After losing a star winger and midfielder, Melbourne could look to a son of a gun as a replacement.
AFL: Suns CEO Mark Evans has failed to commit to Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew beyond the 2023 season, following the shock departure of Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.
Goodwin remained convinced Hunter, who was given the suspension for forceful front-on contact with Port Adelaide’s Connor Rozee last weekend, was “contesting the ball” fairly.
Having in recent weeks also challenged, with success, a controversial two-week ban for young forward Jacob van Rooyen, Goodwin said the Demons took the matter to the tribunal as a learning tool as much as anything.
Amid suggestions Rozee’s headfirst attempt to win the ball made it hard for Hunter to avoid contact, Goodwin said the result was another lesson for his players.
“As we go through this process you can see we are building more clarity in what’s right and what’s wrong,” Goodwin said on Wednesday.
“We get the information, we deal with it. We make sure we learn from it and get better understanding.
“There’s a lot of things going on from week to week which get looked at, and as an industry we continue to build clarity and understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong and how we’re going to continue to protect the head.”
What is Lachie Hunter suppose to do here?
Go in head first, recklessly and unprotected like Rozee and cause injury for both players?
He turned and protected himself, didn’t bump.#AFLPowerDeespic.twitter.com/kCdo5myjth— Lace out (@laceoutofficial) May 20, 2023
Goodwin conceded the Demons “don’t know how long” superstar midfielder Clayton Oliver would be sidelined with a hamstring injury that could impact his Brownlow Medal chances.
Melbourne will be cautious with his return and Goodwin said players including James Harmes or even Taj Woewodin, the son of Brownlow medallist Shane, could be in the mix to take Oliver’s spot.
Woewodin, 20, played in the club’s VFL premiership win last season but is yet to make his AFL debut.
“It’s a minor strain (for Oliver) and we’re going to build him through that process. How long that takes we are not sure,” Goodwin said.
“We’re going to be very cautious with him as well.
“We’ve got some guys at VFL level in Taj Woewodin, Bailey Laurie and James Harmes that are playing some great footy, so we’ll look at that.
“We’ve got some options … but you can’t replace Clayton Oliver with one player.”
Taj Woewodin is in the mix to replace Clayton Oliver. Picture: Michael Klein
The Demons will confront premiership winner Luke Jackson as a Fremantle player for the first time this week since his move to the Dockers at the end of last season, and Goodwin declared he was now “the enemy”.
But there won’t be any special treatment for him.
“We know he’s going pretty well, we’re rapt to see how well he’s going,” Goodwin said.
“He’s now the enemy and will be treated like every other opponent out there.”