Demon's coaches Brendan McCartney, Simon Goodwin and Paul Roos chat during a training session at AAMI Park. Source: Getty Images
THE "fairytale" as Simon Goodwin puts it, would have him back at Adelaide one day as a coach with the club he devoted his entire playing career to.
It was a brilliant career: 275 games, two premierships, five All-Australians, three best-and-fairests and captain for the final three years before retiring in 2010.
By then Goodwin seemed destined to coach and had put the wheels in motion long before he finished playing by taking Adelaide's Monday training sessions and attending AFL coaching programs.
The Crows knew they had a coach in the making in their own backyard and twice they tried to get him home when he finished playing.
The first approach was made by then chief executive Steven Trigg in 2010, but as much as Goodwin loved the club he was hellbent on moving to Victoria to broaden his football horizons.
The second approach, which Goodwin describes as more of an "inquiry", was by board member and his good friend Mark Ricciuto in the days after Brenton Sanderson's sacking last year.
But this time the Crows were too late for Goodwin had committed to a five-year deal with Melbourne which included a succession plan to take over from Paul Roos as senior coach in 2017.
So instead Goodwin today returns to Adelaide as coach-in-waiting of the enemy and time will tell whether he and Melbourne, or Adelaide which appointed Phil Walsh and sits top of the table after a 2-0 start, got it right.
"I had been in discussions with Melbourne for a five or six week period and I was pretty clear in my mind of the vision and strategy that that was the club I wanted to be at," Goodwin told The Advertiser.
Goody with Bomber Thompson. Source: News Corp Australia
"Obviously the appeal of being under Paul Roos for a further two years and learning my craft a bit better was certainly really appealing to me.
"I knew there would be opportunities to potentially coach other clubs and obviously the fairytale of potentially one day being at Adelaide. Roo (Ricciuto) certainly did ring me at the time after Sando had been sacked to make an inquiry to see where I was at, and I told him pretty up front that I was pretty committed to Melbourne and that would be announced in the next few days.
"He was supportive of that and he understood where I was at in terms of my coaching and what I wanted to do.
"It wasn't like I knocked the Adelaide job back or anything like that, it was more an inquiry and I was committed to Melbourne and the program, vision and strategy moving forward."
Goodwin — who did two years of a teaching degree when he finished high school — was one of those footballers who always wanted to coach.
And four years from finishing playing, then Adelaide coach Neil Craig and fitness boss Charlie Walsh gave him an opportunity.
"They gave me some responsibility in some areas which was great development, and then doing the 'next coach' program was something I was really passionate about," he said.
"Also doing two years of a teaching degree when I finished school, some of the skills I learnt in those two years are really important for the coaching stuff."
Goodwin played under three coaches at Adelaide — Craig, Gary Ayres and Malcolm Blight who led the Crows to back-to-back flags in 1997-98.
Emotional Adelaide Crows captain Goodwin announces his retirement with coach Neil Craig. Source: News Limited
From Blight he learnt the importance of teaching the fundamentals of the game and from Craig, paying attention to detail and setting standards and behaviours to create a culture which led to finals in five of his seven years.
But it was always Goodwin's ambition to leave South Australia when he finished playing to see how other clubs did it.
"I grew up in Adelaide and loved the Adelaide Footy Club and had a great relationship with them," he said.
"But it was more to go and experience a broader football world, to go and see what other environments were like.
"It was a pretty fixed and strong philosophy around my time at Adelaide but I wanted to experience some other things both good and bad.
Goodwin snaps the ball. Source: News Limited
"Being in Melbourne gives you the opportunity to see as many live games as possible and understand the game better and the industry and people associated with it."
The club that came knocking was Essendon led by James Hird and which unbeknown to Goodwin was two years from descending into chaos. He would be asked to stand in as senior coach for the final round of the 2013 season.
When interviewed for the Melbourne job, Goodwin reportedly impressed Roos with his forthright answers regarding the now infamous supplements program at the Bombers.
It's a topic, Goodwin, 38, no longer wants to talk about but says he learnt plenty from working alongside experienced coaches at Windy Hill.
"I was very fortunate to be involved in a program with some great coaches, spending some time with Brendan McCartney and Mark Thompson and James Hird," he said.
"I learnt a lot from those people — especially Brendan and Bomber who had been involved in building pretty successful programs over a long period of time.
"Also taking a young group through a four-year process where they're now starting to develop into the type of player and team they want to become, so being involved in that journey was really exciting."
He is now working under one of the best ever coaches in Roos who will hand him the reins at Melbourne full-time from 2017.
Roos and Goodwin having a joke at Gosch's Paddock. Source: News Corp Australia
"He (Roos) is a terrific football person, he understands the game very well but he also understands people and what it takes to create a successful culture," Goodwin said.
"And that's really what he's been about implementing in the first 12 and a bit months — that real process about building a culture that will stand up for success in the future."
The Demons looked a million dollars in beating Gold Coast in Round 1 then fell away embarrassingly against GWS a week later.
Adelaide on the other hand could not have been more impressive in disposing of North Melbourne and Collingwood in a brilliant start to the season.
"We were really happy with the way we played in Round 1 and were excited by what we could deliver but the challenge is being able to do that on a consistent basis," Goodwin said. "The Crows are in terrific form, they've got all their good players playing well, they're playing a really attractive brand of footy and there's no doubt they'll be a big task for us this week."
