Those cultural deficits – seen outside the Entrecote restaurant in 2022, the Joel Smith drug suspension, and in discord between individual players since – more than offset the talents of a playing list that also had major holes in its forward line and fewer repeat-speed runners than Geelong or Collingwood.

In assessing Goodwin’s performance, it is only fair to factor in those headwinds he encountered – within both team and club – and to consider the enormous resilience he’s shown in handling overlapping problems.

On Goodwin’s watch, the Demons won a flag in a year when they were sequestered in a pristine bubble in Perth. Did that unnatural environment focus minds? Maybe. But as one who was in Perth and watched the finals at close quarters, I would say their 2021 premiership was as bona fide as any.

From a practical vantage, Melbourne would find it difficult to replace their senior coach this year, even if they were leaning that direction (which they aren’t), for various reasons. One is that their incoming chief executive, Paul Guerra, doesn’t begin his job until September.

The far more important consideration is the level of improvement – and trajectory – since that terrible 0-5 start.

The recovery began with an upset of Fremantle and was crystallised by the more impressive scalp of Brisbane at the Gabba. The Demons were unlucky to fall short on King’s Birthday against Collingwood, too – a defeat that, barring something extraordinary, snuffed out their faint finals prospects.

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The Demons erred in not letting Oliver have his wish to be traded to Geelong, given the terms of any future trade will not be as favourable. This was an all-club call. To greenlight the prospective trade – as the Demons shrewdly did with Jesse Hogan in 2018 – is an opportunity missed.

Kysaiah Pickett has been instrumental in the turnaround, Goodwin having deployed him further upfield in spurts and given the gifted forward more license to create for others. Whether they needed to sign the sublime Kozzy to another mega-contract similar to those handed to Petracca and Oliver is debatable; we’ll know sometime in the 2030s.

Critically, the Demons have re-discovered a capacity to turn those forays forward into scores, a pattern that began with the Fremantle game, in which Pickett booted five goals, and continued against the Lions and Swans, with only regressions against the Hawks and St Kilda.

The Demons are in the process of healing themselves culturally while undertaking a version of rebuilding on the run (hitherto appearing to be in no man’s land), as Harvey Langford, Xavier Lindsay and Caleb Windsor are blended into an experienced group.

Goodwin deserves more time to oversee the blending, and to see out his contract, at the least.

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