Melbourne's premiership captain Max Gawn has jumped to the defence of club coach Simon Goodwin following allegations that the 45-year-old had routinely bullied an ex-staff member.
As reported by The Herald Sun on Tuesday, Goodwin's tenure at the Demons was on the verge of coming to a close ahead of their successful 2021 season.
Journalist Michael Warner reported allegations that the former Crow had bullied long-term club doctor Zeeshan Arain and that the premiership steward had raised eyebrows for drinking and gambling alongside members of the playing group.
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Further reports from News Corp and Warner on Wednesday also stated that Arain's legal team believed their client had been pressured to clear midfielder Angus Brayshaw for action in 2020 despite the then 24-year-old suffering from symptoms of concussion.
Speaking at Casey Fields on Wednesday, the bearded skipper claimed that he would continue to support Goodwin, irrespective of the nature of such claims.
โNo [I have no concerns about his behaviour],โ Gawn was quoted by The Herald Sun.
โ'Goody's a very close mate of mine. I've never had a relationship with a coach like that. He is quite young, so he's a modern coach. We're able to chew the fat a lot, and then go serious."
The ruckman went on to state that Arain's assertations were off the mark in his eyes.
โBut in terms of bullying, I haven't seen it personally โฆ I've seen none at all," Gawn added.
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Gawn also stressed that how he and his mentor chose to spend their time would not be altered.
โI'm going to continue to have a beer with my boss and my coach,โ he explained.
โWhat we learned over a couple of beers at the pub โ our local at the time โ maybe that was what we nutted out in 2021 to go and do what we did.
โI'm going to continue to do that both from a professional sense and just a โchew the fat at 1 o'clock on a Saturday arvo' [sense].โ
The 30-year-old's public support for Goodwin comes less than 24-hours after incumbent president Kate Roffey also saw fit to defend the club's first premiership coach since Norm Smith.
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Although these allegations against the out-of-contract coach have come thick and fast, recent reports from The Age suggest that Goodwin is nearing an extension with the Redlegs.
Conversations regarding a new deal for the drought breaker were initially raised in December of last year, however, even while currently facing fire, it appears likely that Goodwin will put pen to paper on a fresh, three-year contract in the near future.
Goodwin's head coaching tenure commenced at Melbourne in 2017, with the five-time All Australian earning an extension of three-years in 2018 after guiding his group to a preliminary final loss.
While the arrows shot across the past pair of days would surely tip a lesser vessel, Gawn contended that the period would actually see Melbourne attack their title defence with greater vigour.
โWe're culturally shifting all the time,โ he delineated.
โThe Dees in 2021, if we're the same culture, we'll lose in 2022. We're always changing and adapting.
โWe've got a job to do and it's all roads leading to Round 1 โฆ today wasn't affected by it, which was good.โ
Melbourne are set to face North Melbourne and Carlton in pre-season clashes across the next month before starting their premiership defence on Wednesday, March 16 against the Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.