Demons hit out at ‘disgraceful’ leaks against premiership coach Simon Goodwin

Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert has hit out at “disgraceful” leaks against the AFL club’s premiership coach Simon Goodwin.

The 45-year-old was last month the subject of numerous stories about his behaviour before 2021, leading to his position as Demons coach coming under question ahead of the eventual premiership-winning campaign last year.

Goodwin was cleared of historic accusations of bullying and improper behaviour and went onto coach the club to its first flag in 57 years.

On the day of the first story about Goodwin being released, Melbourne president Kate Roffey released a statement calling him an “exceptional leader”.

But Pert was far stronger when being interviewed ahead of the Demons’ final pre-season game on Thursday.

“No club or any coach would expect board documents to be leaked on the front page of the Herald Sun for multiple days, that’s pretty disgraceful that that would happen,” Pert told Sportsday.

“For (Simon) Goodwin, he probably hasn’t experienced a rallying of support from the industry like he’s received in this time.

“He’s a growing, evolving leader, he’s done a lot of work on developing himself, and he’s just such a great ambassador for the club.

“It’s over and done with now.

“Anyone that leaks things that are misinformation, they’re untrue, they’re out of context... you do that leaking because you don’t want to be held accountable for what you’re putting out there.

“That’s certainly goes to the character of the people doing it rather than the people they’re leaking things about.”

Melbourne will unfurl the premiership flag in front of fans at the MCG on March 16 when they open the 2022 season with a grand final rematch against the Western Bulldogs.