but as a coach sometimes that protective mode comes out.”
Simon Goodwin, Senior Coach of the Demons. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Goodwin said he left the press conference and immediately issued an apology to his player for the comments he had made.
“As soon as I walked out I knew I had to go and speak to him pretty quickly,” he said.
“He was fine, he knew the place it was coming from. He just gave me a hug and said ‘it’s all good. We’re fine. We’ll keep moving forward’.
“That’s the type of relationship we have… we’re not going to get everything right.”
Gawn acknowledged that his coach’s comments had come from a place of “love and care” but insisted he would rather no excuses be made for his poor showing.
The 33-year-old dismissed suggestions of a potential rift between the pair.
“There’s no issue with me and Goody,” he told SEN.
“He is a father figure for me and he was showing love and showing care and I appreciate that.”
Max Gawn and Simon Goodwin hold the cup aloft in 2021. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Still, some feared Goodwin may have used Gawn’s personal situation as an intentional tactic to deflect away from responding to Melbourne’s 59-point loss.
The theory was one the premiership-winning coach said he could understand how some may come to such conclusions but ultimately was not his intension.
“You open yourself up (to that critique) and because it wasn’t articulated well and it was left for everyone to have their own interpretation, that is what happens,” said Goodwin.
“People see it in a lot of different ways. A lot of different stories come out of it and a lot of different meanings take place within it.
“As I say, we are imperfect and we move on.”
