Newly-crowned AFL senior coach of the year Melbourne’s Simon Goodwin has praised former Demons mentor and beloved football figure Neale Daniher for his role in his development.
Key points:
- Simon Goodwin has won the AFL senior coach of the year award after steering Melbourne to a spot in this year’s grand final
- His Demons side is the first from the club to reach the decider since Neale Daniher’s team in 2000
- Daniher, who coached Melbourne for 10 seasons to 2007, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2013
Goodwin told Fox Footy on Tuesday night that he had received a text from Daniher early morning Perth-time telling him he had won the award, and that it was an amazing message to receive from “someone so special to our footy club”.
The honour came in Goodwin’s fifth season as a senior coach, where the 44-year-old led a turnaround from ninth on the ladder in the shortened 2020 season to the minor premiership in 2021. It led to a spot in the grand final for Melbourne for the first time since Daniher’s Demons made it in 2000.
The former two-time Crows premiership player said his link with Daniher went deeper than the normal support from a former club great.
“Five years ago I was doing my level 4 (coaching certificate) with the AFL, and Neale Daniher was my mentor at the time,” he said.
“We’d catch up once a week at the Kooyong Tennis Club and talk all things footy.
AAP: James Ross
)Daniher — one of four brothers to play VFL/AFL — had 82 games for Essendon over 12 seasons in a career restricted by injuries.
He moved into coaching and after stints as an assistant at Essendon and Fremantle he took over in 1998 as coach of Melbourne from Greg Hutchison.
ALLSPORT: Hamish Blair via Getty
)Daniher was in charge of the Demons for 10 seasons, taking them to the grand final in his third season, where Melbourne lost to Essendon by 60 points.
In his later years the Demons struggled, culminating in 2007 where Melbourne lost nine games on the trot to start the season — Daniher coached his last game for the club in round 13 that year.
In latter years, Daniher has become widely known and respected for his fundraising efforts to fight Motor Neurone Disease (MND) after he was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2013.
Getty: Quinn Rooney
)Along with former player and coach Ron Barassi, Daniher is one of the most famous footballers linked with the Demons.
Melbourne posted a picture of him in Demons gear at home ahead of the club’s victorious preliminary final against Geelong.
His popularity has led to a petition on change.org to get the WA government to relax the COVID restrictions to allow Daniher to enter the state at short notice to attend Saturday’s grand final at Perth Stadium.
As of Wednesday morning, the petition has attracted more than 70,000 signatures.
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
