Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says he is the man to steer the ship to clearer waters after a winless start has seen immense pressure start to mount.
Amid a heap of change among the club that included a wide-ranging organisation review, Goodwin remained in the hot seat for a ninth season.
The 2021 premiership coach may be given more grace than his counterparts for delivering the drought-breaking flag merely years ago.
But the ongoing off-field turmoil that is headed by the uncertain futures of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca was just the tip of the iceberg in the past 18 months that has been compounded by the 0-4 start.
However, guiding the Demons through years of disorder in the 2010s, the five-time All-Australian believes he's the right man for the job to do it again.
"I haven't had one thought about myself," Goodwin said.
"My thoughts are with the club, the team and the players.
"Through my time at the footy club, we've seen some great challenges, and we've been able to work our way through them to where we've ultimately had success.
"I'm in no different a position now. When you get challenged, you rise; you do your job to the best of your ability, and I think I'm pretty well credentialed to see through these challenges and get the club back where they belong."
Goodwin was also perplexed by the narrative and media scrutiny around star player Christian Petracca's immediate response to the club's fourth loss in a row.
New footage has emerged of Christian Petracca's frustrations post-game...
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Petracca can be seen visibly frustrated, before throwing his mouthguard and putting his head into his jumper as emotions boiled over.
"There's been a hell of a lot of commentary around it, both positively and negatively. From a coach, I loved it," Goodwin said.
"He wasn't frustrated; he wants to win, and clearly he shows that with his emotion. As I said, he's a winner.
"He's determined for success, and that's what we love about him. He cares about his footy club, he cares about his teammates and wants to be involved in a winning team.
"I love he's got emotion, I love he shows that passion about his footy club, and he displays that on a daily basis when he's in here.
"I love what he brings to our footy club โ people see it differently โ but he's an outstanding person for us."
The Demons will look to claim their first victory against Essendon at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, as the AFL world descends onto South Australia for Gather Round.
High-end draftee Xavier Lindsay prepares to return to the senior side after spending the past few weeks on the sidelines with a knee issue.
