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"Do I still have it?": Cornes and Hodge question Goodwin's future after Cats defeat
Nicholas Quinlan • April 5th, 2025 2:38 pm
SEN’s Kane Cornes and Luke Hodge have questioned Melbourne coach, Simon Goodwin and his ability to adapt his game plan to opposition teams.
This comes as the Demons were comfortably beaten by Geelong last night at Kardinia Park losing 46-85 which sees Melbourne now sit 17th on the ladder.
Throughout most of the game, Geelong controlled both contested and uncontested possessions allowing them to dictate what tempo they played with as Melbourne could only react.
Speaking on SEN’s Crunch Time, Cornes believes that Goodwin needs to be introspective about his coaching ability and to consider whether he has a game plan capable of competing against the best sides in modern-day footy.
“I think as a player, you arrive at a situation where at some point in your career that you think, the game is just starting to pass me by,” Cornes said.
“I felt that was for Simon Goodwin last night.
“I felt like as a coach, if he’s not waking up this morning going, do I still have it? Then I’m not sure how honest he is being with himself because the tactics they went into that game of football was never going to win them a game.
“It felt like, okay we’ve just come off ten goal losses consecutively, let’s not get beaten by ten goals tonight but we're not going to win.
“I think as a collective coaching department and clearly, it’s not just on Simon Goodwin, it’s his whole match committee.
“They were outcoached as badly as you are going to see last night in a game of football.
“It arrives for everyone, why doesn’t it arrive for coaches?”
Three-time premiership captain Luke Hodge was in agreeance with Cornes' view and was surprised that Melbourne didn't use the example of Brisbane last week to prevent Geelong from getting the ball.
“I can’t disagree,” Hodge admitted.
“It’s also the defensive side of things as well.
“If you look at how the Lions shut down the Cats last week, it was to take away the control from them.
“The Lions last week had 61 uncontested marks in the second half to the Cats’ four.
“So, they didn’t give them a chance to play the way they wanted to.
“Last night, Geelong had 165 (uncontested) marks, their average is 108.
“So, (Melbourne) gave them the ball and said, 'Hey, you’re a pretty experienced team; you’ve got some good skills; do want you want with it'.”
The Demons will face a litmus test against Essendon next Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.
